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# NO. 5: $21 million given to city
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/no-5-21-million-given-to-city/
- Published: 2004-12-31T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T05:55:17.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Environment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

TO RESTORE BEACH CLUB In December, the Annenberg Foundation announced it would give City Hall $21 million to help restore the Marion Davies Estate. Built in the 1920s by newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, tAn eyesore on Santa Monica Beach for more than a decade, ore than a decade, Originally a 100-room mansion lived in by Hearst’s mistress, actress Marion Davies, the property at 415 Pacific Coast Highway was bought by the state in 1959, which leased it to a private beach club for three decades. It has languished in disrepair since 1994.

Philanthropist Wallis Annenberg took a personal interest in the site after reading a Santa Monica newspaper article detailing City Hall’s desire to repair the remaining historical components, but the local government lacked funding. With the foundation’s donation in hand, officials hope to have the site open to the public in 2008\. Tentative plans call for preserving the property’s original guest house and swimming pool, and refurbishing a three-story locker building, along with a beach cafe and paddle tennis and volleyball courts. A banquet center with ocean views would be available for public and private events.

City officials said Santa Monica already has garnered approximately $1.4 million in state and federal grants to support the project and has contributed an equivalent amount of local dollars. Before Annenberg expressed an interest in the site, City Hall was poised to approach private developers.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 31, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/123104.pdf?ref=smdp.com)