Nic Caldwell, director of visitor experience with the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, gave a lively presentation about California artist, engineer and architect Julia Morgan during the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society annual meeting on Saturday.
Morgan designed the Minerva Club House, where the meeting was held, in the 1920s as a favor for a friend who belonged to the club. While Morgan designed over 700 buildings in a wide variety of architectural styles, she chose California craftsman for Minerva.
The interior also has, noted Caldwell, “elements of English Tudor revival.”
Caldwell described the life and career of the petite powerhouse who made her mark on the world with the design of the lavish Hearst Castle in San Simeon. Hearst Castle is a world-class structure, planned after Hearst requested that Morgan “build a little something” that could serve as shelter for his guests and family on his huge ranch.
Born in San Francisco, Morgan graduated from Cal Berkeley with a degree in engineering. She was the first woman to be admitted to the architecture program at l’Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, and the first female architect to be licensed in California.
Her success was hard won, as she had to battle the discrimination against women that prevailed during her lifetime.
Caldwell has an advanced degree from Oxford University. For several years she was on the staff of the San Simeon State Park organization that manages Hearst Castle, and was responsible for tasks related to the preservation of the countless artifacts on the property.
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Her presentation was laced with humorous and inspiring anecdotes about Morgan that delighted the attendees. One man was overheard saying “I have never been much interested in architecture but now I am a convert.”
Shelley Klein, curator of the Santa Maria Valley Historical Museum, presided over the business part of the meeting with humor, gusto, and dispatch. She announced the SMVHS Volunteer of the Year award would go to treasurer Sharon Frizzell.
An avid collector of all information regarding SMV history, Klein also made it known that she is retiring at the end of summer and she will be passing the torch to a successor.
The Minerva Club’s in-house caterer, Margie Maupin, prepared a buffet lunch of lasagna, Caesar salad and chocolate mousse cake. Among the Minerva members in the crowd was Lenora Watson, the president of the Minerva Club Building Preservation Fund, which oversees maintaining the integrity of the club house.
The club house has been designated as a national historical landmark.
Watson and her committee are looking forward to the start of docent-led club house tours, open to the public, later this year.
The SMV Historical Museum is located at 616 S. Broadway, adjacent to the Chamber of Commerce. It is open from 11 a.m. to 4p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
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