The Beach House Story

The Annenberg Community Beach House at Santa Monica State Beach is a new 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.

Past

The 5-acre oceanfront site upon which the Annenberg Community Beach House now sits was originally developed during the Gold Coast era of the 1920s by William Randolph Hearst for actress Marion Davies. The Davies estate featured a mansion of 100-plus rooms and an ornate marble swimming pool. As with many Hearst projects, the vision of architect Julia Morgan provided a cohesive grace to the rambling estate. The Beach House was a hot spot on Santa Monica's Gold Coast, with Hearst and Davies entertaining luminaries from the Hollywood set, such as Charlie Chaplin, Louis B. Mayer, Samuel Goldwyn, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable and other stars of the day.

In 1947, Joseph Drown purchased the property from Davies and converted into Oceanhouse, "America's Most Beautiful Hotel," along with the Sand & Sea Club, a limited-membership beach club. After the Oceanhouse venture ended, the main mansion was demolished in 1956. The popular sand & Sea Club continued to operate.

 

Present

The property was sold to the State of California in 1959, continuing to operate as the ever-popular Sand & Sea Club under a concession agreement. 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.

In recovering from the earthquake, the City embarked on an extensive public input process to re-envision the role of 415 PCH as an important public gathering space. 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.

Staff from the Foundation and the City worked with Frederick Fisher Partners, Architects; Charles Pankow Builders; Historic Resources Group; Mia Lehrer & Associates; and Roy McMakin to form the new Beach House. The project involved rehabilitation of the historic Marion Davies Guest House and pool, as well as construction of new recreation and event spaces. The Beach House is another step forward in the City of Santa Monica's commitment to sustainability - it has been awarded a Gold LEED rating from the US Green Building Council.