Modjeska House

Last updated
Modjeska House
MadamModeska.JPG
Madame Helena Modjeska
in the garden at "Arden"
USA California location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location29042 Modjeska Canyon Road
Modjeska, California
Coordinates Coordinates: 33°42′32.4″N117°37′30″W / 33.709000°N 117.62500°W / 33.709000; -117.62500
Area14 acres (57,000 m2) [1]
Built1888
Architect Stanford White
Architectural style Queen Anne
NRHP reference No. 72000244
CHISL No.205
Significant dates
Added to NRHPDecember 11, 1972 [2]
Designated NHLDecember 14, 1990 [3]
Designated CHISL1935 [4]

Modjeska House, also known as Arden, is a house designed by Stanford White in Modjeska Canyon, California. It is significant for being the only surviving home of Helena Modjeska, a Shakespearean actress and Polish patriot. The property is located in a live oak grove on the banks of Santiago Creek in Modjeska Canyon, California.

Contents

History

Modjeska came to America with her husband Count Karol Bozenta Chłapowski in 1876 from Poland, and created a retreat for when she was not performing on stage. To design a large Victorian country house, she hired one of America's leading architects, Stanford White. They named it "Arden" after the forest setting of Shakespeare's play As You Like It and planted gardens with olive trees, palms, English yews, white lilac, and crown of thorns. It was their home from 1888 until 1906.

Post-Modjeska years

After the property was sold, the romance associated with Modjeska's life attracted developers who marketed parcels of the property for vacation homes. In 1908, Gustave A. Schweiger bought the home and operated it as a bed and breakfast. In 1922, local Rotary groups discussed buying the property to use as a country club. [5] In 1923, the Walker family of Long Beach purchased parcels of land in the canyon that included the Modjeska house and its surrounding wooded area. [6]

Historic site

Modjeska House was declared a California Historical Landmark in 1935. [4]

In 1986, the Orange County Harbors, Beaches and Parks Authority purchased the 14.4-acre property for $1 million [7] and established it as a historical site. A major restoration occurred before the site could be opened to the public. The original house had no indoor plumbing or utilities. A limited number of visitors are allowed on tours. Directions to the park are given after making reservations. [8]

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1990. [1] [3]

The house was featured in Visiting... with Huell Howser Episode 920. [9]

Marker

Marker at the site reads:

See also

Related Research Articles

La Purisima Mission Spanish mission in California, United States

Mission La Purísima Concepción, or La Purísima Mission is a Spanish mission in Lompoc, California. It was established on December 8, 1787 by the Franciscan order. The original mission complex south of Lompoc was destroyed by an earthquake in 1812, and the mission was rebuilt at its present site a few miles to the northeast.

Anaheim, California City in Orange County, California, United States

Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most populous city in California, and the 56th-most populous city in the United States. Anaheim is the second-largest city in Orange County in terms of land area, and is known for being the home of the Disneyland Resort, the Anaheim Convention Center, and two major sports teams: the Anaheim Ducks ice hockey club and the Los Angeles Angels baseball team.

Huell Howser

Huell Burnley Howser was an American television personality, actor, producer, writer, singer, and voice artist, best known for hosting, producing, and writing California's Gold, his human interest show produced by KCET in Los Angeles for California PBS stations. The archive of his video chronicles offers an enhanced understanding of the history, culture, and people of California. He also voiced the Backson in Winnie the Pooh (2011).

Santa Ana Mountains

The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately 61 miles (98 km) southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside counties.

Descanso Gardens

Descanso Gardens is a 150-acre (61 ha) botanical garden located in La Cañada Flintridge, Los Angeles County, California.

Birthplace of Richard Nixon United States historic place

The Richard Nixon Birthplace is the birthplace and early childhood home of Richard Nixon, the 37th president of the United States. It is located on the grounds of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum at 18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard in Yorba Linda, California, and serves as a historic house museum.

Arrowhead Springs, San Bernardino, California Neighborhood of San Bernardino in California, United States

Arrowhead Springs is a highly mountainous neighborhood in the 81-square-mile (210 km2) municipality of San Bernardino, California, officially annexed to the city on November 19, 2009. The neighborhood lies below the Arrowhead geological monument, which is California Historical Landmark #977.

Helena Modjeska

Helena Modrzejewska, known professionally as Helena Modjeska, was a renowned Polish actress who specialized in Shakespearean and tragic roles.

Whitewater River (California)

The Whitewater River is a small permanent stream in western Riverside County, California, with some upstream tributaries in southwestern San Bernardino County. The river's headwaters are in the San Bernardino Mountains and it terminates at the Salton Sea in the Colorado Desert. The area drained by the Whitewater River is part of the larger endorheic Salton Sea drainage basin.

