Casa Romantica, officially known as the Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens, is a historic building in

San Clemente, California San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement" ) is a coastal city in southern Orange County, California, United States. It was named in 1925 after the Spanish colonial island (which was named after a Pope from the first century). Located in the ...

. It was the home of

Ole Hanson Ole Thorsteinsson Hanson (January 6, 1874 – July 6, 1940) was an American politician who served as mayor of Seattle, Washington, from 1918 to 1919. Hanson became a national figure promoting law and order when he took a hardline position during ...

who co-founded the city of San Clemente. Casa Romantica was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on December 27, 1991. Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization that provides cultural programs at the site. The organization was founded in 2002 by a charter of the City of San Clemente.

History

Construction

, 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. 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, who also designed

La Casa Pacifica La Casa Pacifica ( Spanish: ''La Casa Pacífica'', meaning "The House of Peace")Richard Nixon183 – Remarks at a Reception for General Secretary Brezhnev in San Clemente, California June 23, 1973. is a classic California beachfront mansion loca ...

(the former

Western White House Listed below are the private residences of the various presidents of the United States. Except for George Washington, all of them also lived at the White House (Executive Residence). For a list of official residences, see President of the Unite ...

), to design a seven-bedroom, seven-bathroom house for his family on a site overlooking the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. The foundation for the house was built by Oscar Easley, who did much of the street grading for San Clemente and also established the

Oscar Easley Block Oscar Easley Block, also known as Historic City Hall, is a prominent building that was one of the early founding buildings in San Clemente, California, originally built to house offices and a bank. The building was added to the National Register o ...

, which later became City Hall. Construction was completed in 1928. Lindbom used an eclectic "Spanish Revival" style with the main entrance to the house taking the form of a

moon gate A moon gate () is a circular opening in a garden wall that acts as a pedestrian passageway. It is a traditional architectural element in Chinese gardens. The shapes of the gates and their tiles have different spiritual meanings. The sloping ...

. An octagonal tower served as Hanson's study. The

roof tiles Roof tiles are overlapping tiles designed mainly to keep out precipitation such as rain or snow, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as clay or slate. Later tiles have been made from materials such as concrete, glass ...

were hand-made Mexican "thigh tiles". The floors are pegged hardwood, and all tiles for the hallways were imported from Italy. The sliding glass doors and provision of a bathroom for each bedroom were unusual for the 1920s. A pool in the courtyard was stocked with colorful fish and the gardens with exotic birds.

Later ownership

Hanson's vision of a master-planned Spanish village prospered until the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. In 1934, the

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

foreclosed on the Casa Romantica. Hanson paid his $3 million debt by transferring $12 million in mortgages to the bank. Beginning with Hanson, the estate has been owned or operated by at least seven individuals or organizations, and has been renamed at least three times.

Listing on the National Register of Historic Places and opening as cultural center

After an appeal by the San Clemente Historical Society to the City of San Clemente, the San Clemente Redevelopment Agency purchased Casa Romantica in 1989. The estate and gardens were listed on the

on December 27, 1991. For the next several years, its proposed use was debated, but in November 2001 the city council voted to designate it as a cultural center with a mixture of public and private funding. The vote was swayed by a $1.25 million anonymous donation through th
Orange County Community Foundation
earmarked for use for a cultural arts or educational center. After renovation, Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens opened its doors to the public in 2003.

2023 landslides

Cracks were discovered in the hillside below the house on April 16, 2023. On April 25, the city council approved funding for a study on how to stabilize the hillside. On April 27, a landslide just below the patio caused it to separate and to slip more than 20 feet, together with the landscaping. Casa Romantica was closed until further notice. The landslide also displaced residents of a nearby apartment complex, and led to the suspension of rail services on the line below the hillside, including Metrolink service between Orange County and the

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

in one direction and

Oceanside Oceanside may refer to: Places United States *Oceanside, California ** Oceanside Transit Center *Oceanside, New York Oceanside is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the southern part of the town of Hempst ...

in another. As of May 4, limited

BNSF BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide ...

freight service had resumed with restricted speeds, and as of May 27, passenger service had also resumed on the

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Pacific Surfliner The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is a passenger train service serving the communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo. The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is Amtrak's third-busiest service (exceeded in ridership only ...

and the Metrolink Orange County and Inland Empire–Orange County lines. The city of San Clemente began emergency work to stabilize the hillside. The Casa Romantica Cultural Center planned to reopen parts of the estate as soon as late May, with some upcoming cultural events to be hosted off-site. Repairs were expected to cost at least $250,000 and a fundraising campaign was started. Another landslide occurred on June 5, 2023, and rail service was again suspended. The city and transportation agencies are considering construction of a

retaining wall Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to ...

at the base of the hill to protect the rail line. In July 2023, the

Orange County Transportation Authority The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is the transportation planning commission for Orange County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. OCTA is responsible for funding and implementing transit and capital projects for ...

and the city of

San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement" ) is a coastal city in southern Orange County, California, United States. It was named in 1925 after the Spanish colonial island (which was named after a Pope from the first century). Located in the O ...

are constructing the retaining wall. The tracks reopened on July 19, 2023.

Organization

Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. The center provides programs for all ages in arts, music, history, horticulture, and literature, including more than 60 concerts, workshops, classes, recitals, lectures, and other events per year. These include the Classical Music Festival and Academy and a specially commissioned version of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet''. Casa Romantica is a member of the

American Horticultural Society The American Horticultural Society (AHS) is a nonprofit, membership-based organization that promotes American horticulture. It is headquartered at River Farm in Alexandria, Virginia. History Established in 1922, the AHS is one of the oldest nat ...

. The of gardens (half the original estate was sold in the mid-20th century) include some of Ole Hansen's original plantings made in 1927, and also a display of Native American plants used by the Acjachmen Indians. Casa Romantica is used for special events including weddings, photography and videography shoots, and corporate events. It has been listed as a top Orange County destination in WeddingWire, ''Sunset'' magazine, ''The Knot'', and AAA's ''Westways'' magazine.

References

External links

{{commonscat
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens
- official site
San Clemente Historical Society
Buildings and structures in San Clemente, California Houses completed in 1928 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, California Tourist attractions in Orange County, California Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in California Gardens in California Houses in Orange County, California