A. Jane Duncombe, born in 1925 in Ontario, Canada, graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago's School of Industrial Design where she studied under Marya Lilien. During World War II Lilien was the first woman to receive an architectural degree in Poland and was a Charter Apprentice at Taliesin. Lilien told Duncombe early in her studies, "You must be an architect, you have it!" Lilien's insight predicted Duncombe's apprenticeship under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin from 1948-1949. After working for a year in the Chicago area and in Canada, Duncombe moved to San Francisco to work with Lois Davidson Gottlieb, also a graduate of Taliesin. As part of the design team Duncombe-Davidson, based in Sausalito, she designed residences in Marin County starting with the Val Goeschen house, a one-room unit with 576 square feet, in Inverness, CA. This partnership spanned the years 1951 to 1956. Duncombe continued to practice in the San Francisco Bay area for forty years where she completed a broad range of projects.