Julia Morgan (1872-1957)

Hearst Castle at San Simeon Designed by Julia Morgan San Simeon
California Historical Landmark 640
National Historic Landmark
Photographed 3 December 2018
Julia Morgan was born in San Francisco and raised in Oakland. She graduated from Oakland High School in 1890. In 1894, she graduated from UC Berkeley with honors, the first woman to earn a B.S. degree in civil engineering from the university.

She applied to the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, but she was rejected because the school was not accepting women. Two years later, she was admitted. In 1902, she became the first woman to graduate with a degree in architecture.

She went to work for San Francisco architect John Galen Howard who was supervising the University of California Master Plan. Morgan worked on several buildings on the Berkeley campus including the Hearst Mining Building and Hearst Greek Theatre.

In 1904, she opened her own office in San Francisco. Her first major project after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire was the reconstruction of the badly damaged Fairmont Hotel, which had been designed by Reid & Reid and was about to open at the time of the earthquake.

During her long career, Morgan designed more than seven hundred buildings in California many of them for institutions serving women and girls.

Morgan's most famous building is Hearst Castle in San Simeon State Park.

You can view Julia Morgan's buildings in chronological order here, or use a link in the following table to visit a specific property.

Name Year Address City Sort Address Sort Name
Agius House1937210 West StreetPetalumaWest 0210Agius House
Asilomar Conference Center1912800 Asilomar Boulevard Pacific GroveAsilomer 800Asilomar Conference Center
Baptist Divinity School19182606 Dwight WayBerkeleyDwight 2606Baptist Divinity School
Berkeley City Club19292315 DurantBerkeleyDurant 2315Berkeley City Club
Brickell-Atkins House19161055 Green StreetSan FranciscoGreen 1055Brickell-Atkins House
Katherine Delmar Burke School19173065 Jackson StreetSan FranciscoJackson 3065Katherine Delmar Burke School
Carriage House for Newhall Family Mansion19162974 Pacific AvenueSan FranciscoPacific 2974Carriage House for Newhall Family Mansion
Century Club of California19051355 Franklin StreetSan FranciscoFranklin 1355Century Club of California
Clay Street Center1932940 Powell and 965 ClaySan FranciscoPowell 0940Clay Street Center
Davenport House1917195 San Leandro WaySan FranciscoSan Leandro 0195Davenport House
Donaldina Cameron House1908920 Sacramento StreetSan FranciscoSacramento 0920Donaldina Cameron House
Donaldson House192167 San Leandro WaySan FranciscoSan Leandro 0067Donaldson House
Fairmont Hotel1906950 Mason StreetSan FranciscoMason 0950Fairmont Hotel
Goethe House19243731 T StreetSacramento T 3731Goethe House
Gwinn House193014 Martha StreetPetalumaMartha 0014Gwinn House
Hearst Building1937691-699 Market StreetSan FranciscoMarket 0691Hearst Building
Hearst Castle1919Highway OneSan SimeonHighway 001 201Hearst Castle
Hearst Memorial Gymnasium1910Bancroft Way at BowditchBerkeleyBancroftHearst Memorial Gymnasium
Heritage Retirement Community19243400 Laguna StreetSan FranciscoLaguna 3400Heritage Retirement Community
Hostess House191827 University AvenuePalo AltoUniversity 0027Hostess House
Japanese YWCA/Issei Women’s Building19321830 Sutter StreetSan FranciscoSutter 291Japanese YWCA/Issei Women’s Building
Livermore Shingle House19161023 Vallejo StreetSan FranciscoVallejo 1023Livermore Shingle House
Milpitas Ranchhouse1930Infantry RoadFort Hunter LiggettInfantryMilpitas Ranchhouse
Minerva Club1928127 West Boone StreetSanta MariaBoone 0127Minerva Club
Oakland YWCA Building19141515 Webster StreetOaklandWebster 1515Oakland YWCA Building
Potrero Hill Neighborhood House1919953 De Haro StreetSan FranciscoDe Haro 0953Potrero Hill Neighborhood House
Residence on Clay Street19083531 Clay StreetSan FranciscoClay 3531Residence on Clay Street
Residence on Divisadero19232229-2231 DivisaderoSan FranciscoDivisadero 2229Residence on Divisadero
Residence on Laurel Street1906306 Laurel StreetSan FranciscoLaurel 0306Residence on Laurel Street
Residence on Pacific Avenue19083377 Pacific AvenueSan FranciscoPacific 3377Residence on Pacific Avenue
Residence on Presidio Terrace191136 Presidio TerraceSan FranciscoPresidio 0036Residence on Presidio Terrace
Residence on Vallejo Street19082820 Vallejo StreetSan FranciscoVallejo 2820Residence on Vallejo Street
Rosenburg House19173630 Jackson StreetSan FranciscoJackson 3630Rosenburg House
Saint John's Presbyterian Church 19082640 College AvenueBerkeleyCollege 2640Saint John's Presbyterian Church
Saratoga Foothill Club191520399 Park Place SaratogaPark PlaceSaratoga Foothill Club
Sausalito Woman's Club 1918120 Central Avenue SausalitoCentral 0120Sausalito Woman's Club
St. James Presbyterian Church1922240 Leland WaySan FranciscoLeland 0240St. James Presbyterian Church
Suppo Building19252423 Polk StreetSan FranciscoPolk 2421Suppo Building
Zen Center1922300 Page StreetSan FranciscoPage 0300Zen Center
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