A block south of the UC Berkeley campus, at 2315 Durant Ave., stands a six-story building of arches, courtyards and leaded glass that looks centuries older than it is.
A club built by women
According to the Berkeley City Club Conservancy, the club's founders were women active in separate civic, social, athletic and philanthropic causes who wanted one impressive, multi-use building to share. They chose Julia Morgan, then at the height of her career. The Berkeley City Club says ground was broken in 1929, the building went up in 11 months and its cost was fully funded by Berkeley women. The Conservancy says it opened in 1930 as the Berkeley Women's City Club with more than 4,000 members.
Morgan was born in San Francisco in 1872. The club's history page says she was the only woman in her UC Berkeley engineering class and the first woman admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Wikipedia says she was also the first licensed female architect in California.
The building
The Conservancy describes a blend of Romanesque and Moorish styles, with steel-reinforced concrete walls and ceilings shaped to look like wood, leaded glass windows, interior courtyards and an indoor swimming pool. Morgan also designed the furniture, light fixtures, fireplaces and even the dishes. The club's history says aviator Amelia Earhart spoke at an artists' tea there in 1936.
The Conservancy says the club has admitted men as well as women since 1962. Today it is a club, hotel, restaurant, event space and conference center. The building is a City of Berkeley landmark and a California Historical Landmark, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Tours
The Conservancy offers drop-in docent tours on the fourth Sunday of every month except December. The 45-minute tours run between 1 and 3:30 p.m. and cost $10, with a student discount. That puts the next public tour on Sunday, Nov. 22. Group tours on other dates can be arranged through the Conservancy.