Gordon Bernie Kaufmann [also known as Gordon Kaufmann] was was born in Forest Hill, London, England, on 19 March 1888 and attended the London Polytechnic Institute from from 1904 to 1908. He then trained with Alfred William Stephens Cross (1858-1932). In 1910 he emigrated to Canada and worked briefly in Winnipeg as a draughtsman with Pratt & Ross. In 1912 he moved to Vancouver where he worked on a number of residential commissions before moving to the Los Angeles, California in 1914. From 1920 to 1924 he was in partnership in the firm Johnson, Kaufmann & Coate in Los Angeles. In 1924 he set up his own practice in Los Angeles. Over the next two decades he worked on numerous residential commissions in the Los Angeles area.
From 1945 to 1947 he was senior partner in the firm Kaufmann, Lippincott & Eggers in Angeles, and from 1947 to 1949 with Jesse Earl Stanton (1887-1971) as Kaufmann & Stanton in Los Angeles. Kaufmann died in Los Angeles on 1 March 1949.
His most significant commission and for which he is best known was the architectural styling of the Hoover Dam near Boulder, Colorado (1931-36). Other notable architectural projects by Kaufmann and his practice included Greystone Mansion, 905 Loma Vista Dr, Beverly Hills, California (1928); Masonic Clubhouse, 10886 LeConte, Los Angeles, California (1929: various buildings at the Santa Anita Park racetrack in Arcadia, California (1934); Los Angeles Times Building, 202 West 1st St, Los Angeles, California (1935); Hollywood Palladium theatre, 6215 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California (1940); and 1011 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, California (1947)
Appleton, Marc; Parsons, Bret; and Vaught, Steve. Gordon B. Kaufmann. Santa Barbara, California: Tailwater Press; Santa Monica, California: In collaboration with Angel City Press, [2016]