Site Specific, Episode 2

Why and How We Care – Maintaining the Annenberg Community Beach House

What does it take to balance the needs of a nationally significant historic site with the demands of a wildly popular and inclusive community space? Look no further than the Annenberg Community Beach House. With its combination of sun, sea and Julia Morgan-designed pool, inclusive program of community activities, and adaptive reuse of silent film actress Marion Davies’ former Guest House and aforementioned pool, the Beach House team manages this juggling act every day.

On Friday, March 15, grab your lunch and join Conservancy Executive Director Kaitlin Drisko for the next episode of Site Specific. This time, Kaitlin will chat with Annenberg Community Beach House Manager Nan Friedman and John Lesak, Principal of Architecture, Planning and Conservation firm Page & Turnbull about operating and maintaining the unique site.

The conversation will cover such topics as this month’s restoration of the Marion Davies Guest House floors, 2021 historic pool restoration, insights on meaning and maintenance from a manager’s perspective and strategy behind the official Maintenance plan.

No registration is necessary, check back here on Tuesday, March 12 for the Zoom link.

Site Specific is a series of free lunchtime conversations hosted by Conservancy Executive Director Kaitlin Drisko. A preservation architect with over thirty years of experience, Kaitlin invites her colleagues to discuss the nuts and bolts of their current projects over Zoom. The program is focused on sharing what it takes to rehabilitate, restore, and reconstruct our historic places through a series of case-by-case examples.