David Owen Dryden (July 1, 1877 – June 4, 1946) was a renowned San Diego builder-architect best known for his craftsman-style bungalows in the suburbs north of San Diego's Balboa Park including the North Park, Mission Hills and University Heights neighborhoods. Most of Dryden's work was constructed between 1911 and 1919. The Dryden Historic District in North Park contains a high concentration of his homes.
Dryden's homes typify the American Arts and Crafts Movement.
Dryden died on June 4, 1946, in Crescent City, California.
Dryen expert Donald Covington noted "it is a tribute to the quality of his craft that most of David Dryden's houses from his early career in San Diego are extant. Many of them, having survived modernization and change, still grace the old suburban neighborhoods north of Balboa Park echoing the polite and serene lifestyle of a distant era."[1]