James Snedden, a writer and resident of the Catalina Foothills Estates, wrote an article on the history of the Hacienda del Sol guest ranch that appeared in the Catalina Foothills Estates Newsletter.
I thought you'd enjoy it, and Jim was kind enough to allow me to post it here.
Hacienda del Sol
By James Snedden
What do the Campbells (like in soup), Pillsburys, Vanderbilts, Westinghouses, Maxwells, and the Spaldings have in common besides being very wealthy?
The answer is they all shipped their daughters to the Hacienda del Sol school for girls in the Santa Catalina Mountain foothills.
From 1930 to 1941, Hacienda del Sol was a college preparatory school with an enrollment of 20 to 25 young ladies, most coming from wealthy families since tuition, room and board was $1,600 a year. Balance this against the fact that in the 1930s more than half of American families earned between $500 and $1,500 per year, and it didn't get any better in subsequent years. In fact, during 1935-1936 the median family income was $1,160. Putting this in perspective, the $1,600 in 1930 would be equivalent to $26,000 in 2006 dollars when the median family income was $58,400.
For that amount of money the girls did get an above average education if for no other reason that the student to teacher ratio was 4 to 1, which is about as close to individual tutoring as you can get.
Although two girls shared a room in sparse surroundings, that's where the sacrifice ended. They were fed in a style fit for a king. Perhaps because they shared their chef with a king. Chef Arne Hoelli spent May - October each year cooking for the girls and the rest of the year on the yacht of Norway's King Olav V preparing some of the same succulent dishes for his majesty.
School was in session six days a week during that May - October period, with the only vacation being over Easter when the girls went to Mexico. I haven't been able to discover where in Mexico they went. They could well be the forerunners of spring break at Rocky Point, only with chaperones.
To break up the boredom of being stuck in the desert while their brothers were enjoying sailing around Newport, most of the girls had their own horses and took advantage of the school's remote location and excellent riding trails. They kept their mounts in the existing stable and corral area.
In the late 1930's fire damaged some of the buildings. Since John Murphey the original developer of the foothills, was the owner of the building, it was no surprise that he commissioned Josias Joesler to rebuild the damaged areas.
The school closed its doors in 1941 at the outbreak of World War II due to the shortage of teachers, never to reopen in its original form.
In 1948 the property began operating as the Hacienda del Sol guest ranch. Although the ownership has changed hands several times since then, the owners have kept the lobby and library virtually the same as it was when it was a school. In fact, some of the original books are still on the library shelves.
The original timbers for the beams in the library ceiling are from Mount Lemmon. Helen Murphey, whom residents of the foothills will remember was John Murphey's spouse, designed the intricate patterns carved into the beams, when the school was being built. Mrs. Murphey also had a hand in the designs that appeared on the doors of the original building, which are preserved as inlays in the bar.
Also found throughout the property are handcrafted fixtures and tile work of Mrs. Murphey's design. The ceiling inside the bar area is by Josias Joesler.
The next time you go to the ranch's famous grill for lunch or dinner, spend some time wandering around this little bit of history in our midst. Pay a visit to the lobby, the library, and enjoy some of the photographs hanging on the walls along the corridor adjacent to the courtyard, which still looks the same, sans the artificial turf. Drink a toast, even if it is just iced tea, to those young ladies who undoubtedly later related many exaggerated tales of life on the wild frontier at cocktail parties on Manhattan's East Side .
Thank you Jim.
And a link to today's> Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort
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