Although primarily a “coffee table” book filled with absolutely gorgeous pictures, this book is chock full of interesting facts and information about the life and work of Julia Morgan, America’s first truly independent, woman architect .  I was immediately immersed in the fascinating history behind each of the buildings and the detailed descriptions regarding her use of local, natural materials complete with corresponding photos.

During her 45 year career as an architect Julia Morgan designed over 750 buildings, mostly in California and Hawaii and a good number of them are featured in this book. Julia Morgan is perhaps best known for her design of the Hearst Castle in all of its grandeur; however it was a pleasure to learn about and see many of her less publicized designs of private residences, churches, clubs and schools.

First exposed to her work many years ago, and living in an area where many of Julia Morgan’s buildings are still in use, I’ve developed a great appreciation of her designs, but knew relatively little about her as a person.  As an avid reader of biography’s, I was completely fascinated by the many details of both her public and private lives and enjoyed the way her personal history was interwoven throughout the book with the history of her buildings and the motivation behind their designs.

This is a great read for anyone interested in architecture, and the photography is stunning.

This is a great read for anyone interested in architecture, and the photography is stunning.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Gibbs Smith

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  None

Violence/Gore:  None

Sex/Nudity:  None

Mature Subject Matter:

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Alcohol / Drug Use:

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