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October 2013 www.rivieraassociation.org P.O. Box 4235 • Santa Barbara, CA 93140-4235
President’s Letter
Our Riviera Association newsletter once again commemo-
rates the Riviera’s 100th anniversary. In 1913 the newly
formed Riviera Company commissioned a survey that signaled
the start of residential development on the barren ridge you
see looming over Santa Barbara in the masthead above and
began its transformation into the beautiful tree lined neigh-
borhood we enjoy today. February’s first “centennial edition”
newsletter chronicled the key events and identified the person-
alities responsible for shaping our Riviera neighborhood.
If you didn’t get a chance to read it you can find it on our
website at www.rivieraassociation.org and learn how the State
of California’s decision to build a college on the site of today’s
Rivera Business Park, which eventually became UCSB’s first
campus, inspired further development. Discover why a neigh-
boring landowner’s construction of student housing across the
street was transformed into the El Encanto just a few years after
completion. Read the unusual biography of George Batchelder,
president of the Riviera Company, and the man recognized as
the “father of the Riviera” for his many aesthetic contributions
to our neighborhood. I’ve received many nice comments on this
centennial newsletter and would like to thank Chuck Croninger,
our editor, for his great work on this commemorative edition.
Riviera Centennial “Gathering on the Green” I would like
to invite you all to join us in a celebration of our neighbor-
hood’s first 100 years on Sunday, October 20, at 4:00 p.m.
on the Marymount School lawn. The celebration is intended
to be fun, informative, and filling. Instead of our traditional
reception and structured meeting, we have designed this al
fresco event to be more informal and interactive. Yes, we will
still serve nice wines and beverages while local musicians en-
tertain, but instead of a speaker filled agenda we have invited
a number of local organizations and prominent guests to host
information tables on the lawn. This format will allow you to
stroll around and meet with our special guests, gather informa-
tion and discuss issues of interest to you. Invited guests will
include city council and mayoral candidates who will be on the
November ballot and representatives from various community
organizations including: the Santa Barbara Historical Museum,
the Botanic Garden, Concerned Citizens for Safe Passage,
Santa Barbara Fire Department, and MarBorg Industries. Oh,
I almost forgot the “filling” part. Christine Oliver, our hospi-
tality chair, has arranged for a light, but tasty catered buffet
worthy of a centennial celebration. To ensure that we have
ample food and beverages on hand, please RSVP via email or
mail in the enclosed RSVP form—see details on insert.
2014 Membership I would like to thank members for your
continuing support of the association and remind you that it is
time to renew your membership for the coming year. I would
also ask you to encourage any friends and neighbors who are
not yet members to join. The more members we have, the more
effective we can be as a conduit for information, communica-
tion, and action. Please return the enclosed membership form
along with your check in the envelope provided or renew/join
online at www.rivieraassociation.org/join-now and pay by credit
card. And while you’re there, check out our new website and all
the useful Riviera news and information.
I am completing my last term as president in December,
but will remain on the board to facilitate a smooth transition
to my successor. I’ve enjoyed representing Riviera residents over
the past several years and working with a talented and dedi-
cated board of directors. I’d like to thank them for volunteering
their time and energy in support of the association’s mission to
enhance the quality of life here on the Riviera. And speaking
of volunteering, one-third of our board members’ terms expire
annually and I would love to hear from you if you are interest-
ing in serving on the board, or serving on a committee. Just
email me at [email protected] or call me at 966-5050.
I will also be hosting a Riviera Association information table at
our October 20 gathering along with other board members and
would encourage you to drop by and chat about various ways
you can get involved and share any suggestions you may have
on how our association can be more effective.
Kent Franke, President, Riviera Association
2 Riviera Association
As seen today, what is called the
Franceschi House in Franceschi
Park is the remodeling work of Alden
Freeman, who purchased the house and
15 acres in 1927. While the architectural
effort is without distinction, the exterior
decorative detailing hints at a tale worth
telling. Freeman was the son of the trea-
surer of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard
Oil and as such was not required to be
much else. After graduating from New
York University (BS 1882, MS 1887)
he dabbled successively and briefly in
architecture, banking, and wholesale
coal. In 1889, at the age of 27, he retired
from active business to breed horses and
“work” in New Jersey reform politics.
