Julia Morgan, Architect
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Editorial Reviews
William Randolph Hearst's dazzling "castle" at San Simeon, California, is famous world round, yet only the aficionado can name Julia Morgan as the architect who built it. For more than thirty years she worked with Hearst in a rare collaboration, creating not only his art-filled hilltop palace but also a fairy-tale Bavarian "village" known as Wyntoon and many other commercial and domestic structures. Yet the Hearst commissions, notable as they are, are not Morgan's only claim to fame. One of the first women to graduate in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, Morgan was the first woman ever to earn a certificate in architecture from the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Returning to her native San Francisco in 1902, she was well placed to profit from the surge of building that followed the great earthquake just four years later. A member of an informal "old-girls'" network that linked the leaders of the increasingly active women's organizations, Morgan received commissions for schools, clubs, and conference centers, including major YWCA buildings from Salt Lake City to Honolulu. Churches, hospitals, sanitariums, sororities, and shopping centers - she designed them all, in a long career notable for a total of more than 700 structures designed and built. Her light-filled houses were carefully crafted in styles ranging from Arts and Crafts to Mediterranean and sizes ranging from modest cottage to elegant mansion. Her swimming pools were voluptuous, climaxing in the two peacock-hued beauties at San Simeon. Given the sweep of Morgan's accomplishments, it is astonishing that this is the first substantial book ever devoted to her career. Painstakinglyresearched for more than a decade by Sara Holmes Boutelle, founder of the Julia Morgan Association, this handsome volume lovingly documents Morgan's life and work. Letters, snapshots, working sketches, and blueprints bring the process of architecture to life, while striking photographs commissioned especially for the book record the results of Morgan's multifaceted creativity, from the china she designed for the Berkeley Women's City Club to the tiled towers and gilded ceilings at San Simeon.Customer Reviews
Superb volume on Morgan, 2007-08-25
by magellan (Santa Clara, CA)
This is an outstanding book on Morgan's life and work. Well written text, detailed history, biographical information, and quality photos of the many buildings are just of few of the book's strong points. Morgan designed hundreds of buildings during her over 50-year career, and the author deserves credit for covering so many of them. Of course, she is most famous for the projects she did for Hearst, such as the "Castle" and Wyntoon, the Austrian/Bavarian style estate near Mt. Shasta in northern California, but she created many other important buildings also, which get discussed in detail in this fine volume. Also included are scans of the original plans. Out of all the books on Morgan, this one is by far the best, and well worth your time and money.
A little side note here, I've done five different tours of the Hearst Castle over the years, so have had an opportunity personally to view one of her most important works. During one of the tours, the guide said that a few years ago they had a 6.4 magnitude earthquake there, but except for a few tiles that came off here and there, the castle sustained no damage. That's because despite the delicate looking surface ornamentation, underneath the building is steel reinforced concrete, with even thicker walls than necessary. As a result, the entire Hearst Castle sustained almost no damage during the quake, and no structural damage, and the only really dramatic thing that happened was the guide said that the quake shook things violently enough so that a lot of water sloshed out of the big Neptune pool. :-)
One of the guides said some interesting things about Hearst's wealth. By the standards of the time, he was certainly very wealthy, earning $50,000 a day back in the early 30s. But compared to the most wealthy people of the day, such as Rockefeller, who made one million dollars a day, this was relatively modest. Hearst was the 42nd wealthiest man in the U.S. at the time, his father, George Hearst, being 32nd, if I remember right. He spent 9 million dollars on the Castle, approximately one half a year's earnings, so percentage-wise, it was not that much money for him. But compared to the super-wealthy of the day, such as the Morgans, Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, etc, apparently it wasn't much. :-)
Back in the financial panic of 1905, J.P. Morgan, one of the wealthiest men of his time, lent the U.S. government 20 million dollars of his own money, back when that was a lot more, so it could temporarily keep operating. When Morgan died, Rockefeller commented, "He accomplished a lot for a man who wasn't that wealthy."
Anyway, just a few perhaps irrelevant comments on some of the history of the wealthiest individuals of the time. :-)
A little side note here, I've done five different tours of the Hearst Castle over the years, so have had an opportunity personally to view one of her most important works. During one of the tours, the guide said that a few years ago they had a 6.4 magnitude earthquake there, but except for a few tiles that came off here and there, the castle sustained no damage. That's because despite the delicate looking surface ornamentation, underneath the building is steel reinforced concrete, with even thicker walls than necessary. As a result, the entire Hearst Castle sustained almost no damage during the quake, and no structural damage, and the only really dramatic thing that happened was the guide said that the quake shook things violently enough so that a lot of water sloshed out of the big Neptune pool. :-)
One of the guides said some interesting things about Hearst's wealth. By the standards of the time, he was certainly very wealthy, earning $50,000 a day back in the early 30s. But compared to the most wealthy people of the day, such as Rockefeller, who made one million dollars a day, this was relatively modest. Hearst was the 42nd wealthiest man in the U.S. at the time, his father, George Hearst, being 32nd, if I remember right. He spent 9 million dollars on the Castle, approximately one half a year's earnings, so percentage-wise, it was not that much money for him. But compared to the super-wealthy of the day, such as the Morgans, Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, etc, apparently it wasn't much. :-)
Back in the financial panic of 1905, J.P. Morgan, one of the wealthiest men of his time, lent the U.S. government 20 million dollars of his own money, back when that was a lot more, so it could temporarily keep operating. When Morgan died, Rockefeller commented, "He accomplished a lot for a man who wasn't that wealthy."
Anyway, just a few perhaps irrelevant comments on some of the history of the wealthiest individuals of the time. :-)
Best general interest book about Morgan, 2002-01-08
Comprehensive with great photographs, this is a good place to start learning about Morgan's career.
The true Julia Morgan becomes known, 2000-10-15
I have always been interested in Julia Morgan's work but I have never been able to find enough solid and valuable information about her and her work. I own all of the Julia Morgan books, that is every book written about Julia Morgan. This, by far, is the best composition of the true character of Julia Morgan. Not only do you get an entire biography with incredible detail but you also get insight from hundreds of pictures, scans of actual plans Julia Morgan drafted and entires from other important persons. This book is a must have if you are looking for "the" book covering everything in Julia Morgan's life. This book stands alone among all the other Julia Morgan reads. I suggest that if you are looking for a book about Ms. Morgan, this is the best book, brings the greatest attention to detail that you will ever find about Julia Morgan.
Wonderful Review Of A Forgotten Master, 2000-06-14
by Peter F. Stubbs (Portland, OR United States)
A wonderful survey of a truly great Architect. Great photos. Original drawings. A detailed career history & biography. Most of the better known masters haven't gotten this kind of treatment; Ms. Morgan deserves it. GREAT book.
Julia Morgan, Architect, 2000-03-29
Beautiful book! Author does a lovely, sensitive job profiling Morgan, and her career as the first licensed female architect in the US. I also really enjoyed the socio-cultural, and artistic context of the early 20th Century. The extensive photographs are a wonderful addition - imperative in a book dealing with a visual art. One of the very richest architectual books I've seen in a long time, and a great addition to anyone's collection.
Book Details
| Pages | 271 |
| Edition | Rev Upd Su |
| ISBN | 0789200198 |
| Publisher | Abbeville Press |
| Publication Date | 1995-08 |
| Sales Rank | #69476 |