Great Designers
Architecture
Design Icons: Julia Morgan
Take the family to see this groundbreaking architect's Hearst Castle, or just virtually visit it and 2 more of her projects right here
Julia Morgan (1872 to 1957) was a prolific California architect who produced more than 700 buildings in her long career, most in her home state. Nevertheless, one project overshadows them all: the California hilltop estate for William Randolph Hearst that goes by its place name, San Simeon, as well as La Cuesta Encantada ("The Enchanted Hill") or simply Hearst Castle. As we'll see, her talents extended to simpler dwellings too, not to mention schools, churches and many buildings for benevolent organizations like the YWCA.
With an interest in architecture from a young age, Morgan pursued an engineering degree from the University of California at Berkeley on the advice of her brother. After receiving that undergraduate degree in 1894 (the first woman to do so) she received more advice, this time from mentor Bernard Maybeck, who encouraged her to attend the esteemed École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She failed the entrance exams twice but learned that the school had failed her because it did not want to encourage young girls. Undeterred, she went through the process again and was accepted two years later, becoming the first female graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts upon receiving the certificate in 1902. In a bit of foreshadowing, Phoebe Hearst, mother of W.R., offered to pay for Morgan's schooling in Paris, which Morgan graciously declined.
Upon returning to California the same year, Morgan worked in an architect's office but ventured out on her own in 1904, after getting registered to practice architecture in the state. This made her the first female architect in California, following similar firsts at UC Berkeley and the Beaux-Arts. Her status as a woman in a man's profession has defined much of her legacy, but the way in which "all her life was work — morning, day and night," as described by one employee, is really how she should be remembered. This blend of talent, love of architecture and untiring work ethic is what enabled her to produce so many buildings and to work on one of the largest residential commissions of any time and any place.
Note: Of Morgan's three projects below, Hearst Castle offers the most popular public tours. The Annenberg Community Beach House offers periodic public tours of the Marion Davies Guest House. The John G. Kennedy House is not open to the public.
With an interest in architecture from a young age, Morgan pursued an engineering degree from the University of California at Berkeley on the advice of her brother. After receiving that undergraduate degree in 1894 (the first woman to do so) she received more advice, this time from mentor Bernard Maybeck, who encouraged her to attend the esteemed École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She failed the entrance exams twice but learned that the school had failed her because it did not want to encourage young girls. Undeterred, she went through the process again and was accepted two years later, becoming the first female graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts upon receiving the certificate in 1902. In a bit of foreshadowing, Phoebe Hearst, mother of W.R., offered to pay for Morgan's schooling in Paris, which Morgan graciously declined.
Upon returning to California the same year, Morgan worked in an architect's office but ventured out on her own in 1904, after getting registered to practice architecture in the state. This made her the first female architect in California, following similar firsts at UC Berkeley and the Beaux-Arts. Her status as a woman in a man's profession has defined much of her legacy, but the way in which "all her life was work — morning, day and night," as described by one employee, is really how she should be remembered. This blend of talent, love of architecture and untiring work ethic is what enabled her to produce so many buildings and to work on one of the largest residential commissions of any time and any place.
Note: Of Morgan's three projects below, Hearst Castle offers the most popular public tours. The Annenberg Community Beach House offers periodic public tours of the Marion Davies Guest House. The John G. Kennedy House is not open to the public.
The scale of Hearst Castle makes some sense when seen relative to the land W.R. inherited: 250,000 acres — one-third the size of Rhode Island — about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The buildings and grounds are but a tiny percentage of the land, but also the project draws parallels with Versailles and Hadrian's Villa, residences for a king and an emperor. At San Simeon money and private enterprise create the equivalent centuries later.
Morgan's Beaux-Arts training is in good evidence in places like the outdoor Neptune Pool, modeled on Greek classicism.
The indoor pool exhibits a much different character, thanks to so many mosaics that it took more than three years to finish. It is called the Roman Pool, but the mosaics situate it in the days when the empire was based in the East and Constantinople.
The Great Depression impacted the construction of Hearst Castle, but work continued slowly throughout the 1930s, and the building reached its current state by 1947. That Morgan and Hearst started working together more than 10 years before the crash ensured that most of the grandeur and opulence of the place was realized, although plans for additional wings (as if there could be more) had to be shelved forever.
Pictured is the Gothic Suite, the private living quarters of Hearst and Davies that occupies the entire third floor of the main house. It is but one of the many parts of Hearst Castle that can now be toured by the public.
What tourists don't see, but they're worth pointing out, are the houses in the village of San Simeon for the families of five of the estate's senior staff that Morgan oversaw the design and construction of. No commission was too small or unimportant in Morgan's eyes, another testament to her abilities and her love of architecture.
Pictured is the Gothic Suite, the private living quarters of Hearst and Davies that occupies the entire third floor of the main house. It is but one of the many parts of Hearst Castle that can now be toured by the public.
