Episode 03: Julia Morgan
Julia Morgan was the first woman architect to be licensed in the state of California. She was born on January 20, 1872 in San Francisco. She grew up in Oakland and attended UC Berkeley to study civil engineering. A student of Bernard Maybeck, he encouraged her to attend the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris to study architecture. She was the first woman to get into and complete a degree from the École des Beaux-Arts. She returned to the Bay Area and worked for John Galen Howard before taking the licensing exam and passing. This allowed her to open her own firm in 1904. In 1906 the San Francisco earthquake happened, and Julia was part of helping rebuild the city including the Fairmont Hotel using reinforced concrete which was a new technique. She worked on over 700 buildings over her career including the Greek Theater at Berkeley, the bell tower for Mills College, many YMCA locations, residences, churches, schools, and hospitals to name a few. Her most well known project is Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California. An estate built for William Randolph Hearst. Julia spent 30 years working on the project. In 1950, she closed her office at the age of 79. She traveled and then returned to San Francisco where she passed away on February 2, 1957 at the age of 85.
Caryatid: Elizabeth Roberts, AIA
Elizabeth Roberts is an architect in New York City known for working on brownstones. She is passionate about working on older buildings and historic architecture to preserve and highlight it while updating it to today’s standards. She grew up in the Bay Area and studied architecture at UC Berkeley for undergrad. She then went to study Historic Preservation of Architecture at Columbia University in New York City. She worked at several firms before opening her own office, Elizabeth Roberts Architects.
References
Lewis, Anna M. “Julia Morgan.” Women of Steel and Stone: 22 Inspirational Architects, Engineers, and Landscape Designers, 30–41. United States: Chicago Review Press, 2017.
Note, Emily. “Career / Elizabeth Roberts.” DORÉ, July 2019, www.wearedore.com/features/career-elizabeth-roberts.
Images:
Boehm, Mike. Julia Morgan. LA Times, Dec. 23, 2013. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-xpm-2013-dec-23-la-et-cm-julia-morgan-hearst-castle-aia-medal-20131221-story.html
Fiene, Karen. Bell Tower at Mills College. The Cultural Landscape Foundation, Sep. 14, 2019, https://tclf.org/mills-college
Bobak Ha’Eri. The Fairmont San Francisco. Wikipedia, July 22, 2009, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairmont_San_Francisco
Sanfranman59. Oakland YWCA. Wikipedia, June 27, 2009, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Morgan
Corob, Michelle. Hearst Castle Aerial. Society of Architectural Historians, https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/CA-01-079-0050
Hansen, Kristine. Roman Temple and Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle. Architectural Digest, July 1, 2019, https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/swim-hearst-castle-pools
All other images property of She Builds Podcast