Alden was awakened to the issue of
free speech. The 40 year old Emma Gold-
man, a nationally known anarchist, was
to present the lecture, “Modern Drama,
The Strongest Disseminator of Radical
Thought” in Freeman’s hometown, East
Orange, New Jersey. When she and host
Freeman arrived, the police blocked
entry to the hall, whereupon Freeman
walked everyone down the street to the
garage and lawn of his East Orange man-
sion for the presentation. By the end of
the month Freeman had organized a free
speech movement public meeting at Coo-
per Union in New York City. The July 1,
1909 New York Times covered the event
with some amusement at the sight of a
“Very Orderly Anarchist” group made up
mostly of “Russian Jews or east siders of
some sort” being addressed by a million-
aire Mayflower descendent.
Having taken up the shield of a first
amendment warrior and borne it for
over seven months, Alden was in need of
some R&R. On February 5, 1910, he em-
barked from San Francisco on the steam-
ship Cleveland of the Hamburg-American
Line. Seven hundred and fifty
mostly American passengers
—with a larder of 19,000
bottles of wine and 6,500
gallons of beer—circumnavi-
gated the globe under the care
of a crew of 450. This is said to
have been the first around the
world charter. A casual view
of the passenger list indicates
it was not for the faint of
pocketbook. James R. Mellon,
the oldest son of the founder
of the Mellon Bank, and a
member of one of America’s
richest families was on board
with his wife.
In Freeman’s absence
Emma Goldman was not
resting. Spain, at the open-
ing of the twenty century,
was strained with anticlerical,
and antimonarchial tensions.
In 1901, the Spanish anarchist
Francisco Ferrer launched a modern
school movement free from state and
church control. The Barcelona school,
Escuela Moderna, was successful and
branches followed with adult education
centers and publishing houses attached.
It was all over by 1906 following the ar-
rest of Ferrer for an alleged plot against
the king. He was jailed for a year and
released. During his imprisonment the
school movement collapsed. Three years
later (1909) a Barcelona workers protest
turned to rebellion. Ferrer was accused
of masterminding the uprising and was
tried, convicted, and executed.
Within a year of Ferrer’s execution
and during Freeman’s cruise, Emma
Goldman and her sometime lover, life-
long friend, and fellow anarchist Alex-
ander Berkman founded the Francisco
Ferrer Association to publish Ferrer’s
works, memorialize his life, and launch
the Modern School Movement in New
York City.
The Ferrer Center and Modern
School opened in early 1911 with an
adult education program. In June 1911 a
banquet fundraiser, sometimes
called the “Anarchist Ball” was held
to support the expansion of the educa-
tional offerings to include a day school.
This would necessitate a move to larger
quarters. A presumably refreshed and still
well funded Alden Freeman was present
and added to his largess. He had been
contributing $50 a month toward the cen-
ter’s rent at its first location on St. Marks
Place in the East Village. Also present at
the ball was the occasional Ferrer Center
lecturer and donor, Prynce Hopkins, a
member of a prominent Santa Barbara
family, heir to the Singer sewing machine
fortune, and a recent Columbia College
graduate student of John Dewey.
By 1912, the center and school were
moved a few blocks north to 104 East
Twelfth Street and on Alden Freeman’s
recommendation, the leadership of the
Modern School, was given to a 27-year-
old college teacher and former Catholic
seminarian, Will Durant. Will’s career in
progressive education and his mother’s
fading hope for a priest in the family
were both ended by a well aimed arrow
Anarchists, Socialists and Millionaires
The Riviera Association News,
Vol. 101—September 2013, is a free
newsletter published semiannually
by: The Riviera Association
P.O. Box 4235
Santa Barbara, CA 93140-4235
Riviera Association 3
from Cupid’s quill. In 1913 he
married a 15 year old student, Ariel, and
they went on to share nearly 68 years of
marital life and an extremely successful
writing career.
During these transitions, fellow
school benefactor Prynce Hopkins had
given up a hypnosis practice in Brooklyn.
Leaving his anarchist, socialist, and paci-
fist friends, but not their philosophies,
he returned to Santa Barbara to launch
his school, “Boyland” on Riviera land his
father bought for the project in 1913.
