Annenberg Community Beach House

Santa Monica, CA

Overview

Pankow provided design-build services for the rehabilitation of the historic 5 1/2-acre Marion Davies Estate for the City of Santa Monica and the Annenberg Foundation, whose grant of $27 million has made the project possible. The beachfront estate was constructed in the 1920s by William Randolph Hearst and designed by Julia Morgan. Today, the site includes three elements from the original Marion Davies Estate fully restored: the Guest House, Swimming Pool and a bulkhead. Project scope also included a renewed site with sand and outdoor recreational areas anchored by 18,141 SF of new one and two-story buildings.

The project, which is an adaptive reuse project rather than a renovation, adhered strictly to historic guidelines and was reviewed by the city’s landmark commission to assure the project’s appropriateness in preserving the historicism of the site.

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