PROFILE
being torn down. And in the 1970s those buildings were just getting to be 50-years-old. Originally, there were about 500 buildings that Ole built back in that short period of time, be- tween 1926 and 1930, when the depression hit. The buildings were getting of an age where people were tearing them down to put up apartment buildings. A group of citizens were getting very concerned because they were tear- ing down not just the small, dilapidated build- ings, but they were tearing down these big, important buildings, along the cliffs. So that was the real impetus. There was a building called the ‘Barteau’ building, that was right at the end of Cazadore lane; a beautiful house. That was bulldozed, and so a group of people got together and formed the historical society and encouraged the city to start saving these buildings. They were an important part of our history. So that was the impetus, 40-years-ago.
What’s been the inspiration for the design of this house that you’re living in now? The Spanish Colonial Revival style. When
we were designing this house, we went around town and looked at all the details that we could find. We didn’t want to copy an ‘Ole’, but we wanted to incorporate any of the features that we thought we liked. We looked around town here, and we also went outside of town, to other Spanish Colonial Re- vival buildings that we found in Los Angeles, and put together all the little details that we liked. We had our archi- tect try to incorporate as many of those as we could.
What do you think has been the most interesting period of San Clemente’s history? The founder’s period, definitely. Ole
started selling lots when there was nothing here. He set up a tent and started selling lots in December of 1925. So for that short period of time, in 1926, 27, 28 and 29, it was like a gold rush town here. It was just construction every- where. They called in carpenters from far and wide. They built over 500 buildings, commercial and residen- tial. So it’s hard to imagine what it looked like around here. Every- where you looked there must
Culbertson, dresses up as San Clemente’s first Mayor, Tom Murphine at a recent fundraiser.
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have been construction going on, so it was a very exciting time for the town.
What’s been an interesting story that you’ve heard about San Clemente?
The stories about the Casa Romantica are
the some of the most interesting. Ole saved that best five acres for his family. He built probably the most amazing house in town. The whole story about Ole with 6 of his 10 children living with him at that point in time. The stories surrounding that are amazing. He had a pool in the middle with goldfish, and he was given an alligator that ate the goldfish. He was given all kinds of exotic birds. He was quite an interesting character.
Where do you see the San Clemente Historical Society going in the immediate future? We’re going to continue doing what we’ve
been doing. We have several different facets of what we do. Our goal is to encourage ap- preciation of the heritage of San Clemente. We go about doing that in several different ways. We try to educate the public, we set up our booth on the first Sun- day of the month, we write letters to the editor,
go to city coun-
cil meetings. We try to keep the idea of
San
Clemente, with the white
stucco walls and red tile roofs, keep that Ole Hanson story in the minds of people. We’re going to keep doing that. A large part of that is preser- vation. Even though 40 years ago we slowed down the de- struction of the build- ings, there are still forces that are work- ing to change the his- toric structures and even to eliminate them. So we are con- stantly trying to re- mind the public that we need to hold on to these historic
re-
sources because they are an important part of history and our identity. So were going to keep doing that, keep educating the public, keep work- ing for the preserva- tion of the historic resources, keep on doing what we’re doing. ❂
Term Insurance Ready to Renew? Larry Culbertson built his home in 2007, but utilized many Spanish
Colonial influences. Like this keyhole doorway reminiscent of Casa Romantica’s famous entryway.
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www.franksinsurance.com SAN CLEMENTE JOURNAL 19
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