Julia Morgan was working on this site between 1913 and 1929. The project was to built a conference center built for the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in Pacific Grove, California. Asilomar was Morgan’s second large commission from Phoebe Apperson Hearst (William Randolph Hearst’s mother), who was a philanthropist, feminist and suffragist, to redesign this structure from a hunting lodge to a conference facility and summer camp for the YWCA. The association named it Asilomar which means”Refuge by the Sea” in Spanish.
The state park is located on 107 acres of state beach and conference grounds consists of 16 buildings. The buildings was constructed in Arts and Crafts style with many wide windows to be able to fully observe the beautiful outdoor landscape. Made out of stone, concrete, and unpainted redwood, California regional material that gives the buildings a warm and cosy looking, and reveal the beauty of coastal nature. The buildings are functional in various way, they were used as administration office, classrooms, and gathering place.
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Julia Morgan Architect 