Jump to content

Casa Romantica

Add links
Coordinates: 33°25′18.04″N 117°37′13.87″W / 33.4216778°N 117.6205194°W / 33.4216778; -117.6205194
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 24.250.95.165 (talk) at 18:21, 6 January 2020 (→Cultural Center). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Casa Romantica, renamed Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens, is a nonprofit organization located in San Clemente, California that provides cultural programs for people of all ages.[1] The organization was founded in 2002 by a charter of the City of San Clemente and is located at the historic home of Ole Hanson, who co-founded the City of San Clemente. Casa Romantica is listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Orange County, California, on December 27, 1991.[2]

Casa Romantica
Casa Romantica as viewed from San Clemente Pier
Casa Romantica is located in California
Casa Romantica
Casa Romantica is located in the United States
Casa Romantica
Location415 Avenida Granada
San Clemente, California 92672
Nearest citySan Clemente
Coordinates33°25′18.04″N 117°37′13.87″W / 33.4216778°N 117.6205194°W / 33.4216778; -117.6205194
Built1927
ArchitectCarl Lindbom
Architectural styleSpanish Colonial Revival
NRHP reference No.91001900[3]
Added to NRHPDecember 27, 1991

Mission

Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization and is the historic home of the founder of the City of San Clemente. Casa Romantica provides programs for all ages in arts, music, history, and horticulture and is a premier Southern California cultural center.

History

Construction of the Home

Ole Hanson, a real estate developer and one-time mayor of Seattle, visited San Clemente in the early 1920s and chose the site to create his ideal community, a "Spanish Village by the Sea." On December 6, 1925, Hanson persuaded people who had driven from Los Angeles and the surrounding areas for a free chicken dinner and a sales pitch to buy more than 300 lots in what then was a desolate landscape remote from the rest of southern California.[4] Hanson and co-founder H.H. Cotton devised San Clemente as one of the first master-planned cities in California, with town boundaries consisting of roughly five miles of coastline by one mile from the shores to the inland hills. In 1927, Hanson commissioned architect Carl Lindbom to design a home for his family that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. Lindbom, who also designed La Casa Pacifica (the former Western White House), realized the construction of Hanson's California Dream home: a seven-bedroom, seven-bath house[5] that included the finest materials and innovations in construction at that time. The Hanson family brought exotic furnishings, plants, and animals to the home, with colorful fish that filled the courtyard pool and several horses for beach rides.[6]

Ownership

Hanson's vision of a master-planned Spanish village prospered until the Great Depression destroyed the national economy. In 1934, the Bank of America foreclosed on the Casa Romantica. Hanson paid his $3 million debt by endowing the bank $12 million in mortgages.

Over the years, the house has been owned or operated by at least seven individuals or organizations, and has been renamed at least three times.

Years Owner/Operator Property Name Purchase Price Usage
1927 Ole Hanson Unknown Unknown Home
1934 Bank Of America Unknown Foreclosed Home
1941 Neil and Lucy Rasmussen[7] Unknown $10,000 Home
1946 Lambert and Patricia Schuyler (Co-authors of book titled "Close That Bedroom Door!"[8]) Casa Romantica $30,000 Home
1952 Evalyn Waring (Ex-Wife of entertainer Fred Waring) Casa Romantica $64,644.44 Home
1956 Muriel & Leslie Whitehouse Casa Blanca $45,000 Home
1960 George and Louise Welsh Casa Descana, then Casa Romantica $43,591 Senior Citizens' Home
1984 Leased to Private Business Casa Romantica - Special Events
2000 San Clemente Redevelopment Agency Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens $2,500,000 Cultural Center

Transformation into a Cultural Center

The San Clemente Historical Society, which has been instrumental in preserving many of San Clemente's original buildings, appealed to the City of San Clemente to purchase Casa Romantica and to register it as a historic landmark. Casa Romantica was purchased by the San Clemente Redevelopment Agency in 1989, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 27, 1991.

For the next several years, its proposed use was debated, but a city council vote in November 2001 determined that the landmark would be designated as a cultural center with a mixture of public and private funding.[9] The vote was swayed by a $1.25M anonymous donation from the Orange County Community Foundation that earmarked the funds for use in a cultural arts or educational center.[10] Following a $3.6M renovation, Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens opened its doors to the public in 2003.

Current Usage

Cultural Center

Today, Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens provides programs for all ages in arts, music, history, horticulture and literature. As the epicenter of arts and culture in south Orange County, the cultural center produces over 60 concerts, workshops, classes, recitals, lectures, and events per year. Several of its programs have been critically acclaimed by the regional press, including its unique Classical Music Festival and Academy[11] and its specially-commissioned rendition of the Shakespearean play Hamlet.[12]

Casa Romantica is a member of the American Horticultural Society, admission to which enables free admission to a network of 300 gardens in the United States, Canada, the Cayman Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The 2.5 acres of gardens are an example of coastal landscaping that includes some of the original plantings made by Ole Hanson in 1927. Also included in the Garden is a display of Native American plants used by the Acjachmen Indians.[1]

Casa Romantica is led by its Executive Director, Amy Behrens.[13]

Private Events

Casa Romantica may be reserved for special events including weddings, photography and videography shoots, and other corporate or private events. It has been featured as a top Orange County destination in Wedding Wire,[14] Sunset magazine,[15] The Knot,[16] and Westways magazine.[17]

Address

415 Avenida Granada San Clemente, California, 92672, USA

References

  1. ^ a b "Casa Romantica – San Clemente -". www.casaromantica.org. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2011-04-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/ca/orange/state.html
  4. ^ SWEGLES, FRED. "How a 6.8 quake in 1925 shook things up for San Clemente". The Orange County Register. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-07-28. Retrieved 2019-06-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-04-28. Retrieved 2011-04-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2011-04-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ "The Mankind Quarterly". July 1961: 69. Retrieved 12/8/2012. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ "California Coastal Commission Records" (PDF). California Coastal Commission. November 13, 2001. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  10. ^ GOTTLIEB, JEFF (1999-03-27). "Gift Enables Arts Center at Historic Home". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  11. ^ "Sign in to Orange County Business Journal | Orange County Business Journal". www.ocbj.com. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  12. ^ Hertzog, Christian (2015-04-15). "Hamlet Takes Over a Lavish Beachfront Mansion". L.A. Weekly. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  13. ^ https://www.casaromantica.org/leadership/
  14. ^ "Editors' Picks: Best Architecture". www.weddingwire.com. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  15. ^ "One perfect day in San Clemente, CA". Sunset. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  16. ^ "Wedding Reception Venues > Casa Romanitica Cultural Center and Gardens".
  17. ^ AAA. "Automobile Club of Southern California - 2016-day-trip-san-clemente". www.calif.aaa.com. Archived from the original on 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Casa_Romantica&oldid=934469168"