Annenberg Community Beach House Tour

Table Of Content

• See Cultural Programs & Tours
• Parking at the Annenberg Beach House
• Spotlight: Time for Change Foundation
• Best Beaches on Lake Tahoe in California
• Transforming a Private Beach Manor into a Public Paradise
• Santa Monica 101: The Santa Monica Pier
• Hours, cost, and information
• Annenberg Community Beach House Tour

It was built in 1929 by media mogul William Randolph Hearst for actress Marion Davies, and the property was sold and converted into the Oceanside hotel and Sand & Sea Club in the 1940s. The 110-room mansion was demolished in 1956, and the beach club continued to operate under a concession agreement with the State of California, which purchased the property in 1959. Over the years, the site has been a hotel and a limited-membership beach club. Davies sold the estate to a developer in 1947 and it was converted into luxury hotel Oceanhouse and the Sand & Sea Club, a limited membership beach club. A few years later, the Oceanhouse venture ended and the main mansion was torn down.

See Cultural Programs & Tours

Our free 20-minute docent tours are available on a walk-up basis for individuals and groups of up to six people. Just head to the Marion Davies Guest House where you will be greeted by a docent. In the modern two-story building next to the museum is a retreat space, a quiet playroom, and a gallery. The gallery features local artists and rotates several times a year. When Marion lived at the beach house from the 1920s to the 1940s, it was one of the few houses on the sand.

Parking at the Annenberg Beach House

Continuing north, the boardwalk passes beach volleyball courts that maintain the game's presence on the site where it was invented. On the inland side of the boardwalk north of the pool is a series of ground level terraces framed with landscape. These areas include a children's play area with a water feature and other spaces shaded by palm and melaleuca trees. The Event House contains three rooms of different sizes, two with fireplaces, for community use. This five-acre beachfront property, developed by William Randolph Hearst for actress Marion Davies, included a 100-plus room mansion and several houses designed by architect Julia Morgan. In 1947, Davies sold the property to Joseph Drown, who operated it as the Oceanhouse Hotel along with the Sand & Sea Club, a limited-membership beach club, until the mansion was demolished in 1956.

Spotlight: Time for Change Foundation

The Beach House Pool is one of the remaining elements fromthe historic Marion Davies Estate. It features marble around the deck andbeautiful tiles that were restored by hand. Because it is an historic pool, pleasebe aware that it isn’t as shallow as modern day pools. When visiting any City of Santa Monica facility, face masks, and physical distancing are required.

The Annenberg Community Beach House began as the Marion Davies Estate and was built for her by William Randolph Hearst. The Estate included a mansion of more than one hundred rooms and a marble swimming pool. Mr. Hearst and Ms. Davies entertained many famous Hollywood legends including Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, and Charlie Chaplin to name a few. The original mansion was torn down in 1956, but a guesthouse and the splendidly tiled swimming pool remain. Those historic assets have been restored and enhanced with new facilities for public recreation.

Take a ‘Sunset Swim' at a Famous Beach House - NBC Los Angeles

Take a ‘Sunset Swim' at a Famous Beach House.

Posted: Wed, 29 Jun 2022 07:00:00 GMT [source]

I think having a company meeting here would be difficult, I would spend too much time staring at the ocean. The reason I like taking guests here is that there is something for everyone– sun worshippers to those who hate beaches. Our newsletter hand-delivers the best bits to your inbox. Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news, events, offers and partner promotions. Each year in January, the Annenberg Community Beach House  and Santa Monica Conservancy throw a party for Marion’s birthday.

Santa Monica 101: The Santa Monica Pier

Information is usually published starting in November for the following year’s event. The City of Santa Monica selected the Santa Monica Conservancy to develop and operate a docent-guided tour program for the Annenberg Community Beach House. Sorrento Beach is the northernmost beach in Santa Monica State Beach yet just one mile from the Santa Monica...

Hours, cost, and information

The Annenberg Community Beach House has been recognized with a Gold LEED rating from the U.S. Green Building Council and is continually making improvements to increase environmental efficiency. The Annenberg Community Beach House at Santa Monica State Beach is a public beach facility, open to all. The Beach House is on the location of a now-demolished 110-room mansion that was built for Marion Davies by William Randolph Hearst.

Soon after, the State of California purchased the property, continuing to operate the Sand & Sea Club until the 1994 Northridge Earthquake severely damaged the structures. The site was originally developed by William Randolph Hearst for his mistress, actress Marion Davies, in the Gold Coast era of the 1920’s. Hearst worked with architect Julia Morgan to produce a 110-room Georgian Revival mansion complete with guest houses, tennis courts, and an ornate marble swimming pool.

Tour the Gold Coast era guest house year-round, and during summer, take a dip in the historic pool. As an event space like no other, the Beach House provides the perfect setting for meetings and celebrations, accommodating groups as intimate as ten to celebrations for 400, and available for film and photo shoots. The Beach House is a unique community destination, open to all, no membership required! With spectacular views, splash pad, playground, gallery, Marion Davies Guest House, beach courts & fields, community & cultural events, historic pool, free wi-fi, and more, there’s something for everyone to enjoy!

In the 1990s, the City of Santa Monica ran the facility, known as '415 PCH,' until the 1994 Northridge Earthquake severely damaged all structures on site. The Annenberg Community Beach House at Santa Monica State Beach is a public facility located on 5 acres of oceanfront property. The Beach House story is one of evolution from private to public, starting with the development of the property at 415 Pacific Coast Highway as an opulent private estate in the 1920s. In addition to the pool that welcomes children accompanied by an adult, the area next to the restaurant includes a splash pad and playground that is free of charge. The Annenberg Community Beach House has a large section of beach for you to enjoy, and it is free and open to the public.

Julia Morgan has had a great impact on the architectural landscape of California. The main area includes a restaurant called Back on the Beach. It is best to check the website for hours as they might not be the same as the beach house hours.

The grounds include a playground, courtyard, view deck, beach areas, and volleyball courts and are open to all with no membership required. Some years back, when the concept of developing a public beach house at the site evoked controversy, the Santa Monica Conservancy initiated a community support group known as Friends of 415 PCH. Led by Board member Joel Brand, the Friends rallied hundreds to the cause of preserving the historic site and renovating it for the public’s use.

The north part of Santa Monica State Beach is a wide sandy beach that runs north from the Santa... In 2004, Wallis Annenberg learned about the project and its broad-based potential community benefit. Her interest and generosity, in the form of a $27.5 million grant, paved the way for the site’s rehabilitation and reuse. The project is a partnership with California State Parks and the City of Santa Monica. Free capacity building and leadership development programs designed to assist small to midsize nonprofit organizations and their leaders in the Greater LA region.

To celebrate Marion’s 125th birthday back in January, 2021, the Annenberg Community Beach House hosted a virtual celebration in lieu of a live event. Stir up a Sunset on the Beach mocktail and celebrate the life and times of Davies – silent film actress, famed party hostess, and the original Beach House resident. Santa Monica Conservancy docents will be on hand to share the rich history of the Annenberg Community Beach House site from the 1920s into present day.

Although a reuse plan was adopted in 1998, the project sat on hold while the City tried to secure funding. Wallis Annenberg of the Annenberg Foundation, held fond memories of visiting the Sand & Sea Club. When she learned of the City's struggle to identify funding to realize its vision for a year-round public beach facility, she enthusiastically offered to help. The Annenberg Foundation provided a $27.5 million grant that paved the way for the site's rehabilitation. The historic guest house is the focal point of the sequence of spaces and structures.