Photo Credit: Courtesy of Grant Mudford
At the center of what was once Santa Monica’s fabled Gold Coast, the Annenberg Community Beach House traces its roots to the 1920s when newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst built an opulent seaside estate for famous Hollywood starlet Marion Davies. The 5-acre oceanfront site featured a mansion of 100-plus rooms and an ornate marble swimming pool. After serving its purpose as a party venue and social gathering place for Hollywood’s elite, Davies sold the property in 1947, and it was converted into OceanHouse, a luxury hotel, and the Sand & Sea Club. In 1956, the main mansion was demolished, and in 1959 the property was sold to the state. In the 1994 Northridge earthquake, all of the site’s structures suffered extensive damage.
Seeing the potential public value of the beachfront site, the city in the early 2000s set forth a plan to redevelop the facility as a community resource. The city embarked on an extensive public-input process to recreate the beach house’s role as not only a public gathering space, but a state-of-the-art municipal facility, featuring the latest technology and policies for optimal sustainability. Community input came from a broad range of stakeholder meetings, governing agencies and direction provided by the Santa Monica Community & Cultural Services Department.
With an overlay of sustainability, the design intent for the beach house--located at 415 Pacific Coast Highway at Beach House Way--centered on the landmark’s natural setting, its social history and the architectural remnants of its Hollywood heyday as expressed by the Davies Guest House. Specific design goals included:
