In the past I’ve told you that my sister Gail and I take a trip together, just the two of us, every five or six years. Well we decided to include our little brother Mark and go this year to visit her in Oakland, California at the end of June. We had meant to take him on a trip three years ago when he turned 60 but schedules did not work out. Mark lives in Irvington too and has delivered our newspapers. So this is Day 3 of an 7 day trip.
We had enjoyed ourselves in San Fran the day before but this Sunday was Pride Day so to avoid the crowd we visited Oakland. My sister is an architect and I wanted to be an architect growing up, but my high school wouldn’t let me take drafting, so I stuck with fine arts. My brother also should have been an architect — like me, one of his favorite things is to study floor plans and our trip to California was to see the Hearst Castle, which was on his bucket list.
Architect Julia Morgan had designed the Hearst Castle and also 700 other projects during her career (she holds the record for total completed structures designed by a single American architect). She lived in Oakland where my sister lives but she was born in 1872! Julia was the first woman to graduate with an engineering degree from Berkeley in 1894 and to go to the prestigious L’École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She was the first woman architect to be licensed in California. She had her own firm in San Francisco (1904). So for Day 3 we decided to seek out more of her designs.
Paula Nicewanger/Weekly View
Chapel of Chimes Columbarium in Oakland.
We started with the Chapel of Chimes Columbarium in Oakland which is an incredible labyrinth of fountains, trees, natural light and some notable deceased. Thousands of little niches filled with urns shaped like books (pictured here). We ran into a former co-worker of my sister’s with his family and had a nice visit in the quiet beautiful spaces designed by Julia Morgan. We drove through UC Berkeley and saw numerous buildings she had designed. Then we stopped at the Claremont Hotel to take a peek at it’s architecture and have a break. My sister’s Richard (significant other) found a grand piano in the lobby and started playing (he’s quite accomplished). We were able to always find him on this vacation by listening for a piano (he played a half dozen on this trip).
Then we were off to see the Berkeley City Club that Julia build in 1929. The City Club is a hotel/events venue with a fine dining French restaurant called Julia’s. Go online berkeleycityclub.com to see more photos including historical ones.
While in Berkeley we stopped at the First Church of Christ, Scientist built by world-famous architect Bernard Maybeck (considered his masterpiece), Julia’s teacher and mentor. It’s the only building in Berkeley designated a National Landmark. It was built in 1910. It was closed when we visited, but we peered into every window and space. Go to berkeleyheritage.com to see more details and photos.
Julia Morgan was an astonishing architect and she was ahead of her time in her use of reinforced concrete in her construction which helps make her buildings earthquake proof. One reason she was so prolific in her business was because the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 which gave her many commissions in the rebuilding of the Bay Area.
Much of my own sister’s architectural work is making existing buildings earthquake proof. Looking at Julia’s life, she retired in 1951 (the year my sister was born) and my sister too is an amazingly talented architect.
It’s a good thing we three siblings didn’t bring along any other family members, because we would have driven them crazy with all the time we spent looking at architectural details.
Next Time — Day 4, leaving for San Jose to see the Winchester Mansion.
