Julia Morgan

Born:
January 20, 1872
San Francisco, California

Died:
February, 1957
Oakland, California

Julia Morgan was California’s first female architect. In 1894, she was the first woman to graduate with a Degree in Civil Engineering. With a legacy of over 700 buildings to her credit, it’s no wonder she was also the first woman to be granted the L’Ecole des Beaux Arts Certificate (1902) in Paris, France.

Morgan was the second of five children of Charles Bill and Eliza Parmelee Morgan. Her choice of career may have been influenced by her mother’s cousin, Pierre La Brun, who designed the Metropolitan Life Insurance Tower in New York City. After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley with her Engineering Degree and traveling to Paris to study, she returned to the states, and shortly thereafter, established her own practice.

Julia Morgan’s popularity was due to her careful attention to detail and her ability to organize projects according to the exact specifications of her clients. During the 45 years she practiced, Morgan designed private residences, churches, clubs, banks, schools, hospitals, stores, Mediterranean villas, and Tudor manors. She was the official West Coast architect for the YWCA. Her most notable designs were that of the reconstruction of the Fairmont Hotel after the 1906 San Francisco fire and La Cuesta Encantada, More commonly known as Hearst Castle at San Simeon, which was constructed from 1919 to 1937.

When Morgan retired in 1951, the only paperwork she saved were family correspondence, journals, sketchbooks, photos, architectural drawings, and business records. This spoke volumes about how she viewed her structures. They were meant to be viewed as part of the land in which she incorporated them, not as designs on paper. Julia Morgan’s work is a major contribution to Californian culture.