Shaping Sacramento: Local Firm Behind Historic Structures Celebrates 100 Years

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — One local architectural firm has helped shape Sacramento's skyline one iconic building at a time. The firm is now celebrating a century of success.

"Sacramento was pretty small back then," said Anthony Arroyo, manager and archivist at Nacht and Lewis.

They're just a sample of the historic structures sketched out by architects working at Nacht and Lewis over the last 100 years.

"A lot of these buildings have outlived their architects, and that's really a result of good design," Arroyo said.

The firm is celebrating its centennial anniversary this year.

The Elks Temple — a 14-story building at 11th and J — was the company's first iconic contribution to the Sacramento skyline.

"It was the biggest project in the city at the time," Arroyo said.

"That was the skyscraper of Sacramento," said Nacht and Lewis President Mike Parrot.

Today, it's hard to walk downtown without seeing one of their designs, from the neo-classical renaissance architecture of the historic Post Office to both the superior and federal courthouses.

They've also designed hundreds of schools, churches, and community centers.

"It's mind-blowing how many and all over the region from Alturas down to Santa Monica,  it's just, we've worked everywhere in the state," Arroyo said.

"Going down the road, it's really interesting to say when your friends are in the car, 'Hey, we designed that,' or 'I was part of that,' " Parrot said.

The industry is a lot different today.

"It used to be that we would draw by hand and it was very much an artistic endeavor," Parrot said.

Now, projects are created with high-tech computer drafting software. And while the company's owners and employees have changed over the years, they say their core values remain.

"We want character," Parrot said. "I think we want to live in places, want to work in places that provide a little bit of delight in our lives."

The company's most recent projects include designing several new schools, including the new science building at Del Campo High School.

"The integrity, the work, it's still there and it's carried on until today," Arroyo said.