Jack Baird was a real estate agent and insurance man in Los Alamitos. He lived in Los Alamitos in the 1930s, then he and his family, which included his daughter Laura then aged three, moved to Long Beach. There Laura grew up, became a singer of some local renown and married architect Edward Killingsworth who would become very famous in his field.
In 1947 Jack and his wife moved back to Los Alamitos. Jack was a realtor and sold insurance and he was quite involved with the Chamber of Commerce and the Los Alamitos Business Association. A few years later, his son-in-law Edward Killingsworth designed a combination office/home for Jack on the corner of Los Alamitos Boulevard and Howard Street (Officially 11167 Los Alamitos Blvd.)
The very modern design caught the attention of architectural critic John Entenza and Killingsworth soon became very famous. The building still exists — it is the office of a dentist, Dr. Young H. Lee — but while additions have probably made it more functional, they definitely have deprived it of some of the simplicity of the mid-century-modern post & beam style.
Jim Bell, Jr., son of Los Alamitos’ first mayor and longtime Chamber of Commerce President, Jim Bell, remembers Baird was one of the first in the area to have a television. “He used to push it over to his front window and every day after school there was always a crowd of kids gathered around his office to watch the TV.” Bell also remembers that if moms didn’t know where there kids were, one of the first places they checked was in front of Baird’s office.
Killingsworth went on to become one of Long Beach’s most famous architect’s. Among his most well-known projects were many of the buildings at Cal State University Long Beach and many hotels in Hawaii including the Kahala Hilton.
Documents and early drawings pertaining to the Jack Baird house are available in Killingsworth’s papers which are housed at the UC Santa Barbara Library.