{"nrhp_refnum":"82004645","name":"Hearst Gymnasium for Women","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Oxford St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Berkeley","county":"Alameda County","state":"CA","lat":37.86959210200007,"lon":-122.25683830699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-03-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Hearst Gymnasium for Women is a two-story stuccoed reinforced concrete building on Bancroft Way on the central University of California campus in Berkeley, designed by Bernard Maybeck and Julia Morgan and built in 1927.","why_significant":"It was unrivaled in California as a lavish recreational facility for women at a higher-education institution. It is architecturally important as a work of romantic Classicism by two leading state architects, and historically linked to Phoebe Apperson Hearst and William Randolph Hearst, who gave it as a memorial to his mother.","narrative":"Hearst Gymnasium for Women is a long, two-story block of stuccoed reinforced concrete on Bancroft Way, aligned with the east-west axis of the University of California campus in Berkeley. Completed in 1927 to designs by Bernard Maybeck and Julia Morgan, it follows the eclectic Classic approach associated with the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Its south front has three matching pavilions, bronze-framed windows, fluted pilasters and a terrace with a balustrade and urns. On the north side, a large central pool sits between open courtyards, with planter pedestals carved with dancing figures. William Randolph Hearst gave the building as a memorial to his mother, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, replacing Hearst Hall, a Maybeck-designed gymnasium that burned in 1922. It was planned as a complete retreat for women students, with rooms for lounging, eating and sleeping, and was said to be the largest and most modern women's gym in the country. Filling its pools required Berkeley to build a new water treatment system on Bancroft Way.","period_of_significance":"1900-present","architect_builder":"Bernard Maybeck and Julia Morgan","architectural_style":"Eclectic Classic mode associated with the Ecole des Beaux-Arts (Neo-Classic)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as good, altered, on its original site; some interior alterations have not impaired its architectural integrity.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.623491-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/82004645.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004645/cd2a79558c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004645/cd2a79558c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hearst_Gymnasium_for_Women_(Berkeley,_CA).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Sanfranman59</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hearst_Gymnasium_for_Women_(Berkeley,_CA).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857328","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearst_Gymnasium_for_Women","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123279454"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/alameda-county/hearst-gymnasium-for-women-82004645/"}