CASA ROMANTICA
THE JEWEL OF SAN CLEMENTE

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Casa Romantica, a magnificent Spanish Colonial Revival building, was completed in 1928. Built by Ole Hanson, one of the founders of San Clemente, lived there with his family from 1928 to 1932. There were 12 bedrooms with six baths. The servants who were all Chinese lived in the buildings near the main driveway. In the mornings, because of all the entertaining Ole Hanson did, the Chinese cooks had to check each bedroom to see how many guests to prepare breakfast for. The entire house is approximately 8000 square feet. There is an octagon den in which Ole Hanson envisioned the destiny and his original desk continues to grace the room. There were originally several fireplaces, many garages, and three fountains. The entire estate covered 5 acres. 

Ole built homes for two of his children-daughter Doris, and married son, Ole, Jr., whose home was on the north side of Casa Romantica. The Casa was designed by Carl Lindbom who also designed Casa Pacifica, which became known as The Western White House. 

The Hanson family lived in the house until 1932, when following the stock market crash, Bank of America foreclosed on the property and they were forced to vacate. The Casa was then used as a summer vacation home by a number of families. 

In 1945 the Lambert Schuylers purchased it and named it Casa Romantica. The Hansons merely called it "The House." During that period when it was essentially vacant, it was said, that it was taken over by the wild animals. This prompted Mrs. Schuyler to write a delightful children's book about the creatures who took it over during that period of time. The Schuylers lived there until 1952 when it was purchased by Mrs. Santiago, the first wife of Fred Waring, the well known orchestra leader. Mrs. Santiago sold it to the Whitehouses in 1956 who renamed it Casa Blanca after their own name. They owned it until 1958 when Tom Sanford bought it as an investment. Mr. Sanford sold it to Mr. & Mrs. Welsh in 1960 who turned it into a rest home. The Welsh family owned Casa Romantica until 1989 when the Redevelopment Agency of the city of San Clemente purchased it. Since that time, it has been leased to Events By Design, who has operated a very successful wedding/special event business at the Casa. On November 7, 1991, Casa Romantica was listed on the National Register of Historic Structures. 

 In 1996, G. Wayne Eggleston, CPM, a local resident and historic activist, found a restoration grant in the amount of $110,400 and wrote a conceptual plan to turn it into a Cultural/Art/ Wedding Center. In 1997 the city of San Clemente applied for and received a matching grant in the amount of $110,400. The future of Casa Romantica has been the source of much controversy as to its readaptive use and the city has been involved in a costly lawsuit with the Fisherman's Restaurant & Bar. In 1997 the city lost the lawsuit over parking and access from the pier bowl parking lot. In 1989, the City of San Clemente purchased the Casa Romantica.  And, in 1994 an anonymous donor came forward with $1.25 million to determine the Casa's future use as a cultural center.  The site is currently under restoration and will begin offering preview cultural activities during the Summer of 2003.   For more information, please call 949-498-2139.