Frank A. Forster House

The Frank A. Forster House in San Juan Capistrano, California is a 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) stucco, Spanish tile roofed mansion built in 1910 for $10,000 by Frank Ambrosio Foster, grandson of rancher John (Don Juan) Forster. It is the only remaining home of its style and era in the area.[2] It was designed as a 5-bedroom, 1-bathroom home in the Mission Revival style by Los Angeles architects Robert Farquhar Train and Robert Edmund Williams (Train & Williams). Upon the deaths of Frank and his wife Ada, their daughter Alice Forster Leck inherited the house, and bequeathed it to her nephew Pancho Forster.[3]

Frank A. Forster House
San Juan Capistrano Historic And Cultural Landmark
Frank A. Forster House
Frank A. Forster House
Frank A. Forster House
Nearest citySan Juan Capistrano, California
Coordinates33.5025°N 117.655278°W / 33.5025; -117.655278
Area6,000 square feet (560 m2)
ArchitectRobert Farquhar Train
Robert Edmund Williams
Architectural styleMission Revival
NRHP reference No.86002405
Added to NRHPSeptember 11, 1986[1]

The property changed owners in 1975, and was purchased as a fixer-upper in 1983 by interior designer Martha Gresham, who traded two Porterville ranches for the house. It came with a legend of a ghost, nicknamed "George the Ghost" by Gresham. She spent $350,000 restoring the mansion,[4] and used it as a home and office until 1990 when she sold it to photographer Phillip Stewart Charis.[3]

The mansion is a San Juan Capistrano Historic and Cultural Landmark.[5] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Orange County, California in 1986.[6]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Manniello, Robert (August 17, 2010). "Forster Mansion a hidden San Juan treasure". Orange County Register. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  3. "The Forster Mansion – 27182 Ortega Highway". San Juan Capistrano Historical Society. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  4. Ryon, Ruth (May 20, 1984). "A Mansion for Martha: Old 'Tear-Down' Now a Showcase". The Los Angeles Times. p. 1. Retrieved October 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.; Ryon, Ruth (May 20, 1984). "A Mansion for Martha: Old 'Tear-Down' Now a Showcase". The Los Angeles Times. p. 12. Retrieved October 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.; Ryon, Ruth (May 20, 1984). "A Mansion for Martha: Old 'Tear-Down' Now a Showcase". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Detailed List of SJC Landmarks" (PDF).
  6. Byrnes, Ilse M. (August 15, 1986), National Register of Historic Places Registration: Frank A. Forster House, National Park Service, retrieved October 14, 2017

Further reading
  • Jensen, James M. (1969). "John Forster: A California Ranchero". California Historical Society Quarterly. University of California Press. 48 (1): 37–44. doi:10.2307/25154327. JSTOR 25154327.
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