‘Dynamic history’: Village Laguna’s Charm House Tour returns
The stories inside the walls can add to the character of a building.
Dan Satterthwaite had long been fascinated with architecture and hoped to own a historic home one day. That dream became a reality in 2017, when he bought a board-and-batten cottage in north Laguna Beach.
His fascination turned to obsession. Satterthwaite found himself researching the history of board-and-batten cottages in Laguna Beach and the town’s historic register, until he came across a book published by his home’s original owner.
Fred and Alice Hand left an account of their travels through Europe called “Abroad in a Runabout,” and Satterthwaite is convinced that those trips influenced the build of the home, today known as Weeping Elm Cottage.
The Hand family had it built in 1937 by the firm of Ropp and Mackey as a summer home. Roy Ropp was a key figure in the formation of the “living picture” show famously known as the Pageant of the Masters.
“I got a first edition,” Satterthwaite said. “It’s got photographs of them, their car, landscape, and interestingly, a lot of the architecture throughout Europe. When you look at some of the photos that they took and published in the book, the style of the architecture that they were taking pictures of is clearly reflected in this house.”
Hidden gems such as a book or a picture can provide insight into years gone by, and it is part of the allure of the Charm House Tour, which Village Laguna has been running for 48 years.
The next edition takes place Sunday, with buses leaving from the Festival of Arts, 650 Laguna Canyon Road, every 20 minutes between noon and 3 p.m. Tickets for the guided tours are $70 in advance at VillageLaguna.org or $80 on the day of the tour.
“We rarely repeat a property [on the annual tour],” Anne Caenn, president of Village Laguna, said. “I think there have only been one or two [repeats] in like the last 25 years.”
The Hummingbird Bungalow, built in 1913, and the First Church of Christ, Scientist, constructed in 1951, are also on the tour. The sites are connected to each other through Edwin Cunius, the one-time owner of the land on which both properties sit.
Cunius, who had chickens and a vegetable garden, sold four lots on the ocean side of the Hummingbird Bungalow to the church. Betsy Woltz, the current owner of the home and a member of the church, said that while the church was founded in 1954, it could not be dedicated until 1956. She said the religion required the church to be paid off in full.
“When I took the [tour committee] in [the church], they saw the Sunday school, which has a very beautiful timeline of the Bible, of the Old Testament and the New,” Woltz said. “It’s painted on the wall, and then when they went down and they saw the sanctuary, it’s very, very fine evidence of mid-century modern architecture.”
Within the Hummingbird Bungalow, which features a loft and a basement, one can also be transported back in time. A photo on the wall in the living room shows the property standing alone on a largely undeveloped hillside, an unfathomable sight in modern-day Laguna.
Woltz added that shells were found in the area that she said represent evidence of fishing by Native Americans.
The Charm House Tour is returning for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began. All of the properties this year are in north Laguna. Others include Aldeita Court, Holly Haven, the Laguna Plein Air Painters Gallery and the artist studio of Tracey Moscaritolo.
“Historic homes in Laguna Beach have a lot of charm and personality to them and we want to preserve them, but unfortunately throughout the years we have seen many historical homes being torn down due to new homes being built in place of them,” Charlotte Masarik, formerly the head of houses for the Charm House Tour, said in a statement. “Today, many citizens are doing what they can to preserve these historical gems, and [it] is one of the reasons Village Laguna, Inc. continues to present the Charm House Tour … to impress upon us all the need to preserve Laguna’s historic homes and the dynamic history that goes with them.”
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