Burton graduated at the University of California, Berkeley. Then he went to work in various architectural offices. He was also Chief of Architecture and Engineering for the South Western States, Resettlement Adminstration (now knows as the Farm Security Administration) in San Francisco from (1933-1935).Main achievementsSettlement of 'The Agricultural Workers community at Chandler' in Arizona (1936-1937) along with Vernon DeMars. This is a settlement for migrating workers, that require housing during the harvest time. It's designed for them as a simple but effective and hygienic sojourn. They call this kind buildings, bureaucratic architecture.Settlement 'Yuba City in California' (1937) along with Vernon DeMars. A settlement with the same principle as that of 'Chandler '.