Julia Morgan, Designer of Hearst Castle

Born:

January 20, 1872 in San Francisco, California

Died:

February 2, 1957, at age 85. Buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California

Education of Julia Morgan:

• Graduated from Oakland High School in California, 1890
• Earned a degree in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, 1894
• While at Berkeley, mentored by architect Bernard Maybeck
• Twice rejected by the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris
• Entered and won several important architecture competitions in Europe
• Accepted by the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and became the first woman to graduate from that school with a degree in architecture

Career Highlights and Challenges:

• 1902-1903: Worked for John Galen Howard, University Architect in Berkeley
• 1904: Established her own practice in San Francisco
• 1906: Office destroyed in a fire caused by the 1906 earthquake; Morgan established a new office
• 1919: Newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst hired Morgan to design his San Simeon estate, Hearst Castle
• 1920s: Problems with her inner ear required surgery that distorted Morgan's face and affected her balance
• 1923: Fires in Berkeley destroyed many homes designed by Morgan
• 1950: Morgan closed her office; she died in 1957

Selected Buildings by Julia Morgan:

• 1917: Livermore House, San Francisco
• 1922-1939: San Simeon (Hearst Castle), San Simeon, CA
• 1924-1943: Wyntoon, Mount Shasta, CA
• 1929: The Berkeley City Club, Berkeley, CA

About Julia Morgan:

Julia Morgan was one of America's most important and prolific architects. Julia Morgan was the first woman to study architecture at the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and the first woman to work as a professional architect in California. During her 45-year career, Julia Morgan designed more than 700 homes, churches, office buildings, hospitals, stores, and educational buildings.

Like her mentor, Bernard Maybeck, Julia Morgan was an eclectic architect who worked in a variety of styles. She was known for her painstaking craftsmanship and for designing interiors that incorporated the owners' collections of art and antiques. Many of Julia Morgan's buildings featured Arts and Crafts elements such as:

• exposed support beams
• horizontal lines that blend into the landscape
• extensive use of wooden shingles
• earth colorings
• California redwood and other natural materials

After the California earthquake and fires of 1906, Julia Morgan obtained commissions to rebuild Fairmont Hotel, St. John's Presbyterian Church, and many other important buildings in and around San Francisco.

Of the hundreds of homes that Julia Morgan designed, she is perhaps most famous for Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California. For nearly 28 years, craftsmen labored to create William Randolph Hearst's magnificent estate. The estate has 165 rooms, 127 acres of gardens, beautiful terraces, indoor and outdoor pools, and an exclusive private zoo. Hearst Castle is one of the largest and most elaborate homes in the United States.