On July 4, 1914, The Ferrer Center
and Modern School suffered a public
relations disaster when the Lexington
Avenue tenement apartment of the
editor of Emma Goldman’s journal,
Mother Earth, was accidentally destroyed
by a bomb blast. Anarchists with ties to
the Ferrer Center had been assembling
a bomb with the intent of killing John
D. Rockefeller. Two plotters and one in-
nocent room renter were killed.
Apparently, for Alden Freeman,
this was too much dog biting the hand.
He quietly backed away from
anarchists, socialists, and
pacifists and by the national
election of 1928, along with
most of the country, was a
Hoover Man. Alden’s final
“goodbye to all that” appears
in his 1928 decoration of the
Franceschi House. The upper
level exterior walls of the house
display cast plaques of Vladimir
Lenin next to John D. Rock-
efeller with Emma Goldman
nearby. Will Durant is on the
ground floor. No hierarchical
intent is known. Completing
that artistic flourish Alden sold
his Dover Road house, gave
the city all his other Riviera
real estate for park land and
moved to Miami Beach to
pursue other architectural
interests. The next house he
caused to be built in 1930
was Casa Casuarina, known
modernly as “Versace’s House”
which is currently on the market
for $75,000,000.
As the Modern School in New York
was blowing apart, Prynce Hopkins’ Santa
Barbara school, Boyland, was coming
together. It soon outgrew its Tremonto
Road, Riviera location. No problem. In
1915 Prynce now the heir to his father’s
fortune, bought 30 acres overlooking Oak
Park, set the building project in motion
and was off on a nine month trip to the
Far East and Russia. In October of 1917
the school made this mild shift in loca-
tion and a milder shift in philosophy.
Prynce had discovered Montessori. Noth-
ing was to come of either adjustment;
location or philosophy.
As anarchists use bombs, pacifists
use books. In response to the growing
pressure to take the country to war, paci-
fist Prynce Hopkins published two books.
One was something of a cut and paste
job, consisting of antiwar quotes with a
slightly inflammatory title, More Prussian Than Prussia. It was enough. On April 8,
1918, federal agents raided the school and
arrested Hopkins and six others under the
U.S. Espionage Act. Hopkins’ attorneys
negotiated a plea bargain allowing the de-
fendants to escape jail. A fine was levied
on all: Hopkins, $25,000; coconspirators
$10,000 each. The notoriety killed the
school. At the end of WWI, when he
could obtain a passport, Hopkins was
off to a base in London for the between
war years to pursue what would become
his life interests: travel, psychoanalysis,
eastern religions, ethical culture, left-wing
politics, with some fleeting attention
going to a first wife and a second school
effort outside Paris. This school operated
from 1926 to 1935. At this point his life
begins to read like a travel itinerary and a
check book register. The onset of WWII
drove him and his second wife (his first
wife having tired of it all in 1929) and
children back to Southern California and
finally in his later, wifeless years to where
it all began, 1900 Garden Street, Santa
Barbara, California.
Now, patient reader, to the last ele-
ment in this reflection on six degrees of
separation. Back in 1910 we had Alden
Freeman sailing around the world on the
Cleveland with wine, wealth, and enter-
tainment. What we know of this voyage is
due to the literary efforts of three cruise
members which resulted in two books:
40,000 Miles Around the World by George
Tome Bush and Around the World on the Cleveland by William G. Friezell and Rev.
George H. Greenfield. Rev. Greenfield,
a former Methodist, was the Presbyterian
minister in Elko, Nevada sailing with his
wife, mother-in-law Margaret Gale Ferris
(this should start the wheels turning)
Dangberg, and Margaret’s granddaughter,
Grace Melissa Dangberg.
Three years after the cruise, in 1913,
author Rev. Greenfield, now the Con-
gregational Minister in Santa Barbara,
would build one of the first houses on
the Riviera at 1538 Alameda Padre Serra.
Fourteen years later his fellow Cleveland
passenger, Alden Freeman would briefly
join the neighborhood with his purchase
of the Franceschi property and a house
on Dover Road. As Rev. Greenfield surely
said somewhere on his trek through Prot-
estantism, “Thus endeth the lesson.”
Franceschi House
1913“Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course with rocks, and stones and trees.”
