Press Releases
San Clemente, CA – Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens, a nonprofit southern California cultural center, has acquired three rare and historical pieces designed for the home. Each of the pieces were sourced or commissioned by previous owners of Casa Romantica, including Ole Hanson, and were gifted within the past quarter year by prominent San Clemente families.
The first of these recent acquisitions is a handsome and regal dining table, which was gifted by Gresham Roskamp of Dana Point. In an extraordinary story of provenance, the table was purchased in the late 1920s by Ole Hanson, the founder of the City of San Clemente and the original owner of the home now known as Casa Romantica. It was found in 1986 at a local antique store by Mr. Roskamp, who utilized the piece at his place of business for several years before he researched its history. His findings led him to identify the table as the same one in a circa 1930 photograph of the Hanson family dining room. The table now stands in the very same dining room that it was originally installed in at Casa Romantica.
The second acquisition is a table from another time, yet also important. The table was gifted by the Mark Welsh family of San Clemente, and is an heirloom that the family purchased when patriarch George Welsh and his wife Louise moved into Casa Romantica in 1960. The Welsh’s arrival at Casa Romantica marked the first time that that the property was used commercially instead of as a private residence, and the family operated it as an exclusive retirement home until 1984.
The third piece of history is an exquisitely hand-carved wooden chest created in San Clemente’s own furniture factory circa 1927. It was commissioned by Ole Hanson for his teenage daughter Doris as her hope chest, a special vessel that young women in that time filled with handmade linens and keepsakes for use in their eventual marital home. The chest made its way to the Divel family, who were among the first residents in the City of San Clemente and are well-established in the community. Lois Divel, who holds the official title “matriarch of San Clemente” from the San Clemente Historical Society, and son Fred Divel, who is the co-founder of the San Clemente Historic Society and who helped former president Richard Nixon find his San Clemente home in 1968 (the “Western White House”,) gifted the chest to Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens.
All three pieces represent the rich history of Casa Romantica, and of the responsibility that the cultural arts institution has to educate the public about southern California history and historical design.
“It is an honor that our cultural institution has been gifted with such priceless examples of the objects which played important roles in this home throughout the twentieth century,” said Casa Romantica Executive Director Berenika Schmitz. “We hope that the community will treasure these gifts and be inspired to learn more about San Clemente history.”
About Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization and is the historic home of the founder of the City of San Clemente. Casa Romantica provides programs for all ages in arts, music, history, and horticulture and is a premier Southern California cultural center. https://www.casaromantica.org
