Around the World - Column by Jennifer Merin

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Around The World: Montecito’s Estate Life

Jennifer Merin

Once you’ve heard of Madame Ganna Walska, you‘re unlikely to forget her. For one thing, her name is memorable. And, she was a fascinating woman whose legacy is a marvel to behold.

If you’ve never heard her name--and, truth be told, it’s known to a relatively limited number of people who just happen to stumble upon her story--you’re probably wondering who she was and what she did.

Simply put, Madame Walska was and is an icon of the self-styled celebrity that bloomed during Hollywood’s early years. She was scandalous and high-living, a socialite who worked her way through six well-heeled marriages, each of which boosted her social standing, influence and fortune. Her husbands were a Russian count, a NY physician, a multimillionaire tycoon and sportsman, a newspaper heir, the ’death ray’ inventor and a noted authority on yoga and Tibetan Buddhism. Technically, she was Madame Ganna Walska d'Eighnhorn Fraenkel Cochran McCormick Matthews Bernard.

Madame All That’s sizeable fortune, boundless ambition and inexhaustible imagination expressed itself in a wonderful and quirky place called Lotusland, which--a bit like its creator and owner--is a secret treasure.

Despite its Disney-esque name, Lotusland isn’t a theme park. It’s a private estate in Montecito, a lovely and affluent coastal community adjacent to Santa Barbara, about 90 miles north of Los Angeles.

Montecito is renown for ultra-lavish estates and extraordinary architecture, but Lotusland is a standout and stand alone attraction in that its open to the public for tours. It has one of the world’s most extraordinary private gardens--every square foot of which was the creation of Madame Walska.

No, you won’t find the lady of the manor at home, unless it’s as a ghostly presence. Madame Walska died at the estate in 1984, bequeathing Lotusland and her fortune to the Ganna Walska Lotusland Foundation. Under its aegis, Lotusland’s been preserved--furnished interiors of the main house and other buildings, as well as all garden acreage--exactly as they were when Madame Walska wandered among them.

Lotusland’s an amazing place. From the moment you enter, you feel surrounded by indescribable specialness. At first glance, you’re caught up in the estate’s obvious grandeur, but when you pass that awe factor, you feel a subtle intangible air of tranquility and grace.

To reference the place from contemporary Hollywood’s perspective, you’d say that Lotusland would make an ideal setting for a lavish movie entitled Madame Walska and starring Meryl Streep.

Yes, Madame Walska is THAT interesting.

But she wasn’t always that grand. Actually, nobody knows just where and when she was born. Lotusland archivists say she was from Brest-Litovsk (Poland). According to one of her passports--deemed by experts to be most authentic of several she used while cruising around the globe--indicates her year of birth as 1887--with the name Hanna Puacz.

She became Madame Ganna Walska when she embarked on her career as an opera singer: Madame was the customary title for professional opera singers, Ganna is Russian for Hanna, Walska is for Hanna/Ganna’s favorite form of music, the waltz.

Madame Walksa traveled from NY to Paris and other cultural capitals singing with what was a notoriously bad voice. But she was exotic and creative, had a passion for life and luxuries, and a charm that garnered lots of attention--and admirers.

She was drawn to Southern California by the pleasant weather and progressive cultural climate. When she arrived, Montecito was already a retreat for wealthy socialites from the East Coast and a playground for famous Hollywood-ites.

When Madame purchased Lotusland, it was a well-established estate known as Cuesta Linda, a property dating back to 1882, when Ralph Kinton Stevens, a very successful California nurseryman, built it as his family’s home and commercial nursery.

The estate changed ownership several times before Madame Walska acquired it in 1941, at the suggestion of her sixth husband, Theos Bernard, the yoga and Tibetan Buddhism maven. They intended to use the place as a monastery for exiled Tibetan Buddhist monks, and renamed it Tibetland. But U.S. immigration refused to grant visas to the monks, who were, therefore, unable to settle at Tibetland.

Eventually, Madame Walska, who divorced Theos in 1946, moved in and renamed the estate Lotusland for the Indian lotus that thrived in one of the property’s ponds.

Lotusland became Madame Walska’s personal retreat and she became its obsessively fulltime gardener, improving the ground until she died there in 1982. During her 43-year residence, Madame Walska converted Lotusland into a series of gardens featuring rare plants. She was a gifted designer, but she hired the best landscapers of the day to help her: Lockwood de Forest, Ralph Stevens, William Paylen, Oswald da Ros and Charles Glass.

Haut gardening’s an expensive hobby, and Madame Walska spent a fortune acquiring rare plants. So determined was her pursuit of botanical beauty, she auctioned off her jewelry during the 1970s to pay for the cycad garden that was her final project.

Docent-guided tours of Lotusland are by appointment only (call 805-969-9990). Tours take two hours, cost $35 per person for adults, $10 per child.

Beyond Lotusland, you won’t be invited into the estates of Jeff Bridges, Carol Burnett, Ivan Reitman or other celebrities who reside in Montecito, but Casa del Herrero is open for visits. This is the former home of George Fox Steedman, who’d become rich running a foundry before he moved to Montecito in 1922. His antique-filled mansion was designed by George Washington Smith; the landscaping was by Ralph Stevens and Lockwood de Forest, who also worked on Lotusland.

Casa del Herrero, an eleven-acre property, was the Steedman family‘s private residence until the 1990s. The house and gardens have been preserved just as the family left them. Additionally, there’s George Steedman‘s workshop. He was an accomplished craftsman who worked with metals, including silver. The workshop has original tools.

Docent-guided tours are offered Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10 am and 2 pm. Tours take 90 minutes, cost $20 per person. Kids under 10 are not admitted.

One famous estate’s been converted into a luxurious hotel: the Montecito Inn, built in 1928 by Charlie Chaplin, specifically as a retreat where he could entertain close friends.

Endless parties no longer echo through the halls, but the property still exudes the gracious hospitality of that bygone era. You can get a guestroom from $245 per night, or just drop by for a drink and some ambience. Visit http://www.montecitoinn.com for bookings.

Although estate life prevails in Montecito, the town boasts lots of other pleasures: art galleries, charming boutiques, brilliant bistros, superb beaches. Fun spots where locals (ie, people whose faces are seen on the cover of People) hang out include: Pierre Lafond sidewalk café for great pastries, Tony’s Montecito Coffee Shop for breakfasts, Montecito Café in the Montecito Inn for finer dining and Pane e Vino Trattoria for great Italian cuisine. The estates have terrific kitchens, but Montecitans still like dining out.

Copyright 2008 Jennifer Merin

This news arrived on: 06/22/2008

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