26 DIGS.NET | 8.26.2022
S W E E T D I G S | 3 2 5 G E O R G I N A
T
he year was 1910. William Taft
was president and the most popu-
lar song in the nation was Let Me
Call You Sweetheart by Peerless Quar-
tet. In Santa Monica, construction
had begun on a luxurious new Craftsman home
on a spacious plot of land at Georgina Avenue
and 4th Street. Situated only a few minutes'
walk from the ocean, the house was to be a
beachside retreat for Arthur Henry Fleming,
a lumber magnate turned education philan-
thropist who commissioned architect Frederick
Roehrig for the job.
Roehrig was a prominent architect work-
ing mainly in Pasadena—epicenter of the
Arts & Crafts Movement, and Craftsman archi-
tecture in particular—who designed many
notable works in the area, including the city's
landmark Hotel Green and several mansions
along "Millionaire's Row," including Fleming's
primary residence. (Neff Mansion in La Mirada,
California and the Los Angeles mansion of
Frederick Hastings Rindge, both listed on
the National Register of Historic Places, are
also among Roehrig's works.) When complete,
Fleming's two-story beach house stood as an
example of Craftsman architecture done in a
patrician vein: a roughly 5,783 square foot resi-
dence expertly articulated in wood and stone,
and planted amid the airy, coastal beauty of the
just-developing Southern California city.
And its location—north of Montana Avenue
and west of 7th Street—was as special in
the early 20th century as it was now. "North
of Montana was all bean fields, and west of
7th Street was one of the first areas between
Montana and San Vincente where very wealthy
Pasadenians began building on the city's
largest lots," says real estate Charles Pence,
whose specialty is luxury Santa Monica prop-
erties. Fleming's home, he describes, was one
of the first in this enclave to be constructed,
and no doubt chosen for a corner address that
was particularly spacious. "The standard-size
lot north of Montana is between 7,500 and
9,000 square feet," says Pence. By contrast,
he points out, this lot is nearly 21,000 square
feet; more than double the average.
"It was designed and built as a luxury home
of the day," says Pence of the 5-bedroom,
5-bathroom residence. "It's larger than most of
the big homes that were being built back then,
and the interior details were clearly created
by someone who didn't have a budget." The
main public areas include a formal dining
room where wainscoting and exposed ceiling
beams provide elegant contrast to soft light
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