What tourists don't see, but they're worth pointing out, are the houses in the village of San Simeon for the families of five of the estate's senior staff that Morgan oversaw the design and construction of. No commission was too small or unimportant in Morgan's eyes, another testament to her abilities and her love of architecture.
Marion Davies Estate
In the late 1920s, Hearst commissioned Morgan to design a house on just over 4 acres on the Gold Coast of Santa Monica, California, for Marion Davies. Morgan designed five buildings in a Georgian colonial style, but the beachfront mansion with 34 bedrooms shown here was the heart of the estate. The $7 million project included three guesthouses and two pools.
In the late 1920s, Hearst commissioned Morgan to design a house on just over 4 acres on the Gold Coast of Santa Monica, California, for Marion Davies. Morgan designed five buildings in a Georgian colonial style, but the beachfront mansion with 34 bedrooms shown here was the heart of the estate. The $7 million project included three guesthouses and two pools.
Most of the buildings were demolished as the property changed hands, and this stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway changed from private enclaves to semipublic areas, primarily beach clubs. The only surviving building that Morgan designed is the guesthouse, along with the pool, seen here abutting the road; compare this historical photograph to a Google Street View today.
Today the guesthouse and pool make up part of the Annenberg Community Beach House. It opened in 2009 with additional facilities designed by Frederick Fisher. As you can see here, the contemporary addition is much different than Morgan's Georgian colonial, but the concrete pylons echo the long-gone veranda of the mansion.
John G. Kennedy House
In a highly recommended Julia Morgan online exhibition from Cal Poly, the architect is described as a "designer of simple dwellings and stately homes." The latter certainly applies to the two commissions for Hearst and Davies, while the John G. Kennedy House in Palo Alto, California, is but one of many simple dwellings that Morgan produced primarily in the early stages of her career.
The front elevation, seen here, has an informal but assured demeanor to it. The clear entry and balcony are balanced by the chimney that pierces the clay-tile roof.
In a highly recommended Julia Morgan online exhibition from Cal Poly, the architect is described as a "designer of simple dwellings and stately homes." The latter certainly applies to the two commissions for Hearst and Davies, while the John G. Kennedy House in Palo Alto, California, is but one of many simple dwellings that Morgan produced primarily in the early stages of her career.
The front elevation, seen here, has an informal but assured demeanor to it. The clear entry and balcony are balanced by the chimney that pierces the clay-tile roof.
The Spanish colonial revival style is found in the plain white surfaces, red tile roofs and arched openings. The latter are carried throughout the house, elevating the sense of movement from one room to the next.
While Morgan is known as an architect masterful with traditional styles rather than with the modern idiom arising in the first half of the 20th century, this house hints at the opening up that would take place following its 1922 design and realization (click photo for enlarged view). The heart of the house is the family room, what's called the loggia on the plan, although it is an enclosed space adjacent to the living room and kitchen.
The family room is evident in this rear elevation: It is behind the large windows and glass doors in the middle of the drawing. (Upstairs is a glass-enclosed stair that is set back from the loggia's windows.) This side of the house is more private than the front, so it makes sense that the windows are larger and the family room is located here.
This view of one of the windows in the family room shows just how capable an architect Morgan was, regardless of scale, style or budget.
There is a palpable calmness and warmth exuded here, as you can see in the photo. In a sense, sitting by this window and looking upon the garden was the middle-class equivalent of what W.R. Hearst might have done at Hearst Castle; the setup was thought out as carefully as anything in that more well-known work.
More info on visiting Hearst Castle
More info on visiting the Marion Davies Guest House
There is a palpable calmness and warmth exuded here, as you can see in the photo. In a sense, sitting by this window and looking upon the garden was the middle-class equivalent of what W.R. Hearst might have done at Hearst Castle; the setup was thought out as carefully as anything in that more well-known work.
More info on visiting Hearst Castle
More info on visiting the Marion Davies Guest House
While the residence for publisher and heir W.R. Hearst didn't begin until 1919, what better place to start looking at Morgan's career than at San Simeon? Morgan worked with Phoebe Hearst as the official architect for the national YWCA in the West, but in 1919 Phoebe died. Then her son approached Morgan about designing a simple bungalow on the land he inherited. The project would occupy three decades of her career, as it grew from a single building for Hearst and his mistress, actress Marion Davies, to a main house with more than a hundred rooms, three guesthouses, indoor and outdoor pools, and more than 120 acres of gardens and recreational grounds.
Anchoring the palatial residence are the twin towers of the main house, a building that sums up the eclectic nature of the architecture — Spanish Renaissance was an inspiration, but other historical styles abound. Morgan balanced these stylistic leaps born from Hearst's acquisition of art and other artifacts from overseas travels; the house and other buildings act as containers for these pieces, becoming a museum where the architecture expresses what is inside.