In Santa Barbara: George Batchelder
hired a team of surveyors and set his
Riviera development into motion; Charles
Hopkins bought his son Prynce 14 acres
of land on Tremonto Road to establish a
boy’s school; and the Franciscan’s erected
a wooden cross on the front lawn of the
mission. Meanwhile New York City and
Paris were otherwise occupied.
In the building arts, New Yorkers
saw the opening of Grand Central
Terminal.
In pictorial arts, a $5,000 rental
agreement was signed for the use of the
69th Regiment Armory on Lexington
Avenue, for one month beginning mid
February, 1913. The Armory would house
the International Exhibition of Modern
Art, later to become known simply as The
Armory Show. It attracted 87,000 visitors
before moving on to disturb midwestern-
ers and give the Chicago Art Institute
bragging rights as the first museum to
hang an exhibition of modern art. The
show ended at Boston’s Copley Society
of Art sans the American component
because of limited display space.
Two-thirds of the 1,600 works were by
Americans but it was the remaining works
of “European extremists,” so characterized
in a review by retired President Theodore
Roosevelt, that drew the eye of his-
tory. All the staples of modern art
were present: Picasso, Matisse (Blue Nude—viewed by Roosevelt as a
“misshapen nude woman”), Seurat,
Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Duch-
amp (Nude Descending a Staircase #2) described by another reviewer
as resembling “an explosion in a
shingle factory.” This review did
not prevent the painting’s sale at a
price that pleased the 26 year-old
Duchamp—$324.
In Paris on May 29,1913
Igor Stravinsky debuted his ballet,
The Rite of Spring. Within a few
minutes of the opening notes,
boos, and catcalls rose from the
audience followed by acrimoni-
ous arguments between support-
ers of the avant-garde and those
affronted. The discord grew so
loud that the dancers could not
hear the orchestra and the cho-
reographer, Vaslav Nijinsky, was
forced to shout directions from
the wings. Legend reports that the event
turned from scuffle to riot calling for
police intervention. Calmer histories cite
a vegetable bombardment and 40 patrons
being evicted but no gendarmes. The
show did go on. A leading Paris art critic
judged the work “puerile barbarity.”
The premiere of the United States
Federal Income Tax as provided by an
Act of Congress March 1, 1913 seemed to
have generated less acrimony.
The commotion and reviews did not
impede Stravinsky’s rise to international
prominence
and the
passing of
100 years has
done noth-
ing to an-
tiquate the
music. The
original set
design and
costumes
have not
aged as well
judging from
a YouTube
sample of
the Joffrey Ballet’s 1989 historic restaging,
vaguely reminding the American viewer of
a tribe of Pocahontases meeting the Cos-
sacks. To combat this visual weathering,
one contemporary presentation elimi-
nated a ballerinas’ clothing entirely. Do
not expect this productions to come to a
theater near you soon.Picasso
Matisse
Duchamp
Please join us for a fun and informative celebration of our neighborhood’s first 100 years. Enjoy good wine,
festive music, and a delicious light buffet on the Marymount lawn while visiting with the special guests we’ve invited to host information tables on topics of interest to us all.
• Meet one-on-one with city council and mayoral candidates just two weeks prior to the November election and learn where they stand on issues of importance to you
• Learn more about the Riviera’s first 100 years from the Santa Barbara Historical Museum’s resident expert,
Michael Redmon, and find out how to reserve a copy of the Museum’s upcoming “Riviera Edition” of Noticias.
• Discover what traffic & safety improvements the Concerned Citizens for Safe Passage are seeking along the corridor running from Mission Park at Laguna Street to the Natural History Museum, including the bottleneck at the APS & Los Olivos intersection.
• Ask Amber Anderson of the SBFD how to properly pre-
pare for wildfires and get her help developing a defensible space plan to protect your home.
• Talk to an expert from the Botanic Garden about creating and maintaining habitat gardens with beautiful native plants that attract birds and beneficial insects.
• Get answers to all your recycling questions from MarBorg …you’re not the only one confused by the “Yes” and “No” pictures on the trash can lids.
• Visit with Riviera Association board members and share your ideas on how our association can be more effective and learn how you can get involved.
