Rodney Walker was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on September 15, 1910[3], and primarily raised in Ely, Nevada.[4] He attended Pasadena City College before transferring to University of California Los Angeles[4] where he received an athletic scholarship, graduated with a degree in art and met his wife, Dorothea[3]. In 1937, Rodney and Dorothea built their first house in West Los Angeles. Soon after, he went to work for Rudolph M. Schindler as a draftsman.
Over the next thirty years, Walker designed and built some 100 homes in Southern California. He designed numerous "case-study" homes, exploring the adaptability of new ideas in small houses. He was known for his ability to hold down construction costs as well as assisting the construction crew himself.[3][4]
From 1958, Walker lived in the 4,300-square-foot hilltop home in Ojai, California, that he had designed and built, and which he considered his masterpiece. After he discontinued home designing and contracting, he ran the Oaks hotel in Ojai for 15 years and operated a store in which he sold jewelry that he crafted. Walker died on June 18, 1986, at his home in Ojai.[4] He was survived by his wife, Dorothea; sons, Bruce, Mark and Craig, as well as twin daughters, Ellen Langston and Lisa Kaufman.[4]
