Bernhard and Irene Hoffmann: Community Visionaries a Century Ago

How Bernhard and Irene Hoffmann Left Their Mark on Santa Barbara

Bernhard and Irene | Credit: Courtesy

Early in the 20th century, diabetes was a devastating disease with little treatment available. When the young daughter of Bernhard and Irene Hoffmann, a wealthy couple in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, was diagnosed with diabetes in 1919, they were prepared to do anything to save her life. The consulted with Dr. Nathaniel Bowditch Potter at Columbia University and followed him to Santa Barbara, where he was to begin his new role as researcher for the new Potter Metabolic Clinic funded by the Carnegie Foundation.

After Dr. Potter’s untimely death, his work on insulin was continued by Dr. William Sansum, and Margaret Hoffmann was accepted as a patient. As her health improved, the couple enthusiastically settled into their new community. Coincidentally, Bernhard’s brother, Ralph, was named the headmaster of Cate School, and later became director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

Already steeped in the tradition of community beautification and historic preservation that characterized their New England hometown, the couple was enthralled by the equally significant, yet very dissimilar Spanish-influenced heritage and architecture in Santa Barbara. They soon commissioned architect James Osborne Craig to design their expansive new home on Garden Street in the Spanish style. They named it Casa Santa Cruz.

And in a move that made headlines, as big news around town, the Hoffmanns purchased Casa de la Guerra, the historic adobe situated the heart of downtown that had fallen into a state of disrepair. They had read Richard Henry Dana’s account of the extravagant fandango held at the mansion in Two Years Before the Mast and were committed to restoring the building to its former glory. They purchased the casa for $50,000 and committed another $100,000 to its repair and reconstruction, and they worked with members of the De la Guerra family to guarantee they could live out their years in their family home.

On September 22, 1921, the Morning Press reported, “Of chief interest is the fact that under the plan adopted this beautiful landmark now almost 100 years old and second only to the Old Mission among Santa Barbara structures in the richness of its history is to be not only fully restored but conditions created that will assure its perpetuation. It has been a source of keen regret to every lover of Santa Barbara and its traditions to see the old adobe homes slowly crumble and disappear.”

El Paseo courtyard, 1928 | Credit: Courtesy

By December, the couple unveiled more of their imaginative plans that provided a new approach to downtown building. They had hired architect Craig to create a complex adjacent to the casa, featuring open plaza areas and adobe-look structures. Known as El Paseo, the Street in Spain, the ambitious project, with a restaurant, small shops, offices, and studios, was described in the newspaper: “In quaintness and artistic grouping, this series of buildings can only be matched in the old cities along the Mediterranean.”

Word traveled about the couple’s aesthetic approach to Santa Barbara living began to take hold in the popular imagination, here and abroad.

In 1922, well-traveled Los Angeles Times editorial writer John Steven McGroarty gave a speech in Santa Barbara when he noted, “Your idea of a Street in Spain is magnificent, and I hope it will be fully carried out.” He added, “You know Santa Barbara has a stronger hold upon the imagination of persons in other parts of the country, and even in Europe, than any other city in California. When I was in Spain last summer, people there asked me more about Santa Barbara than about any other city in America. The idea of restoration of the Spanish atmosphere is an excellent one, not only from the standpoint of sentiment and for historic reasons, but as a sound business proposition. In my opinion, if the plans are carried through, it will make this city the greatest tourist city in the United States.”

Duke of Alba Bassano (left) and Marquess of Viana Franzen | Credit: Courtesy

In 1924, when the Spanish Duke of Alba and his friend the Marquis of Viana traveled to Santa Barbara, they visited the complex and gave it high praise. Both gifted tile murals to commemorate the occasion; written in Spanish, they remain there today, along with several others situated in the El Paseo that pay homage to the New Spain that the Hoffmanns ushered in, long before the 1925 earthquake cleared the way for a whole new look for Santa Barbara.

From left: Alba and Viana murals | Credit: Courtesy

Coming next month: Bernhard Hoffmann’s post-earthquake leadership.

Cheri Rae is presenting a talk about the Hoffmanns and their visionary pre-and post-earthquake work as part of the Kellam de Forest Speaker Series for the Pearl Chase Society on Friday, June 27, at 6 p.m. Call (805) 861-3938 for reservations.

Cheri Rae is a longtime neighborhood advocate and the author of A String of Pearls: Pearl Chase of Santa Barbara. She is a board member of the Pearl Chase Society, and the longtime editor of the society’s newsletter, “The Capital,” where this article first appeared. Email Cheri at pcs@pearchasesociety.org or visit pearlchasesociety.org.