About Asilomar

Located on 105 acres of forest, dune, and beach, the historic Asilomar Conference Center is set among pines and cypresses overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The Conference Center is located on the Asilomar State Beach where sea otters and seals can often be seen swimming. Retreat-goers share comfortable rooms in clusters of richly rustic buildings, many with beach and dune views.

The Asilomar Conference Grounds, the Monterey Peninsula, and the Monterey Bay are home to a wide variety of plant and animal life that live in the forests; in rivers, marshes, lagoons, and sloughs; along the seashore, in the bay and harbors; and, of course, in the Pacific Ocean. Many of these important habitats are being protected, restored, and preserved as healthy and natural environments for our wildlife— witness the result of the dunes restoration on-site. Asilomar is situated right on the Monterey Bay National Marine Life Sanctuary. Deer graze in the forests and meadows, while woodpeckers and squirrels gather in the pines; seals bask on the rocks and otters swim in the coves; and, when the season is right, the whales breech and spout offshore, and monarch butterflies fill the air.

Perhaps Asilomar’s most distinguishing feature is its rich history and the buildings designed by Julia Morgan. As California’s first licensed female architect, who assisted in the creation of Hearst Castle, Morgan created Asilomar’s original 15 structures between 1919 and 1928. Thirteen structures remain today and combined constitute her largest collection of Arts & Crafts–style architecture in one location. These structures are listed as a National Historic Landmark and are listed on the Registrar of Historic Places. Thirty years later John Carl Warnecke (best known for John F. Kennedy’s gravesite memorial) created seven more complexes that make up Asilomar today.