Despite his modest upbringing in Connecticut, Bertram Goodhue managed to forge an extremely successful architectural career. Extremely talented, he began drawing as a child and filled sketchbooks. He spent a few years in Boston where he met Ralph Adams Cram who would become his partner. before moving to New York to apprentice. There he learned drafting and design. One of the most interesting aspects of his design is the breadth and range of styles. Most architects find their voice relatively early and almost always work in the same style. Goodhue was different. His early buildings were Gothic. He travelled extensively: to Mexico and the South and even to Persia. He began to develop a Spanish Colonial Style for the Panama-California Exposition and the other buildings he designed in California. Some of the later work is considered Romanesque. He died quite suddenly