Cecil E. Bryan was the master of mausoleums. Born in Illinois in 1878, Bryan began building mausoleums in 1912, after spending a year working for Frank Lloyd Wright,considered one of the most famous architects in American history. Though Cecil E. Bryan designed more than eighty mausoleums throughout his lifetime, he considered Mountain View Mausoleum his masterpiece. So much so that when he passed away in 1951, it was there that he chose to be interred. And it’s not very hard to see why. The mausoleum’s focal point is easily its 180-foot-long Great Gallery featuring an ornate vaulted ceiling hand-painted by artist Martin Syvertsen. The massive mural, depicting a frescoed version of the story of Christianity, took four years to complete and is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
