Steilberg, Walter, 1886-1974

Biographical Note

Walter T. Steilberg, noted California architect and engineer, was born on May 12, 1886, in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1890, his parents, Willie and Matilda, relocated the family to San Diego County, where they took up ranching.

As a young man, Steilberg worked briefly for architects Irving Gill and Myron Hunt. While studying for his architecture degree at UC Berkeley, Steilberg joined the practice of John Galen Howard as a drafter, participating in the design of Wheeler Hall, the UC Library, and the president's house. After graduation in 1910, Steilberg worked for Julia Morgan for a year, upon the advice of architect Arthur Brown. Steilberg rejoined Morgan's practice in 1918, and continued to consult for her through the 1930s, even after he left to start his own practice.

According to the biographical statement of the Environmental Design Archives at UC Berkeley, "Steilberg had just built a home for himself and his family on Panoramic Hill when the influenza pandemic of 1918 took his mother; his wife, Rowena – an artist who designed detailing for some of his projects – and his newborn daughter. 'Miss Morgan knew just what to do for me,' he told [architectural historian Sally] Woodbridge. 'She had me working about 16 hours a day.' Steilberg gave the home he had designed for himself and Rowena to her parents, then built another for himself nearby, where he lived with his second wife and raised a family. Panoramic Hill became Steilberg country, dotted with homes he built for clients and friends."

While working for Morgan, Steilberg directed the stone-by-stone dismantling of the Santa Maria de Ovila monastery, a thirteenth-century structure built by Cistercian monks on a hilltop, overlooking the Tagus River in Spain, about 90 miles northeast of Madrid. The monastery building was shipped to San Francisco, where Morgan and Hearst contemplated its use at Wyntoon. When the plans were dropped for lack of funds, Morgan convinced Hearst to give the stones to the city of San Francisco for a medieval museum to rival Manhattan's Cloisters. Morgan contributed additional plans and by 1941, the city had selected a site in Golden Gate Park. After a series of arson fires at the warehouses obliterated the markings on the stones, the city lost enthusiasm for the project. This last great collaboration between Morgan and Hearst was never realized.

According to a 2005 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, in the 1930s "Steilberg experimented with concrete houses, influenced by the destruction wrought by the Berkeley fire of 1923, and the Santa Barbara earthquake of 1925. The Depression also affected his thinking, grandson Jonathon Dwyer says. He also saw concrete houses as an economical way to provide housing for workers and, after World War II, for returning veterans and their growing families. Steilberg developed and patented a system he dubbed 'Fabricrete' that involved hollow concrete walls troweled onto steel mesh. When he couldn't get sufficient financing, he turned to a local building firm, Pacific Coast Aggregates, and designed structures using their large (3-foot-long) Berkeley Concrete Bricks. He also designed buildings using precast 4-by-8-foot concrete grids."

During World War II, Steilberg kept in touch with Julia Morgan when he relocated to Alaska to serve as an instructor for the Seabees. During the 1950s, he worked extensively in Saudi Arabia for Aramco.

Steilberg died at the age of 88 on December 6, 1974, succumbing to injuries after being struck by a car while walking near the UC Berkeley campus.

Sources

Reiss, Suzanne B., "The Work of Walter Steilberg and Julia Morgan," Vol. 1, Regional Oral History Office of UC Berkeley, 1974.

Weinstein, Dave. "'Julia Morgan': 'Earthquake Ambulance Chaser' Also Designed Economical, Romantic, 'Slightly Mediterranean' Houses.'" San Francisco Chronicle 3 Dec. 2005. 20 Feb. 2007 <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi- n/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/03/HOGU5G0P0G1.DTL&hw=morgan+engineer&sn=003&sc=558>

From the guide to the Walter T. Steilberg Collection, 1908-1974 (bulk 1918-1935), (Special Collections, Robert E. Kennedy Library)