Silverado, California Unincorporated community in Orange County, California, United States

Founded in 1878, Silverado, a California Historical Landmark, is an unincorporated community in Silverado Canyon, which is located in the Santa Ana Mountains in eastern Orange County, California. Portions of the town sit on a former Mexican land grant Rancho Lomas de Santiago. Silverado is located at the boundaries of Cleveland National Forest. The area was mined for silver during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Remnants of mining operations such as the Blue Light Mine are still scattered in the area. Timber was harvested for use by the railroad. Coal was mined at the time in Carbondale. Ancient sea life fossils can be found within the sandstone cliffs in the area. During Spanish rule, the canyon was visited by Spanish explorers and was known by the name Cañada de la Madera. The town in Spain by that name bears a remarkable resemblance to Silverado. The area enjoyed a renaissance in popularity in the 1940s as a hot springs vacation retreat, during which time hotels and restaurants prospered. Many weekend cabins were also built at that time. Home to a number of artists and craftsmen, the town now consists of about 2,000 residents, a general store, a cafe, a public library, a church, two fire stations, a community center, and a post office. It hosts summer concerts, an annual Country Fair, and an Easter breakfast. A local landmark near Silverado is Cook's Corner, a bar popular with motorcyclists.

Emigration Canyon, Utah Metro Township

Emigration Canyon is a metro township and canyon in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States, located east of Salt Lake City in the Wasatch Range. Beginning at the southern end of the University of Utah, the canyon itself heads east and northeast between Salt Lake City and Morgan County. The boundaries of the metro township do not extend to the county line, nor do they encompass all of Emigration Canyon, as parts of it are within Salt Lake City. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,568.

Modjeska Canyon, California Unincorporated community in Orange County, California, United States

Modjeska Canyon is an unincorporated community on the western slope of the Santa Ana Mountains in eastern Orange County, California. It is a suburban community of several hundred residents, with a small park and a volunteer fire station. The ZIP Code is 92676, and the community is inside area code 714.

Theodore Payne

Theodore Payne, was an English horticulturist, gardener, landscape designer, and botanist. His best known work was done over his adult life in Southern California.

Jack London State Historic Park United States historic place

Jack London State Historic Park, also known as Jack London Home and Ranch, is a California State Historic Park near Glen Ellen, California, United States, situated on the eastern slope of Sonoma Mountain. It includes the ruins of a house burned a few months before Jack London and family were to move in, a cottage in which they had lived, another house built later, and the graves of Jack London and his wife. The property is both a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Landmark.

Santiago Fire

The Santiago Fire was a wildfire located near Santiago Canyon in Orange County, California, U.S., and one of thirty California wildfires of October 2007. The fire was intentionally started.

Governors Mansion State Historic Park United States historic place

The California Governor's Mansion is the official residence of the Governor of California, located in Sacramento, the capital of California. Built in 1877, the estate was purchased by the Californian government in 1903 and has served as the executive residence for 14 governors since. Since 1967, the mansion has been managed by California State Parks as the Governor's Mansion State Historic Park. The mansion was not occupied by governors between 1967 and 2015 and is again unoccupied since 2019.

Cornelia White House Historic building in Palm Springs, California

The Cornelia White House is a historic 1893 wooden residential structure located in downtown Palm Springs, California, and is one of the oldest surviving structures – of any kind – in the town.

Santiago Creek

Santiago Creek is a major watercourse in Orange County in the U.S. state of California. About 34 miles (55 km) long, it drains most of the northern Santa Ana Mountains and is a tributary to the Santa Ana River. It is one of the longest watercourses entirely within the county. The creek shares its name with Santiago Peak, at 5,687 ft (1,733 m) the highest point in Orange County, on whose slopes its headwaters rise.

Jose Serrano Adobe United States historic place

The José Serrano Adobe is a historic 1863 adobe house in Lake Forest, Orange County, California. The property is one of four historic buildings in the Heritage Hill Historic Park. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 1976.

Gates of Anaheim California historic landmark

The Gates of Anaheim are a series of gates in California that mark the historic entrance to Anaheim, California. Four city gates were built: North, East, South, and West. They were designated a California Historic Landmark (No.122) on March 29, 1933.

References

  1. 1 2 James H. Charleton (June 16, 1990). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Forest of Arden / Arden / Modjeska House / Modjeska County Park" (pdf). National Park Service.Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying photos, exterior and of Helen Modjeska and others, from 1988, c.1893 and undated  (1.00 MB)
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  3. 1 2 "Modjeska House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2007-11-14. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
  4. 1 2 "Modjeska House". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved 2012-10-11.
  5. "Rotarians Want Modjeska Home" (VII). La Habra Star. September 8, 1922. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  6. Modjeska House & Gardens OCParks Commission Archived 2007-10-26 at the Wayback Machine , retrieved on November 18, 2007.
  7. Logan, Dan (April 1990). "Once in Arden". Orange Coast Magazine : 106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113.
  8. "Arden" - Helena Modjeska Historic House and Gardens, Orange County Parks, retrieved on June 26, 2016.
  9. "Modjeska House – Visiting (920) – Huell Howser Archives at Chapman University".
  10. Marker Database Home of Madame Modjeska, 205