- The Arts and Crafts movement was based on pride of work
and a rejection of the mechanization of labor.
Women were an integral part of the movement,
working across multiple fields,
from textiles to ceramics to architecture.
Julia Morgan is perhaps one of the movement's
greatest architects in the United States.
Julia Morgan was born in San Francisco in 1872.
She was educated at University of California, Berkeley
and went to Paris to study at l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts.
In 1904 Morgan became the first woman
licensed to practice architecture in the United States.
She is best known for the design and construction
of publisher W.R. Hearst's legendary California
coastal estate San Simeon, or Hearst Castle.
But Morgan's influence was far greater than just San Simeon.
Over her career she designed almost 700 buildings,
many of them now considered architectural masterpieces.
One-third of her commissions came from
women's colleges and organizations.
Nevertheless, she faced issues as a woman
who designed structures, not the interior decoration.
A great example comes from a newspaper story
on her commission of the Fairmont Hotel
after the 1906 earthquake.
The article read, "Is the building really in the charge
"of a woman architect, I asked the foreman. The man
"read me a powerful sermon of just three short
"sentences punctuated with the earnestness
"of a Reform orator. An architect's an architect, he said,
"and you can count them all on the fingers in one hand.
"Now this building is in charge of a real architect,
"and her name happens to be Julia Morgan,
"but it might as well be John Morgan."
Morgan integrated the Arts and Crafts concepts
into her work with the landscape of California,
designing buildings that incorporated local materials,
remained true to the nature of materials,
integrated the site and landscape and employed
skilled artists and craftspeople
to execute work of superb quality.
When William Randolph Hearst inherited
his family's 250,000 acre ranch he wrote
Morgan complaining of the rustic conditions.
"Miss Morgan, we are tired of camping out
"in the open at the ranch in San Simeon,
"and I would like to build a little something."
The result was one of the largest
and most beautiful estates in America.
For 28 years Morgan designed and supervised
every aspect of construction at Hearst Castle.
Her design responsibilities included most of the estate's
structures, landscaping, pools, animal shelters
and workers' camp, down to the smallest detail.
Morgan was also responsible for design and construction
of five Mission-style residences for Hearst's top employees,
a Mission-style warehouse in the town of San Simeon
and four steel warehouses in San Simeon
to house Hearst's extensive art collection.
As William Morris designed an English cottage
or Gothic style for his buildings in England,
Morgan looked to California's past,
the Spanish Mission and Renaissance style.
San Simeon combined multiple styles
and types of construction to appear
as if it was built over time.
Perhaps the most telling feature however
is the Neptune Pool, an aesthetic and engineering triumph.
The swimming pool, one of Morgan's specialties,
is a clear indication that this is an Arts and Crafts
movement on a sunny, California hillside.