The National Park Service says James Duval Phelan bought 160 acres in the Saratoga foothills in 1911, and construction of the Mediterranean-style mansion began in 1912. William Curlett was the architect, and after his death his son Alex Curlett and partner Charles Gottschalk finished the work. John McLaren, the landscape designer of Golden Gate Park, laid out the grounds with hidden nooks and wisteria-covered pergolas. The NPS adds that Phelan bought antique carved doors in Granada, Spain, while in Europe promoting the 1915 World’s Fair. The villa is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The name and the griffins
Montalvo Arts Center says the estate is named for the 16th-century Spanish writer Garci Ordóñez de Montalvo, who first used the name “California” for a mythical island ruled by a queen named Califia. In the story, her Amazons rode griffins, and griffin statues still stand around the grounds.
Phelan’s guests, and his record
Phelan was a three-term mayor of San Francisco and California’s first popularly elected U.S. senator. The center says his guests at the villa included Jack London, Ethel Barrymore, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. The center’s history page also states that Phelan pushed Asian exclusion throughout his career and ran his failed 1920 reelection campaign under the slogan “Keep California White.”
From estate to arts center
Phelan died in 1930 and left the villa to the San Francisco Art Association. His bequest asked that it be kept “as a public park open under reasonable restrictions” and used to develop art, literature, music and architecture. Montalvo opened as a public arts center with artists in residence in 1939. The Montalvo Association took over as trustee in October 1953, and the organization took the name Montalvo Arts Center in 2005. Its Lucas Artists Program hosts residencies.
For another Saratoga landmark, see our Hakone Gardens guide.