Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds

Helen Salisbury, a Stanford student, won a naming contest in 1913 by coining a portmanteau from the Spanish *asilo* and *mar* — refuge by the sea — and the name stuck. Between 1913 and 1929, architect Julia Morgan designed 16 buildings here for the YWCA in the Arts and Crafts style; 11 remain. California acquired the property in 1956, declared it a National Historic Landmark in 1987, and it still operates as a working conference center and state beach on the western tip of the Monterey Peninsula.