Submitted by Kristi Wachter on
Julia Morgan (1872 - 1957) designed institutional buildings, churches, and residences all over the San Francisco Bay area.
Born in San Francisco in 1872, she attended the University of California at Berkeley, studied architectural design with Bernard Maybeck, and in 1902 she received a degree in architecture from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the first woman to do so.
She worked for John Galen Howard, then opened her own firm in 1905.
She designed several buildings for women's organizations. Her first commission was from Mills College, and she designed buildings in many cities for Y.W.C.A. chapters.
She also completed many commissions for William Randolph Hearst and his wife Phoebe. The Hearst compound near San Simeon is one of her best-known - if least representative - projects.