Looking into the past in the Year of the Dragon: There once was a place in California called the "Green Dragon"

[First compiled by New Sancai] La Jolla in California, USA, is located north of San Diego in Southern California, along the curved coastline of the Pacific Ocean. It is a wealthy, mountainous seaside resort community. Although it only covers an area of 11 kilometers, But it once ranked among the most expensive areas in the United States. However, what everyone may not know is that this area once had a well-known title of "Green Dragon".

La Jolla's famous "Green Dragon Colony" was built between 1895 and 1906. Although it has almost disappeared over the years, La Jollan Don Allison later acquired one of the village's most historic acres for the La Jolla Cove residential development.

The new townhouses were approved by the La Jolla Community Advisory Group in 2011 and later by the City Planning Commission in 2014, between Sunny Jim's Cave and La Jolla Cove The cliffs are only 100 feet tall, offering perhaps the most stunning views in San Diego.

Taming a dragon

The early "Green Dragon Colony" was developed by Anna Held, a former governess in the family of Ulysses St. Grant Jr., the son of the 18th president. .

In 1895, Held hired an architect to design a cabin for herself, surrounded by stones she had collected from the cliffs to build a fireplace. When it was completed, she built a guest cabin and rented it out to friends. But these friends are not ordinary people.

“They were an international elite—actresses, artists, musicians, writers, bohemian types,” says historian Molly McClain, who is writing a book, tentatively titled For "Ellen Browning Scripps and Her Circle," there is a chapter on Held.

McLean said the development, originally named Camp Green Dragon by regular visitor and British novelist Beatrice Haradon, was "known to people around the world as a remarkable arts colony, and for many For the first time, I understood the reason for La Jolla." (Indeed, in December 1901, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "La Jolla is the Green Dragon Colony, and the Green Dragon Colony is La Jolla.")

In September 1912, Held sold the Green Dragon property in one of the largest real estate transactions of the time to two Los Angeles businessmen, who planned to strip the property and convert it into a hotel or condominiums. When the plan fell through and the land was sold to Josephine Seaman in 1926, the cabins survived—at least for a while. The La Jolla philanthropist converted all but four cabins into stores but left them in their original condition.

This modern collection of La Jolla Bay homes also pays homage to Green Dragon Estate. They are named after three of them: Jack-O-Lantern, Gables, and East Cliff. A plaque on the front sidewalk explains the property's historical significance. And the buildings look decidedly less modern. However, this final tribute was actually a condition of the California Coastal Commission issuing a permit in 1991 to demolish the last Green Dragon cabins.

"The Coastal Commission requires that buildings rebuilt on this site must adhere to certain design standards," Allison explained. "That's why these things look old and kind of echo what was here before."

dragon heart

Today, all that remains of the original Green Dragon colony is the fireplace of Warnfried's Lodge, which remains on the original site where Held built it and now serves as Eddie V's main dining room. The fireplace still contains the original German inscription in Herder's own hand. It translates as: "Holy to me is my hearth; holy to me is my home."

This fireplace, located in Eddie V's dining room, is the only architectural element of the Green Dragon Colony that remains intact today.

(Compiled by: Wang Jimin)

(Editor: Jiang Qiming)

(Source of the article: Compiled and published by New Sancai)