Edna Deakin


Edna Deakin was a designer and one of the earliest women architects in the United States of America. She is best known for remodeling the "Temple of the Wings" building in Berkeley, California.

Life

Edna Deakin was born in the area of San Francisco, California; her father was the painter Edwin Deakin. She studied mechanics at the University of California, Berkeley, but dropped out to study architecture with her cousin Clarence Dakin at the classes of John Galen Howard..

Architectural work

After her studies, Deakin worked in the offices of Dickey and Reed and for the architect George T. Plowman. She advertised herself as a "designer" and collaborated with her cousin. They may have been involved with the design of the Studio Building in Berkeley, which was built by Clarence's father.
Deakin and Clarence collaborated on restoration of an unusual Berkeley building known as the "Temple of Wings." Originally designed in 1911 as a house without any walls by Bernard Maybeck and A. Randolph Monroe, the "Temple of Wings" building suffered serious fire damage in 1923. The original Corinthian columns that had held up the roof survived and were used in Deakin and Clarence's remodel. They worked out a plan to enclose the structure, building living areas with ground-floor dance studios on both sides of an open courtyard.
She also designed the Dakin family property at Telegraph and Woolsey in Berkeley.