The Laykin Setting — People
The Man Who Helped Define the Laykin Aesthetic
Allen Breed Walker, Sol Laykin, and the remarkable world of old California
From the fashionable desert retreats of La Quinta to the Hollywood salons of Sunset Boulevard and a magnificent estate in Montecito, Allen Breed Walker helped shape not only the early fortunes of Laykin et Cie, but the distinctive character and aesthetic identity of the house.
In the 1930s, California was inventing a new kind of glamour.
Hollywood had become the international capital of motion pictures. Its stars escaped the studios for weekends in the desert, gathered in the great hotels of Los Angeles, and retreated to the secluded estates of Santa Barbara and Montecito. Architecture, fashion, jewelry, and the decorative arts flourished in an extraordinary convergence of talent, wealth, imagination, and style.
It was in this world that Laykin et Cie found its identity.
Among the individuals most responsible for defining that identity was a man whose name deserves to be better remembered: Allen Breed Walker.
An early partner of Solomon W. “Sol” Laykin and one of the formative figures of Laykin et Cie, Walker brought to the young enterprise an appreciation for architecture, fine design, sophisticated interiors, and gracious hospitality. His influence helped establish the aesthetic sensibility that would distinguish the house during its earliest decades.
His own life was equally remarkable, encompassing celebrated California resort hotels, Hollywood friendships, a magnificent Montecito residence, and a long association with the jewelry house he helped develop.
A Meeting at La Quinta
The partnership between Sol Laykin and Allen Walker began, according to Laykin family history, at the fashionable La Quinta Hotel in the California desert.
Opened in 1926 beneath the Santa Rosa Mountains, La Quinta quickly became a favored retreat for Hollywood celebrities and affluent Southern Californians seeking privacy, sunshine, and respite from city life.
Its intimate Spanish-style architecture, gardens, courtyards, and relaxed atmosphere created a distinctive expression of luxury, one defined less by ostentation than by exceptional surroundings and personal service.
Laykin maintained a small jewelry boutique at the resort, bringing fine jewels directly into the social world of its guests.
Walker, whose professional background was in hospitality, was associated with the La Quinta hotel community. It was there that he and Sol Laykin became acquainted, beginning a partnership that helped establish the character of the growing jewelry house.
The partnership united complementary talents. Sol Laykin possessed an entrepreneurial instinct, a passion for exceptional jewels, and an ability to cultivate relationships with distinguished clients. Walker brought an understanding of the environment in which those jewels should be presented.
Together, they helped establish a business whose appeal extended beyond the objects it sold.
The firm’s early presence at La Quinta was part of a wider network of celebrated California resorts, including the Santa Barbara Biltmore, Arrowhead Springs Hotel, and Hotel del Coronado.
The Making of a Hollywood Jewelry House
During the 1930s, Laykin et Cie established its celebrated salon on Sunset Boulevard, in the heart of Hollywood’s emerging social scene.
The Sunset Strip was becoming a remarkable collection of restaurants, nightclubs, fashionable shops, and gathering places frequented by the motion-picture industry. Laykin’s salon belonged naturally to this environment.
Among the most memorable figures associated with its early history was Gloria Swanson, whose suggestion, according to Laykin family tradition, helped inspire the adoption of the more elegant and cosmopolitan name Laykin et Cie.
For Walker, the design and presentation of the salon were matters of particular importance. He played a formative role in establishing the visual character of the house during an era when Art Deco, Hollywood Regency, and the theatrical architecture of Southern California were redefining modern luxury.
He helped shape the idea that the setting in which a beautiful jewel was encountered should itself be an essential part of the experience.
Marie Dressler and the Social World of Montecito
Walker and his wife, Katherine Frisbee Walker, moved within the sophisticated social circles of Southern California. Among their close friends was the celebrated actress Marie Dressler, one of Hollywood’s most beloved performers during the early sound-film era.
Dressler’s friendship with the Walkers was more than a passing social acquaintance. In 1934, when the actress became gravely ill, she spent her final months in Montecito. Allen and Katherine stayed with her and helped care for her during that difficult period, remaining close until her death in July of that year.
Les Chênes: A House Beneath the Oaks
In the mid-1930s, Allen and Katherine Walker commissioned the distinguished architect Lutah Maria Riggs to create a residence on Hot Springs Road in Montecito.
The result was Les Chênes, French for The Oaks, a magnificent house that remains an important example of California’s architectural heritage.
Riggs was among the most accomplished architects working in Santa Barbara during the twentieth century. For the Walkers, she designed an elegant residence inspired by French Regency architecture, set among mature oak trees with views toward the Pacific.
Walker understood that beauty was not confined to an individual object. It could be found in the proportions of a room, the placement of a window, the character of a garden, or the manner in which a guest was welcomed.
A Lifetime with Laykin
Walker’s association with Laykin et Cie continued well beyond the Hollywood years. According to the firm’s family history, he managed the Laykin La Jolla salon during the 1950s and 1960s, continuing his involvement in the business as it developed its presence in Southern California’s distinguished coastal communities.
His later role reflected an important characteristic of the Laykin business: the continuity of personal relationships across decades. In an industry often concerned with fashion and novelty, the house was built upon enduring connections — with clients, communities, designers, and the people who helped establish its reputation.
A Return to Montecito
Today, as Laykin et Cie establishes a new salon in Montecito, the story of Allen Walker has acquired renewed significance. One of its founding partners lived here, entertained here, commissioned one of the region’s most distinguished architects, and participated in the remarkable social and cultural life of old Montecito.
Nearly a century later, the new Laykin salon seeks to carry forward many of the same sensibilities — Art Deco-inspired showcases, chinoiserie wallpaper, custom metalwork, and an atmosphere of warmth and understated elegance.
The Enduring Influence of Allen Walker
The history of a jewelry house is often told through its founders, its extraordinary gemstones, and the celebrated people who wore them. But there are other figures whose contributions are equally important — those who establish a company’s character, determine how its creations are presented, and distinguish its experience from every other establishment.
Allen Breed Walker was such a figure.
His partnership with Sol Laykin helped define a distinctly Californian expression of luxury, informed by the architecture, hospitality, decorative arts, and social world of the 1930s. From the desert gardens of La Quinta to the Hollywood salons of Sunset Boulevard, from the extraordinary rooms of Les Chênes to the coastal elegance of La Jolla, his life intersected repeatedly with the places and sensibilities that shaped Laykin et Cie.
For while the jewels themselves may change from one generation to the next, the belief that they deserve a beautiful and memorable setting remains.
And perhaps that is Allen Walker’s most enduring contribution to the house.
The Laykin Setting explores the people, places, jewels, and stories that have shaped the world of Laykin et Cie since 1932.