Calvin C. Straub

During his career, Straub worked as a senior partner at Buff, Straub and Hensman, a renowned architectural firm in Southern California. He collaborated with his former students and USC alumni to produce a significant body of work. His architectural projects, primarily residential, were published extensively and often featured in lifestyle magazine Sunset, contributing to the shaping of a post-World War II contemporary Southern California style. His enthusiasm for architecture inspired generations of students, including Frank O. Gehry, Pierre Koenig, and many others.

Straub lived and worked at the epicentre of the evolving Southern California architecture of his day. He knew Frank Lloyd Wright, Henry Mather Green, R.M. Schindler personally and was briefly an employee of Richard Neutra.

Straub's architectural designs were known for their incorporation of natural materials, simplicity, and integration with the surrounding environment. He was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, modernist influences, and regional architectural traditions. His works reflected a humanist approach, emphasizing the unique nature of each client, site, and project. Straub aimed to create architecture that served as an inspiring background for living rather than a monumental statement.

His architectural work was published extensively, usually with images by architectural photographer Julius Shulman. Straub is best known for his Southern California buildings, especially the approximately thirty mostly residential projects produced in his partnership with Conrad Buff III and Donald Hensman: Buff, Straub and Hensman (1956-1961), later named Buff, Smith and Hensman after Straub's departure. This work won numerous awards.