By Tani Levitt By Tani Levitt | March 30, 2022 | Lifestyle,
A new biography of architect Julia Morgan examines the life of the woman who built some of the region's most impressive spots.
The cover of Julia Morgan: An Intimate Biography of the Trailblazing Architect
Victoria Kastner has an exceptional story to tell about an architectural legend whose popularity is skyrocketing. Indeed, Kastner, who spent 30 years as the official historian at Hearst Castle, knows more than a little about her subject, Julia Morgan. After all, Morgan designed the world-famous manse and many other of the most celebrated Bay Area buildings.
In 1907 Morgan moved her San Francisco office to the Merchants Exchange at 465 California St.
Kastner’s new book, Julia Morgan: An Intimate Biography of the Trailblazing Architect (Chronicle Books), tells the story of the first female architect licensed in California and a true design trailblazer. In this new biography, the author draws on archival images and more than 800,000 of Morgan’s own words of handwritten diaries, correspondences and notes with script “like little jagged mountain peaks” in service of the most in-depth portrait of Morgan yet. New details about Morgan’s relationship with the Hearst family dovetail with anecdotes of Morgan’s family challenges to paint a picture of a driving force.
In 1907 Morgan moved her San Francisco office to the Merchants Exchange at 465 California St.
In the past, explains Kastner, “the predominant myth [about Morgan was] that she burned her papers and that we’ll never know anything about her private life. I knew that wasn’t so, but I didn’t realize… she kept just everything!” New details uncovered in Morgan’s notes, such as “who had which room in the Pantheon in Grenoble, and who had the roast beef for lunch,” show Morgan’s meticulous nature and also open a door into her private life.
After writing a trilogy about Hearst Castle, Kastner’s fourth book is solely focused on Morgan and represents the author’s personal connection to the architect.
Morgan’s design for the indoor Roman Plunge
“I was born in Oakland, but I grew up in the Bay Area—in East Bay—and I think that’s why I love architecture,” writes Kastner. “No, I think it’s why I became an architectural historian… I cared so much about buildings. And the irony is I was surrounded by Julia Morgan buildings growing up.”
In 1927, Morgan began constructing one of her most lyrical and reverent buildings, Oakland’s Chapel of the Chimes.
This year marks Morgan’s 150th birthday, an auspicious time to read a book that celebrates a woman, who, as Kastner puts it, “really was, to her absolute soul, a champion of the Bay Area.”
Photography by: FROM TOP: COVER AND HEARST PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHRONICLE BOOKS; PHOTO BY ALEXANDER VERTIKOFF; PHOTO BY ALEXANDER VERTIKOFF; PHOTO BY CAROL M. HIGHSMITH; BY ALEXANDER VERTIKOFF