The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-03-12
NINE. MODJESKA'S HOME
PICTURESQUE RETREAT IN A FLOW
cry CALIFORNIA CANYON.
The Famous Actress Fond Of Her Rose
Garden. Hennery and Apiary-Her
''FOrest of Arden"
st. Louis Republic.


distinguished actress, Nine. Helena Mod
jeska. Few tourists ever get to see the
place. for there is scarcely a more inacces-
sible home among the mountains than that
which Nine Modjeska and her husband
Count Bozenta Chaplowski, have chosen as
their summer resting home, and their per-
manent abode when the madame has made
her last bow to an audience before the
| footlights
The Modjeska ranch is situated in the
Sierra Madre mountains that skirt the
eastern edge of Orange county, thirty-one
miles southeast from Los Angeles as bird
would fly. twenty-five miles from Santa
Ana and twenty-nine miles from the Pacific
| coast. There is no more picturesque home
In southern California; indeed, there are few
like 1t anywhere. 1t is at the head of the
| long, craggy Santiago canyon and is sur
rounded by towering mountains whose
/ snow-capped peaks reach up into the vaults
OF heaven; its scenery is very rugged and
| wild and it is entirely shut in from all the
| world
Here Nine. Modjeska and Count Bozenta
| ca me in the early seventies, when political
| persecution became unbearable in Poland,
aud here they made home. The wave of
financial distress that swept over California
| In 1876 when the great Bank of California
| falleO dashed away all prospects of gaining
a livelihood at the expensive ranch for few
| years. The actress abandoned for a time
her plans for a life of retirement among
brooks, canyons, rocks and trees, and began
her preparation for the American stage.
| The drive to the Forest of Arden, which
| Is the name of Nine. Modjeskas ranch
nome, is one Of the most enhancing in
southern California. 1t is over a smooth
and hard road in some places and gravelly
In others. 1t leads past thousands of acres
OIL waving barley, through thicky planted
0rcnaruS or oranges and lemons, across
HeiuS or poppies, marguerites and blue-eyed
daisies; now in the shade of spreading live
oaks, centuries old and towering eIicalvp-
| tuS, ana then across ragged washes and
among tracts of shrubs until the foothills
are reached. There the roadway becomes
| about ten miles farther to Modjeska's home
ana the route is through Santiago canyon
| good part of the way is on Count Bo-
! zenta's private estate and with skill and
| taste that only ardent lovers of nature pos
sess the Count has created a roadway that
| Is aIIuf1ng at almost every foot of the way.
THE BUNGALOW"
| An hour is spent in the canyon ride. The
road turns abruptly past two mammoth
powders and a heavy thicket, and the
home of Nine Modjeska comes into full
4
story, broad and deep, painted in white
modest and cozy. But what artistic ar
rangement! The very house and outbuild-
ings are blended in the landscape. There is
the calm, simple beauty of the low, ram
Ming white house, amid a shade of great
| spreading live-oaks and palms surrounded
by closely-cropped lawns of bluegrass
peas OF luXuriant flowers of every hue
clmblng vines about the piazzas and over
|
smooth as asphalt. that curve in and out
| OF the lawns and flower beds. 1t seems as
| II the portals OF the outside world had
| Deen shut close behind one as he emerges
| from the canyon and comes upon the
scene The eternally magnificent noun
| talns rear their SCARED, dun-colored sides
| away up 1000 feet more above the fieecy
| clouds. and add to the repose and peace Of
ne Inc landscape. And this is Modjeskas
| The bungalow-that is what Count b.
Zenta says. the house is--was built under
| tne supervision of the count and the mad
ame ABOUT twelve years ago. 1t was planned
by an architectural friend. who gave much
| STUDY toward making complete harmony
! between his building and the wild mountain
| scenery. There are in the house eleven
rooms. Most OF them are comparatively
small. but the living rooms have been built
ana wide. In several of the rooms they are
| or the French style, and open out
upon broad verandas. Hammocks, awnings,
| Dig porch chairs and inviting recesses
| abound.
| OF course everyone wants to know all
| about Nine. Modjeska's own part of the
| house-her den her workshop. If vo,,
| please, where she reigns in autocratic SUI
| premacy-where she studied those charac-
| tiers that have thrilled and delighted hun
| dreds of people. and where her Individual
| ity has been shown in the decoration and
arrangement. Nine Modjeska's den is
| the library of the bungalow. 1t is some six
| teen feet square. 1t has triple mullioned
window looking up amid the over-branch-
| ing oaks. and a long French window that
4 n Chlrr tn 1xv Il
| other vines, and looks out across the lawns
and beds of hehotrope, poppies and roses.
Engravings, etchings, sketches and light
| water colors hang in every possible spot
on the walls, and rugs of Indian. Arabian
| ligence upon the polished floor. AT one side
| stands a huge stone fireplace, with heavy
| brass andirons on the brick hearth. Four
| oak and mahogany bookcases are arranged
| table. This is the madame's work table and
close to it is her favorite, deep-seated.
| leather-covered easy chair. There are books
| of plays in paper and in covers; great
| volumes with colored pictures of costumes
| and stage settings. aand scrapbooks of dra-
matte criticisms and theatrical events on the
| table, under the table, on the stone mantel
| and on the floor. The shelves of the book
| case are occupied by 1000 or 5000 volumes
| in Polish, French. Italian. German and Eng
| lsh, for the madame and the count speak
all these languages with almost equal
| f1uency. History. fiction and art works COM
| prise the subjects among the books.
| In the little sitting or assembly ROOM at
| the front of the bungalow, there is an evil
| dent desire to avoid conventionality. Easy
| chairs are in profusson and a big wedge
| wood tobacco jar with convenient cigarette
| papers stands on table. piano, either,
| harp, flute violin. cornet and banjo occupy
| one corner in the apartment. The walls
are lined with pictures in oil, crayon and
| engraving.
THE FOREST OF ARDEN
The domain of the Forest of Arden
comprises several hundred acres, but less
| than forty acres have any cultivation to
speak Of. The location was chosen, after
due consideration, long travel and much
sightseeing, because of the mountains, the
| great trees and rocks and the rugged seem
| cry on every hand. The practical old ranch
| men down in the valley in which Santiago
| canyon opens have never ceased remarking
| what queer folks those foreign theater
people were to pass right over the fine
| loamy soil I'm this here valley, and go to
| ranching up in that canyon. The grounds
| about the house occupy over two acres, and
| about one-half of this area has been most
| beautifully ornamented under the labor of
| the gardener. and the joint direction of
| Mime. Modjeska and Count BoZenta. 1t
| took several summer seasons to create what
| was desired. Scattered about the wide
| sweep OF lawns are arbors Of jasmine,
| honeysuckle and ivy, geraniums. trelises OF
| blossoming sweet peas and English ivy.
| Nine Modjeska has the true California
| love for roses and over fifty distinct and