page_title: Montalvo Arts Center
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Montalvo Arts Center / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Villa Montalvo This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States. Its reference number is 78000784.
context_page_description: The Montalvo Arts Center is a non-profit center for the arts in Saratoga, California, United States. Open to the public, Montalvo comprises a cultural and arts center, a park, hiking trails and the historic Villa Montalvo, an Italian Mediterranean Revival mansion nestled in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The mansion and estate were constructed from 1912–14 by California statesman and businessman James Duval Phelan. After Phelan's death, the entire estate was donated to California as a park and then a cultural and arts center as it exists today. The arts center maintains the estate in partnership with Santa Clara County. The mansion is a historic landmark, and in 1978 it was awarded inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
context_section_description: In 1911, James D. Phelan, a three-term mayor of San Francisco who would go on to be California's first popularly elected US Senator, purchased 160 acres (65 ha) in the Saratoga countryside and foothills.
  Phelan began construction of the mansion in 1912.  The initial supervising architect was William Curlett.  When he died in 1914, his son, Alex Curlett, took over supervision along with partner Charles E. Gottschalk.  The construction of the building was completed that same year.
  During his lifetime, Phelan hosted many celebrities and notables of the era as guests at Montalvo.  Jack London, Ethel Barrymore, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Edwin Markham were among Phelan's many guests.  Though not his only home, Villa Montalvo was one of Phelan's favorites and is where he died.  Some photographs, correspondence, and other mementos of his life are displayed in cases in the mansion's library and can be viewed if one happens to be attending an event for which the mansion is open.
  Upon his death, Phelan bequeathed Montalvo thus:
  I would like the property at Saratoga, California, known as Villa Montalvo, to be maintained as a public park open under reasonable restrictions, the buildings and grounds immediately surrounding the same to be used as far as possible for the development of art, literature, music, and architecture by promising students.
  The San Francisco Art Association (SFAA) assumed trusteeship of the estate in 1930. Within a year the association announced the intention to launch an artist residency program, the third program of its kind in the United States.  The program began in 1939 with ten artists in residence.
  After World War II, a shift in priorities for the SFAA left many people concerned about the future of Villa Montalvo. These citizens together formed the Montalvo Association. Trusteeship was transferred to the organization in October 1953 where it remains today.
  On April 11, 1971, serial killer Karl F. Warner murdered his third and final victim, Kathy Bilek, 18, on the grounds of Villa Montalvo.  It was the investigation into the Bilek slaying which led to his arrest and conviction for his string of three slayings of teenage girls throughout the southern Santa Clara Valley.
caption: The front lawn of the mansion looking towards the statue-adorned garden.  On the left, one of the mansion's artistic displays can be seen, a hut made from twisted tree branches.
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