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52
winter
|
spr ing
Telling the Whole Story
“I have a very big vision for what I want to accomplish here,” said
Stauffer during a conversation on the premises. In discussing her goals,
it’s clear that Stauffer is ready to take Lotusland to a much wider audience
with a substantially broader interpretation than the institution has focused
on in its formative years.
A couple of specific goals have already been accomplished, such as the
recent restoration of the water stairs and the cypress allée leading to the
lotus ponds. But the water stairs were actually built by the Gavit family,
who bought the property in 1916 (then known as “Tanglewood”) and
called it “Cuesta Linda” during their twenty-two years of ownership. It’s a
fact that leads directly to Stauffer’s desire to tell the whole story of what is
now Lotusland, not just the part related to Ganna Walska.
“In the process of doing this restoration [of the water stairs], it came
home to me,” said Stauffer. “I think that Madame built ‘up to’ those
garden spaces, but did not obliterate them. Some people asked why put it
back to the way it was? There was concern that these areas wouldn’t ‘hold
up’ to the drama of the other gardens.”
But any visitor can see that the water stairs, designed by landscape
architect Peter Reidel with Mrs. E. Palmer Gavit, only enhances the overall
design. At the top of the stairs an ornamental wishing well provides a
focal point from which the visitor starts down the three-hundred-foot
path to the Water Garden. Although the plantings still look relatively
young, one can imagine how this restored area will look after a few short
years of growth. It is additional attractions such as these that now make it
impossible for visitors to see the entire garden within the time allotted for
the standard tour. And thus there is more reason to come back.
The Product of Many Collaborators
“What hasn’t been explored is how [the creation of ] Lotusland relates
to other things going on in Santa Barbara at the same time,” said Stauffer.
“Madame had a lot of vision but not a lot of knowledge. She knew she
couldn’t do what she wanted to do without a lot of help. This place is a
real collaboration with local craftsmen, plantsmen and designers. There
The hunchback in the foreground, with his cap set at a jaunty angle and
carrying a walking stick, is one of three that are known to be copied from a
series of engravings made circa 1620 by Jacques Callot, depicting Gobbi
(“grotesque dwarves”) from Italian
Commedia dell’arte
theater
Before Madame Ganna Walska moved to Santa Barbara and
became a dedicated gardener, she was an aspiring opera singer
known for her beauty, a succession of wealthy husbands, her
fabulous wardrobe and jewels
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