About Us
Since 1974, William Stout Architectural Books has been a dedicated bookstore for architects, designers, and design enthusiasts. Founded by Bill Stout, a practicing architect at that time, the business endures as one of only three bookstores in the United States dedicated to architecture and design. Over fifty years, Stout Books has developed into an internationally-respected cultural icon and a destination for inspiration, ideas, and camaraderie.
The heartbeat of Stout Books is its brick-and-mortar shop in Jackson Square, San Francisco’s oldest neighborhood. The towering bookcases are filled with 10,000s of books of architecture, design, and theory, a rolling steel ladder reaching the highest shelves. The store’s broad collection ranges from rare books to contemporary monographs. A staff of trained architects shape the experience, whether guiding guests to the exact title they seek or conversing and suggesting books that might open new pathways of exploration.
Stout Books’s influence extends beyond its footprint at 804 Montgomery Street. Not only do designers encounter the collection in its shop and online, but also through events and the hundreds of universities and libraries to whom Stout Books has distributed across the country.
In 2022, Bill Stout retired, and The Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity acquired William Stout Architectural Books—the shop and the collection. As it does with the work of Charles and Ray Eames, the Institute bears the responsibility of stewarding Bill Stout’s dynamic legacy for decades to come.