Which architect designed the McDonald’s restaurant in Downey, California, opened in 1953?

Stanley Clark Meston designed the McDonald’s restaurant in Downey, California, opened in 1953.

The Downey restaurant is widely recognized as the oldest surviving McDonald’s location. It was built for franchisees Roger Williams and Burdette Landon and used the distinctive red-and-white architectural style associated with the early McDonald’s system.

Meston’s design featured the large yellow arches that projected above the restaurant and made it recognizable to motorists. Those architectural elements later inspired the corporate symbol known as the Golden Arches.

The Downey site is often confused with the first McDonald’s restaurant. The original restaurant opened in San Bernardino in 1940, while the Downey building is the oldest surviving location. It is also separate from the first restaurant operated under Ray Kroc’s franchise system, which opened in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955.