The Monday Club’s 100-Year Legacy Continues in San Luis Obispo

The Monday Club on Monterey Street in 2025 and 1934. (Photo / Natalie Walloch) (Photo / Grace E. Barneberg Papers, California State University Archives) 

At the end of Grand Avenue, tucked between a hotel and a pizza parlor, there’s an almost century-old clubhouse constructed by Hearst Castle architect Julia Morgan. 

Built in 1933 to 1934, the clubhouse is home to The Monday Club, a women’s club devoted to improving the community through charity. Although the club recently celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2024, the members are as lively as ever. 

“The women before us mean everything to me,” said Vicki Carroll, director of building and grounds for the club. “These women thought ‘Here we go! We can vote. We want to feel like we have power.’ And what they did to get this building, Julia Morgan’s contribution, the start of their organization, and so many improvements to San Luis Obispo. It’s a very big deal.” 

The club hosts or participates in a few different philanthropy events each year, but one has been prevalent for almost three-quarters of the club's existence. 

“We’re in our 63rd year, I think, doing a fine arts award for high school students,” Carroll said. “It's really fabulous, because we always felt like academics were always recognized for students, but not necessarily art.”

Since the award began in 1961, the club has given away hundreds of thousands of dollars to high school musicians and artists, according to Caroll and the club's website.

One of the newest annual fundraisers hosted by The Monday Club is Valentine’s Day take-away dinners benefitting Lumia Alliance, the club’s conservatory fund, and their fine arts scholarship. This event began during the COVID-19 pandemic, and “was so successful, we kept doing it, and it sells out every year,” Carroll said. 

The club members themselves also donate gift cards, donations and personal care items to Lumia Alliance, according to Carroll. 

Along with the fine arts scholarship and take-away dinners, the club hosts an annual gala fundraiser for the preservation of the clubhouse. They also hold book drives as well as give generous donations for Raising A Reader of SLO County, a program dedicated to encouraging children to read as a resource for brain development. 

The clubhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016, and the members consistently prioritize the conservation of the house. 

Architect Julia Morgan was commissioned by the club’s president Grace Barneberg to build the clubhouse after she visited previous homes designed by Morgan in San Francisco. Morgan was inspired by the brave women of the club, and was happy to contribute to their cause, according to Carroll. 

The stage and ballroom floor of The Monday Club, featuring the orginal flooring and rafters of the clubhouse. (Photo / Natalie Walloch) (Photo / Grace E. Barneberg Papers, California State University Archives)

“The building is the number one priority,” said Carroll. “We rent it out for events to raise money, but we prioritize preserving it because it is an incredible treasure. What [the founders] did was huge, but they never had the thought in mind, even through multiple decades, that they really needed to focus on preserving the building.”  

Home to the passions and dreams of generations of women in SLO, The Monday Club continues to benefit the community and preserve the history of those who came before them. 

“I heard someone say the other day, talking about their grandmother in the club in the 50s, ‘those women were badass,’” said Carroll. “And I have to agree, they were, and yeah, we hope to continue to honor them through our work.”