Julia Morgan was a pioneering female architect from Oakland, California, who graduated from the Paris School of Fine Arts and became the first licensed female architect in California. Her buildings survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and she designed homes, churches, schools, and towers. Her most famous building was Hearst Castle, a 144-room mansion. She closed her office in 1950 after designing over 700 buildings.
Julia Morgan, a native of Oakland, California, was born in 1872. Morgan was a world-class innovative architect and delighted in doing things no woman had ever done before. She was also a master of detail and was able to create buildings that were functional works of art.
As a child, Julia Morgan wanted to be a doctor, but by the time she entered university she had decided to be an architect. She would have attended the University of California at Berkeley, however, she didn’t have architecture school, so she majored in civil engineering. After college, she decided to attend the Paris School of Fine Arts, where she was the first woman to graduate.
After graduating from architectural school, Morgan went to work for John Howard, an architect. Under Howard, Morgan designed buildings for Phoebe Hearst’s family and friends, including the Bell Tower at Mills College. Morgan was unwilling to accept a lower salary from Howard simply because she was a woman, and in 1904 she applied for an architect’s license, becoming the first licensed female architect in California.
Morgan’s business was slow at first, but after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, it picked up. Her buildings had been the first concrete ones in California, and when others saw that her buildings had survived the earthquake, Julia Morgan had a thriving business designing homes, churches, schools, and towers. She was even hired to rebuild San Francisco’s famous Fairmont Hotel, which was destroyed in the earthquake.
Julia Morgan’s designs were considered outstanding for her attention to detail. She had a function for each room and first she designed the interior of the buildings. She initiated the California Mission architectural style, borrowing from Spanish missions and Pueblo Indians. She liked to use adobe and redwood, California native materials. Her buildings were considered works of art.
When William Randolph Hearst decided he wanted to build a building on his ranch in San Simeon, California, Morgan got the chance to design his most famous building. Hearst Castle began as a “bungalow” on Hearst’s ranch but quickly grew into a 144-room mansion. Hearst was notorious for changing his mind and Morgan would often have to tear down rooms already built.
In 1932, Julia Morgan fell ill with an infection that paralyzed the left side of her face. She couldn’t work at the same pace she had in the past. Soon after, Hearst lost money and caused Morgan to stop working on Hearst Castle. When the United States entered World War II, Morgan’s construction projects came to a halt. In 1950, she Morgan closed the office where she had worked for 46 years, designing over 700 buildings.
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