SeMONnTALVO News The newsletter for Friends of Montalvo December 1989-January 1950 n April 18th, 1906, 5:15 a.m., I was sleeping in the room of my residence on the corner of Valencia and 17th streets, when I was awakened by a violent earthquake, and got out of my bed to see the chandelier broken off, oscillating violently and emitting a volume of gas. Crossing the hall I looked out on the west side of the house to find that the chimneys had fallen into the garden. Hurriedly dressing, I aroused the men servants, and turned off the gas and ordered that no attempt be made to cook food. Presently Peter McCormick came along and said, “Don‘t you know that the whole city is wrecked, and fires have broken out in different places?” I took my carriage, with McCormick aboard, and went downtown, seeing everywhere evidence of wreckage. But, not until we reached the City Hall, did we realize the magnitude of the calamity. The City Hall was completely wrecked, resembling the ruins of the Temple of the Diosouri in the Forum in Rome. Then I dashed out to Golden Gate Park, and located a camping ground for my sister and the household servants. We picked out a place between the Japanese Tea Garden and the Museum in Golden Gate Park, where water had been piped and which was protected by trees...Having made the location, I drove back to Valencia and 17th Street and got a marquee tent, which had been used for entertainment purposes on our front lawn, and was there just in time to see the cypress trees ignite and send their firebrands all over the place, setting the house on fire and destroying everything in it. Miss Phelan was much concerned over the fact that her canaries were left in the burning building, but I subsequently learned that a newspaper reporter had entered the house and saved them. ..L returned to the Park and set up the tent. Going and coming over the road, on the side of Twin Peaks, there was an endless procession of wagons and trundle carts, men and women of all descriptions carrying various objects and seeking places of safety. Fortunately, the weather was fine, and it was no hardship to sleep out of doors. -- James D. Phelan, 1906The Quake > Damage, but not Demise By Elisbeth Challener, Executive Director he memoirs on this issue's cover were written by James Phelan shortly after the 1906 earthquake. They seem especially relevant now as we at Montalvo begin assessing the damage sustained from the October 17 earthquake. Above all else, we must be grateful that Phelan built such a secure and architecturally advanced structure. Given Montalvo's proximity to the faultline and the advanced age of the building — not to mention how hard the building shook for those staff unlucky enough to still be working here that evening — Montalvo was indeed fortunate that the damage was not more extensive! In 1906 Phelan was selected as head of the Earthquake Relief Committee and was responsible for distributing all of the earthquake funds raised. President ‘Theodore Roosevelt personally sent Phelan the ten million dollars which had been collected for the Red Cross. So it seems fair to infer that earthquake safety must have been on his mind when, six years later, in 1912, he began to construct Villa Montalvo, The very ‘good news is that we are now open to the public again, having, successfully passed the City of Saratoga’s Building Department inspection on October 27. The Villa had been “red-tagged” for several days after the quake, while the pillars in the Spanish Courtyard were shored up and a thorough structural analysis of the Villa was completed The Artist-In-Residence Cottage is still red-tagged pending, some additional studies. In all likelihood it will not reopen until early spring while we take this opportunity to strengthen its foundation and the hillside it sits upon. The Villa’s earthquake damage report card shows that while we did sustain much in the way of cosmetic damage — cracked plaster and moldings and broken statuary — the structural damage was limited to the Spanish Courtyard and Billiard Room. Those areas will remain closed to the public until permanent repairs are made. We project that repairs to the Villa will begin in mid-December and take approximately eight to ten weeks to complete. And just what will we be doing? The list of probable repairs includes the following: replaster and paint areas of cracking in the Dining Room, Loggia and front Foyer; repair and strengthen wails in the Billiard Room; rebuild the Spanish Courtyard, including structural supports to archways and steel supports to columns; and close all holes made to the Villa during its recent structural analysis. The end result will be a Villa that is returned to its post-Showease beauty and one that is safer than ever before — ready to withstand anything the next seventy-seven years bring us! What is the projected budget for this work? It's difficult to accurately assess the project’s expenses this early in its planning. We are probably looking, at repairs to the Villa costing about $200,000 and another $$50,000 to $100,000 for the Artist-In-Residence Cottage. Needless to say, this is not a trivial sum of money toa non- profit organization Montalvo's size. We are doing, everything we can to investigate federal funding options ‘open to us, as well as possible private foundation grants. To that end we have established a MONTALVO EARTHQUAKE REPAIR FUND. All monies contributed will be used to restore the Villa to its former beauty. To date we have christened the newly established fund with $7,500 toward earthquake repairs: a grant of $2,000 from the Wells Fargo Bank, the $5,000 raised from the recent fashion fundraiser underwritten by Polo/Ralph Lauren at Valley Fair, and an individual donation of $500 from Judy Fields, a member of the Service Group and the Phelan Library Committee. Should you wish to contribute to our renovation efforts, please fill out the donation form on the following, page. We thank you for your support and look forward to the day when we can strike the “e” word from our vocabulary — and this newsletter! About the photographs Cover: James Phelan at his desk in the Phelan Building on, Market Street. The building survived the 1906 quake but was completely consumed by the subsequent fire (photo ‘obtained by Montalvo historian James Walsh from the Bancroft Library) This page: Phelan's portrait where it was found in the Billard Room on the morning of October 18. 2 MONTALVO NEWS — December 1989-January 1990A Word From the President As the accompanying photos graphically illustrate, the Villa received considerable damage in the October 17th quake; the building was "red-tagged” by the Saratoga building inspector for several days afterward. Fortunately, we were able to erect temporary supports to make the builciing safe for occupancy, and the tags and the danger sign evidenced in the above photo were removed on Friday night, October 27. Much work must be done to repair the damage to the Villa. That work will obviously require a sizable expenditure of capital; we hope that all of Montalvo's, friends will contribute what they can to our Earthquake Repair Fund. =Lon Allan President, Montalvo Association