During the First World War architects were unable to complete the Grand Tour of Europe and Spain became the destination of choice. Architects made detailed sketches of the built environment and also took photographs.

Later people like Richard Requa made extended trips to Spain and the Mediterranean in 1926 and 1928, photographing and filming architectural details. The trips were sponsored by the Monolith Portland Cement Co. of Denver and they also paid for the publication of large format books such as "Architectural Details: Spain and the Mediterranean" and "Old World Inspiration for American Architecture."

Bertram Goodhue 1869-1924
Bertram began his apprenticeship with Renwick, Apsinwall and Russell in 1884 as an office boy. In 1891 he won a design competition for the Cathedral of St Matthew to be built in Dallas. Goodhue travelled around Mexico and his book "Mexican Memories" was published in 1892.

"Nearly all the poorer class habitations are in reality little more than one or two rectangular boxes of varying size, placed one against the other. ’Not so very picturesque a description,’ you say? Well! in a measure you are right, and yet peons, for they never employ an architect for such buildings as these, of course, seem to have just that innate sense of what goes to make true beauty, that never errs: while one trained in such matters might waste days or weeks in straining after effects which they arrive at almost unconsciously. Why! the meanest one of them will throw his zarape of shawl-like blanket over his shoulder at just such an angle and proportion of length, and with such regard for color combination, as to render him irresistible to the artist."

By 1911 he had secured the role of chief architect for San Diego’s Panama California Exposition in the Spanish Revival style. Some of the buildings for this event can still be seen in Balboa Park.

Addison Mizner 1872-1933
As a teenager Addison spent time in Central America and later attended the University of Salamanca in Spain. In 1894 he joined the San Francisco architectural firm of Polk and Polk and eventually became a partner. However, the attraction of gold in the Klondike was too much of a temptation so he headed north. This life of adventure was extended into a journey through Hawaii, Australia, China and Guatemala.

Mizner returned to architecture in New York for more than a decade and then went to Palm Beach, Florida to recuperate from an illness. This was the beginning of a new life building resort architecture in the Spanish Revival style. His design accomplishments include the Everglades Club, Worth Avenue, numerous private residences and Boca Raton.

The design philosophy is encapsulated in quote from his book "The Many Mizners,"
"Most modern architects have spent their lives carrying out a period to the last letter and producing a characterless copybook effect. My ambition has been to take the reverse stand—to make a building look traditional and as though it had fought its way from a small unimportant structure to a great rambling house that took centuries of different needs and ups and downs of wealth to accomplish. I sometimes start a house with a Romanesque corner, pretend that it has fallen into disrepair and been added to in the Gothic spirit, when suddenly the great wealth of the New World has poured in and the owner has added a very rich Renaissance addition."