Please RSVP by Thursday, October 10, to ensure that we have ample food and beverages for everyone. Either enclose the clip-off RSVP below along with your 2014 membership form and dues in the reply envelope enclosed, OR email your RSVP to [email protected] and include the information requested on the form. Your paid membership is your admission ticket.
Riviera Centennial “Gathering on the Green”
Sunday, October 20 • 4:00 p.m.
Marymount School, 2130 Mission Ridge
Association Membership – Renew or Join Now
Now is the time for current members to renew their member-ship for 2014. If you’re not yet a member, please join us and begin enjoying the many benefits your association has to offer for just $30 per household per year. You’ll receive invitations to our spring and fall member events where you can greet your neighbors while enjoying wine and hors d’oeuvres and learn about issues of importance from community leaders and infor-
mative guests. You will also receive spring and fall newsletters that will keep you informed throughout the year and email alerts to notify you of important safety concerns and time sensitive announcements. The association serves as a conduit for information, communication, and action and the more households that join, the more effective it can be and the safer and more desirable your neighborhood becomes.
Please send your 2014 dues and the enclosed membership form in the envelope provided.
You can also join or renew online with a credit card at www.rivieraassociation.org/join-now.
Riviera Centennial “Gathering on the Green” Reservation Form
Please RSVP by Thursday, October 10.
Name(s )
Riviera address
Email Phone
Number of members attending
Send this form with your 2014 membership registration card and dues in the envelope provided.
�
Riviera Association Board of Directors
President Kent Franke 966-5050
Vice President
Greg Parker 965-7613
Secretary Fal Oliver 680-6526
Treasurer Bob Fulmer 404-9868
Term Expires 2013
John Bedford 845-1690
Christine Oliver 680-6524
Greg Parker 965-7613
Term Expires 2014
Chuck Croninger 546-1117
Steve Newman 730-1230
Fal Oliver 680-6526
Addison Thompson 962-6052
Steve Wells 637-0667
Term Expires 2015 Denny Bacon 966-3695
Shelley Bookspan 689-2417
Stephanie Decker 965-3822
Kent Franke 966-5050
Bob Fulmer 404-9868
The Riviera Association • P.O. Box 4235 • Santa Barbara, CA 93140-4235
In the Neighborhood
El Encanto Employee Parking Enforcement
Many residents of the Riviera have commented about the nega-tive impacts of the on-street parking of the recently reopened El Encanto hotel. The hotel is not in compliance with a condition of approval that requires all of its employees to park on site. The Riviera Association sent a letter to the city requesting that it take formal action to enforce this condition and has met with the city to express its concerns. The city has now commenced an active enforcement action. Since El Encanto has not been able to comply with the condition, it is seeking to implement alternatives that do not involve its employees parking on neighborhood streets regu-larly. The proposed resolution will be presented to the Planning Commission once it is deemed satisfactory to the city, and oppor-tunities for public comment will be provided. Please contact us at [email protected] if any of you have any comments or thoughts regarding the El Encanto employee parking situation.
Santa Barbara Fire Season is Year Round—
New Wildland Firefighter
The potential for wildfires this year has been much higher than usual following one of the driest winters on record. Santa Bar-bara no longer goes “in” and “out” of fire season. Rather, it now faces a year round fire threat. Riviera residents live in a “high fire” hazard zone and it our responsibility to help ourselves, our neighbors, and local firefighters reduce the risk of property loss and injury through proper planning and preparation. Go to www.rivieraassociation.org/local-link and link to these helpful websites:“Ready, Set, Go!,” “Aware & Prepare,” and “Ready For
Wildfire” to prepare yourself, your family, and your home. Speaking of preparedness, the Santa Barbara Fire Depart-ment has recently obtained a new type of fire engine specifi-cally designed to combat wildland fires and it is equipped with four-wheel drive for off-road use. And good news, Engine 307 will make its home at the Riviera’s own Station 7.
Riviera Association Website—
New Look, New Features
We recently launched a vibrant new website at www.rivier-aassociation.org. It includes many new features to keep you informed on neighborhood issues and activities including enhanced photo capabilities, a reader-friendly digital newslet-ter, upcoming events calendar, keyword search, helpful local links and more. We encourage you to check it out for the latest neighborhood news.