James Phelan's Montalvo Many Accepted, One Declined

Abstract

San Francisco's ex-mayor, James D. Phelan, acquired his extensive Saratoga land holdings, constructed a Mediterranean villa, and planted a well-shaped but still barren slope in order that he and those whose company and talent he wished to share might bask in California's eternal sunshine. As an educated, cultured, and well-traveled millionaire this man of large affairs knew exactly what he wanted in a country estate. Expeditiously he blended the prerequisites superior natural setting, architectural good taste, modern domestic technology, and landscape gardening. Construction on this sprawling acreage began in 1912. The following year saw the setting in place of red Spanish tile, thus capping and completing Villa Montalvo. At a cost of but $70,000 a modest capitalist created a functional variant to San Simeon, the spectacular castle of San Francisco's more flamboyant man of the world, William Randolph Hearst. Montalvo became the West's most tasteful and serene of alternate residences.