Montalvo Arts Center facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Villa Montalvo
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Villa Montalvo
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| Location | 15400 Montalvo Rd., Saratoga, California |
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| Area | 177 acres (72 ha) |
| Built | 1912–14 |
| Architect | William Curlett Charles Gottschalk |
| Architectural style | Late 19th And 20th Century Mediterranean Revival, Italian-style villa |
| NRHP reference No. | 78000784 |
| Added to NRHP | May 1, 1978 |
Have you ever heard of a place where art, nature, and history all come together? That's exactly what the Montalvo Arts Center is! It's a special place in Saratoga, California, where people can enjoy art, explore a park, and walk on hiking trails.
At the heart of it all is the historic Villa Montalvo. This beautiful mansion looks like an Italian villa and is tucked away in the hills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. A very important person named James D. Phelan built the mansion and its estate between 1912 and 1914. After he passed away, he gave the entire property to California. It became a public park and then the amazing arts center we see today.
The Montalvo Arts Center works with Santa Clara County to take care of the estate. The mansion is so important that it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. This means it's a recognized historic landmark!
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Exploring the Mansion and Grounds
The Montalvo estate is huge, covering about 175 acres (71 ha) of land. That's even bigger than when it was first bought! It has many large buildings, lovely gardens, and wild natural areas.
When you visit Montalvo, you can find:
- Two theaters for shows
- An art gallery
- The old Villa Montalvo mansion
- A special place for artists to live and work, called The Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Program
- Fun hiking trails
- Beautiful gardens
The mansion itself has 19 rooms and two floors. The first floor used to show art, but now it's mostly used for weddings and other special events.
Outside, the gardens are decorated with cool marble sculptures. The big front lawn is sometimes used as an outdoor theater for plays and performances. The woods behind the mansion are open for everyone to explore. Since the property was given to the public, new hiking trails have been added. These trails wind through hills filled with tall Redwood trees.
A Look Back in Time: Montalvo's History
In 1911, James D. Phelan bought 160 acres (65 ha) of land in the countryside of Saratoga, California. Phelan was a very important person. He was the mayor of San Francisco three times. Later, he became California's first US Senator chosen by public vote.
Phelan started building his dream mansion in 1912. The first architect in charge was William Curlett. When Mr. Curlett passed away in 1914, his son, Alex Curlett, and partner Charles E. Gottschalk finished the work. The mansion was completed that same year.
During his life, Phelan loved to invite famous people to stay at Montalvo. Many well-known artists and celebrities visited him there. Some of his guests included Jack London, Ethel Barrymore, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Edwin Markham. Even though Phelan had other homes, Villa Montalvo was one of his favorites. It's also where he passed away. You can sometimes see old photos and letters from his life in the mansion's library.
When Phelan died, he left Montalvo to the public. He wanted it to be a place where art, writing, music, and architecture could grow. He wrote:
I would like the property at Saratoga, California, known as Villa Montalvo, to be maintained as a public park open under reasonable restrictions, the buildings and grounds immediately surrounding the same to be used as far as possible for the development of art, literature, music, and architecture by promising students.
In 1930, the San Francisco Art Association (SFAA) took over caring for the estate. They quickly decided to start a program for artists to live and work there. This was one of the first programs of its kind in the United States! It began in 1939 with ten artists. In 2004, it became the Montalvo Art Center's Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Program. New studios were built for artists to live and create.
After World War II, some people worried about the future of Villa Montalvo. So, they formed a group called the Montalvo Association. This group took over the estate in 1953. Today, the organization is known as the Montalvo Arts Center.
The Montalvo Arts Center Today
Today, the Montalvo Arts Center is a private non-profit organization. This means it's run by people who want to help the community, not make money. They work with Santa Clara County to keep the park and arts center open for everyone.
The center gets money from memberships, donations, ticket sales for shows, and renting out spaces. More than 600 volunteers help out every year. They give thousands of hours to support the art programs and keep the villa and grounds looking great.
Since 1939, Montalvo has welcomed "artists-in-residence." These artists live and work on the property for a period of time. They can be musicians, painters, actors, writers, or architects. While they are there, they create new art and sometimes give performances. More than 600 artists from 20 different countries have been part of this program, including Karla Diaz.
In 2003, Gordon Knox helped create a new, modern artist residency program at Montalvo. In 2004, the Sally and Don Lucas Artists Programs opened. They offer great facilities and technology to help artists be creative.
There's also a small art gallery called the Project Space Gallery. It's located in a building between the mansion and the Carriage House Theatre. The Montalvo Arts Center and its programs welcome almost 200,000 visitors every year!
The Montalvo Arboretum
Even though it's called the Montalvo Arts Center, many local people still call it "Villa Montalvo." Behind the main center, there's a large 137-acre (55 ha) arboretum and botanical garden. An arboretum is like a park where many different kinds of trees and plants are grown for people to study and enjoy.
This arboretum is free to visit during the day. It's also an Audubon Society bird sanctuary, meaning it's a safe place for birds. You can find dirt paths that lead from a redwood canyon up to Lookout Point. This spot is about 1,200 feet (370 m) high and offers great views!
The arboretum has different types of forests. You can see chaparral (a type of shrubland), evergreen trees, and tall redwood trees. Some trees that naturally grow in the Santa Cruz Mountains include:
- Bay trees
- California nutmeg trees
- Douglas fir trees
- Big-leaf maple trees
- Tanoak trees
- Coast live oak trees
Other common plants in the area are broom, mountain mahogany, chamise, coyote brush, madrone, manzanita, monkey flower, pitcher sage, poison oak, and toyon.
How Montalvo Got Its Name
James Phelan named his beautiful home Villa Montalvo to honor a famous Spanish writer from the 1500s, Garci Ordonez de Montalvo. This writer is famous because he actually invented the name "California"!
In one of his stories, he wrote about an island full of gold and jewels. This island was ruled by a queen named Calafia and her army of Amazons. In the story, these Amazons even used griffins in battle! A griffin is a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. If you look closely around the Montalvo Arts Center grounds, you might spot images of griffins "standing guard."
