After the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, architect Julia Morgan was called upon to rebuild the interior of which San Francisco hotel?

The luxurious Fairmont Hotel atop Nob Hill was nearly complete and scheduled to open when the great (Review) 1906 earthquake struck San Francisco. While the building's steel frame survived the tremors, the subsequent city-wide firestorm gutted its opulent interior, leaving a hollowed-out marble shell. The hotel's owners were determined to rebuild as a symbol of the city's resilience, and they needed an architect who could work quickly and incorporate modern, safer building techniques.

They turned to Julia Morgan, the first woman licensed to practice architecture in California. A graduate of the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Morgan was an early and influential advocate for using reinforced concrete. This material was prized for its structural strength and fire resistance, making her an ideal choice for a city rebuilding from rubble and ashes. Her expertise was seen as key to creating a grand hotel that was not only beautiful but also capable of withstanding future disasters.

Under Morgan's direction, the interior was magnificently restored with remarkable speed. The hotel opened its doors in 1907, just one year after the catastrophe, its revival celebrated as a powerful symbol of San Francisco's rapid rebirth. This early career triumph helped establish Morgan's reputation, decades before she would achieve even greater fame as the architect of the magnificent Hearst Castle.