An 1887 Queen Anne-Villa Montezuma

[Susan]

My boyfriend and I had the distinct pleasure of touring this beautiful home on Sunday. Villa Montezuma is an exquisite example of Queen Anne architecture at its best. The exterior of the house has been restored to its original paint scheme through paint analysis, heres a close-up to give you an idea of the colors.



Villa Montezuma was built in 1887 in the Golden Hill section of San Diego for world reknowned musician, composer, opera singer, Spiritualist, and author; Jesse Shepard. The house was completed in 4 months time by the architectural firm of Comstock and Trotsche.

Here is a photo of Villa Montezuma shortly after completion in 1887:



From the moment we were ushered into the grand entry hall I imagined the whisper of heavy bustled skirts sweeping the floors, even though the Villa was essentially a bachelor pad in Shepard's day. The wainscoting of the walls is black walnut and the paneling above it is California redwood. The frieze and ceiling panels are of silver leafed patterned Lincrusta Walton which is an early type of linoleum material. The silver helped reflect what little light there was at night from oil lamps and candles.

Here is the entry hall in Jesse Shepard's day:



Jesse Shepard


Benjamin Henry Jesse Francis Shepard was born in Birkenhead, England, on September 18, 1848. In the 1849, Shepard was brought to the United States and grew up in Sagamon County, Illinois. I found Jesse Shepard to be a most intriquing man, even in his day he was considered an odd duck. In the photo above the docent pointed out that Jesse has on eyeliner. There was and still is much speculation over whether Jesse was a gold digger, he was engaged to a Princess who died shortly after their engagement, or, if he was (as we were told) of the sex that "dare not speak its name". Gotta' love those Victorian euphemisms!

Shepard only lived in Villa Montezuma for about 2 years. While there he gave concerts and sceances for the wealthy of San Diego. We learned that Shepard slept sitting up in bed as it was thought to be a preventitive measure against Tuberculosis. Also living in the Villa was Shepard's personal secretary and companion, Lawrence Waldemar Tonner. When Shepard gave his concerts at the Villa, he would escort his guests through a pair of pocket doors into a small anteroom and then proceeded to lock them in there for about 45 minutes. The idea was for his guests to become very well acquainted with one another. After the 45 minutes were up, Shepard would go around to the other set of pocket doors on the opposite side of the anteroom and let his guests into the music room.

Here is a picture of the anteroom or waiting room, decorated with an Asian influence which was all the rage then.



Here is the music room in Shepard's day:



And as it looks now:



While living in Villa Montezuma, Shepard began his writing career with essays for the Golden Era Magazine and wrote his first book under the pen name, Francis Grierson, Grierson was his mother's maiden name. In 1889 he moved back to Europe to begin his writing career in earnest. His best known work was The Valley of Shadows, which is still in print and considered somewhat of a minor classic in its field. Shepard returned to the U.S. in 1913 on the Lusitania, basically penniless due to bad financial planning. In 1920, Shepard and his companion, Tonner, settled in Los Angeles where Tonner supported the aged Shepard by giving French lessons and working as a tailor part-time.

Jesse Shepard died at the piano after concluding a private concert on May 29, 1927. The cause of death was malnutrition.

Villa Montezuma is also rumored to be haunted. We had a fun little experience upstairs in the house. One of the guests on the tour made a disparaging remark about Jesse Shepard, called him crazy. Just as he had said the word "crazy", a large book that was standing upright on a bookshelf fell down with a loud bang. Needless to say, it was the perfect highlight after hearing some of the houses ghost stories.

To learn more about Villa Montezume, click here:

http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/ ... /villa.htm

To see more pictures of Villa Montezuma, click here:

http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/ ... images.htm

To learn more about Jesse Shepard, click here:

http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/ ... hepard.htm

To see more pictures of Jesse Shepard, click here:

http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/ ... images.htm

To read more about some people's haunted experiences at the Villa, click here:

http://www.sdparanormal.com/page/page/223915.htm

[Kat]

WOW! Very nice job of telling a story there Susan! Thank you!

[Harry]

Susan, that is spectacular! Really. Almost surreal. Those wealthy Victorians knew how to live.

I'm so glad it's been preserved and open to the public.

[Susan]

Thank you for letting me share, glad you liked it. We learned so many things while touring the house it hard to put them all in one post. And I'm afraid my words can't do the house justice, it was simply breathtaking, like a walk back in time. One of the things we learned about Victorian homes is that the public rooms, such as the drawing room and the music room, were made larger and more ostentatious to wow visitors. The private rooms such as the bedrooms and library are tiny in comparison.

This fireplace overmantel was purchased for Villa Montezuma directly from the Sears and Roebuck catalog for the staggering cost of $19.00 dollars, can you imagine?!



We never did get to see the kitchen or laundry room which were in the basement of the house which had been flooded recently due to a burst pipe.

When Jesse Shepard would hold an evening concert at the house, he would light a hanging lamp in the back staircase which would light up this magnificent stained glass window. The window portrays St. Cecilia who is the patron saint of musicians. The lit window could be seen all the way down the hill in downtown San Diego.



This is the room we were in upstairs where the book fell on the shelf. It was Shepard's sanctum in his day. To the right of the picture you can see a post which is part of the staircase that brings you up to the tower with the Moorish roof. We were not allowed to go up there unfortunately.



The wallpaper in this area was reproduced from scraps of the original. The colors were garish, but, I imagine it was meant to be viewed by lamplight, not modern lightbulbs.



Sadly, the city of San Diego is supposed to take care of the lawn and grounds, but, they don't. The docents donate their spare time to weed, mow the lawn, trim the bushes, etc.

[Nancie]

Wow Susan thank you, I really enjoyed that
surprise treat on my computer tonight! I love that
stuff. good job and glad you are still with "boyfriend"! smiley face doesn't work here!

[Susan]

You're welcome, Nancie, glad you enjoyed it. The tour was such a treat for the both of us, we both love Victorian homes, maybe one day we will own one together?