William Bowers Bourn II

William Bowers Bourn II (31 May 1857 – 5 July 1936) was an American entrepreneur and socialite. Bourn ran and controlled the Empire Mine and the San Francisco Gas Company, he was an investor in Spring Valley Water Company, and he led a merger to what later became Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Bourn II was the builder of many estates in California, including Filoli, the country estate in San Mateo County, California.

Biography Bourn was born in San Francisco, California, on 31 May 1857, the second child of mining entrepreneur William Bowers Bourn and Sarah Esther Chase. He was educated at Union College, St. Augustine's College, an Episcopal missionary college in Benicia, and the University School in San Francisco.

He returned to California in 1878 to help his mother manage the family business interests.

In the 1890s he spearheaded the merger of electricity and gas companies in San Francisco, which would later become the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, and in 1890 began significant investments in the Spring Valley Water Company, which would be bought by the city government of San Francisco in February 1929 and, with the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir expansion which Bourn had opposed, become its water supplier. Bourn was regularly pilloried by the San Francisco Chronicle as a thief and scoundrel for water rates, but Bourn replied that the company needed to earn a reasonable return on its investments and was also making provision for future population growth.

Personal life Bourn was married in 1881 to Agnes Moody. 3270 17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, California. It was built in 1924 by architect George Washington Smith in a Spanish Revival style for Bourn's daughter Maud. Filoli, 86 Cañada Road, Woodside, California. This was the "country house" built in 1915 on his company land, by architect Willis Polk, it's open to the public for tours as it is one of best-known examples of an American country estate. In 1932 he made a gift of the Irish estate Muckross House, to the government of Ireland in memory of his late daughter, Maud. It was to become Ireland's largest national park, Killarney National Park. Empire "Cottage", (now located at Empire Mine State Historic Park), Grass Valley, California. It was commissioned in 1897, designed by architect Willis Polk. Greystone Cellars, 2555 Main Street, St Helena, California. It was built in 1888, by architect Willis Polk.