Julia Morgan & Phoebe Hearst: Building Legacies Together

Julia Morgan & Phoebe Hearst: Building Legacies Together

The Santa Monica Conservancy co-hosts the annual Julia Morgan Legacy Day at the Annenberg Community Beach House.

11 a. m. - Morgan expert Karen McNeill, Ph.D. will present Julia Morgan: Engineering a Legacy, highlighting Morgan’s engineering expertise and skills. RSVP required.

12 p.m. – 2 p. m. - Marion Davies Guest House will be open for touring and guests will also be able to get a close look at the Morgan designed Beach House pool. Access to the pool will be for viewing only, no lounging or swimming. 

RSVPs are not required to visit the Guest House and pool.

American architect and engineer Julia Morgan is one of three remarkable individuals, along with Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst, that shaped the Annenberg Community Beach House site’s legacy. Best known as the architect of Hearst Castle, Morgan left a legacy of more than 700 projects in her nearly five decades of practice. Posthumously awarded the AIA’s highest honor, a Gold Medal, her brilliant and pioneering work continues to gain public recognition. Morgan designed the Guest House and pool, which comprise the historic core of the Beach House.

McNeill’s scholarship focuses on women and gender in the architectural profession as well as how Progressive Era women used the built environment to expand their roles in society as consumers, reformers, educators, and professionals. Her work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Autry National Center, the Bancroft Library, and the University of California Humanities Research Institute. McNeill has taught history and architectural history at colleges and universities in the San Francisco Bay Area and has been involved in historic preservation, successfully nominating a range of buildings to the National Register of Historic Places.

Reservation Policy: For this free event with limited seating, overbooking is our standard procedure. If you reserve a spot, we advise that you arrive early. Space permitting, unclaimed reservations will be released approximately 15 minutes prior to the program start time. If unable to attend, please inform us by calling Guest Services at (310) 458-4904 or via email at beach.house@santamonica.gov.