Gordon Herr was an architect and a co-founder with his wife Jane, of Pond Farm Artist Colony, the American Artist Colony near Guerneville, California that began in 1939-1940. The Herrs envisioned Pond Farm as a community for artists fleeing Europe at the onset of World War II. Gordon thought of it as “a sustainable sanctuary for artists away from a world gone amuck.” The colony would in part support itself through summer workshops, and several renowned resident artists came to teach there, including Victor Reis, Frans Wildenhain and wife Marguerite Wildenhain. The workshops ended in 1953. The complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. (sources: “Pond Farm Barn Exterior” by MikeVdP, and wikipedia.org)