William L. Murphy, who was born in Columbia, California, in 1876. He moved to San Francisco at the turn of the century where lived in a one-room apartment that had a standard bed taking up most of the floor space. Because he wanted to entertain there, he began experimenting with a folding bed that would be out of site when not in use. He was granted a U.S. patent for his design on June 27, 1916. Then Mr. Murphy started the Murphy Wall Bed Company and began production in San Francisco.