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 By K. Reka Badger
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A landmark home and
local reference point, the FitzGerald House has graced a prominent hilltop
above Los Olivos for nearly a century. With its gabled roof, overhanging eaves and square columns, this elegant structure bears the classic lines of a Craftsman Bungalow and stands as a tribute to the quality construction of Anton Ibsen. |
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| Built for Peter Benedict Montanaro
in 1915, the 1800-square-foot treasure, complete with kitchen, bath, living
room, dining area and three airy bedrooms, still houses members of the
patriarch's family. "I like the location on the hill," says Michael FitzGerald, Montanaro's grandson. "We have great views and lots of family pride in having been able to maintain the house for one hundred years. "We can thank my mom," he laughs. "She never sold anything." "It's so peaceful," adds Neta, Michael's wife of 40 years, "you can stand outside and see over Los Olivos. You can see Figueroa, Grass Mountain, Reagan's ranchland. It's a whole different look." Situated amid four acres of mature oaks and productive citrus trees, the house boasts original doors that still "fit beautifully," leaded-glass windows and Mission-style furniture throughout, as well as an old barn and two little garages. "One of the garages was brought here from Mattei's," Neta reveals, "and the other, you can see where Mike's grandmother's car was too large and they had to add on because the garage wasn't long enough. "We have pictures of the old windmill and tank house," she continues, "before Mike's dad switched to Cachuma water in the '60s. I wish we still had them, that water made the best coffee." Typical of the period, some of the interior plaster was etched to resemble brick, picture rails line the walls, and several door frames bear intricate woodwork. "It's not scrolled," Neta explains, "but it's fancy, and it's only supposed to be on the doors of rooms used for entertaining. In this house, only the bathroom doesn't have it. I can't imagine why Grandpa Montanero allowed that, because it must have cost a lot of money." P. B. Montanaro, Michael's maternal grandfather and a native Sicilian who raised horses, mined silver on Figueroa Mountain and farmed Valley fields, had a full basement constructed to accommodate his winemaking hobby. He died in 1934, and when the time came to divide his estate, the family devised a no-nonsense method for equitable distribution. "They divided the property into equal portions," Neta revealed, "each child drew a straw and that's the piece they got. The only son, Art Montanaro, got the market in Los Olivos and, fortunately, Michael's mom got this house." In 1949 Michael, age 10, and his family moved into the hilltop house, where he lived off and on during high school, college and a hitch in the military. After he and Neta (a local girl from Ballard) married in 1966, they bought a home and lived in Solvang for 33 years, trusting the FitzGerald House to renters from 1996 to 2004. "My in-laws were wonderful stewards of this place," Neta says, "and our renters all took really good care of it, too." "Everyone who's ever lived here has wanted to buy it," Michael adds with a smile. Recently, the FitzGeralds remodeled the bathroom, enlarged the kitchen, re-leaded the windows and replaced the entire foundation. "Out of respect for my mother-in-law," Neta explains, "we kept most of it the same, in the Mission style. We didn't change the living room or dining room, but the kitchen was too small. Mike's mom never would have changed anything," she adds, Òbut if she were to come back today, she would think it's awesome." Equally impressive are the pair of palm trees, planted in 1915 by the home's builder, that continue to tower over the yard. "Mr. Ibsen had two daughters," Michael says of the builder, "and whenever he finished a house, he would plant two palm trees as his signature, and as a tribute to his daughters. You can still see a number of his houses around town that have the two palms." In the late 1990s, the FitzGeralds sold three 1.4-acre lots created from part of their holdings, and the tidy houses recently built on the rolling hills below mirror the solid, earthy lines of the Craftsman tradition championed by P. B. Montanaro. "We don't go very far," Michael says of his home's magnetic charm. "We love being out in the yard. We've got oak trees that are probably 150 years old, if not 300 years old. It's a jungle and really, really beautiful." |
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| Copyright 2006, Inside Santa Ynez Valley Magazine, All Rights Reserved |
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