![]() The philanthropist approached Morgan with a request for a country house in 1903, even before Morgan had established her San Francisco practice. Through academic and professional ties to UC Berkeley, Morgan met her first high-profile patron: Phoebe Hearst. Things did extend from there, but usually there was some kind of network link.” “She got all of her work through word of mouth,” says McNeill, “and often there was a link to her family or to a women’s club or to her sorority. Karen McNeill, a Julia Morgan scholar, says family and education helped secure Morgan’s first clients. In those first years, Morgan relied on connections to obtain commissions. After taking the state certification exam in 1904, she achieved another historical distinction as the first American woman to head her own architecture firm. She worked for a UC Berkeley architect briefly before striking out on her own. Morgan proved the prediction right when she returned home in 1902. The Chronicle noted the occasion, predicting that Morgan would “probably practice her profession in San Francisco.” Degree in hand, she left for Paris six years later, where she became the first woman to receive an architecture certificate from the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1890, she enrolled at UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering. In 1887, the Chronicle labeled the area “one of the most desirable situations for residences to be found anywhere,” adding: “In no locality has there been more activity in the building of residences during the past six months.”Ībout the same time, Morgan was embarking on her path to becoming an architect. The construction of cable car lines in the 1870s and 1880s added convenience to the area’s natural charms, and many of the city’s wealthy residents began building homes here. While she enjoyed a comfortable childhood in Oakland, the new San Francisco neighborhoods were fast becoming a sought-after address. A closer look also reveals insights into her life and times.īorn in 1872, Morgan’s formative years coincided with the development of Pacific and Presidio Heights. The prodigious Morgan designed at least 15 homes and other buildings in the neighborhood and remodeled several more. Others have incidental encounters while walking around the Mills College campus, swimming at UC Berkeley’s Hearst Pool or meditating at the San Francisco Zen Center. ![]() Some seek out her work by taking a tour of Hearst Castle or the Berkeley City Club. For much of her adult life, Julia Morgan lived at 2229 Divisadero Street.Įvery year thousands of people visit a building designed by California’s most celebrated female architect, Julia Morgan.
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