718 Crescent Ave
Avalon, CA 90704, USA

Peter Gano House ( Holly Hill House (Lookout Cot.) - National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance:

The Peter Gano House, begun in 1888 and completed in 1890, is significant for its historic associations with the development of Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, as a vacation resort during the great land speculation that followed completion of the transcontinental railroad to Southern California. The third oldest home extant in Avalon, the house is the most outstanding example of Queen Anne architecture on the island and is significant for the excellence of its craftsmanship and detailing. After a fire in 1915 destroyed a large portion of the town, Avalon experienced a second, wave of development in the 1920s in the Spanish Colonial Revival Style. The Peter Gano House, now commonly called, "Holly Hill House," is one of the few homes remaining from the earlier period of development.

Peter Gano was a Midwestern civil engineer who migrated in the late 1870s to Pasadena where he purchased water rights and a 350-acre tract of land, engineered the water system for the tract, planted 26 acres of grapes, and built a home. At that time, Santa Catalina Island was populated by a few sheep herders. Along with other Pasadena’s, Gano sailed to the island for camping vacations. In late 1887, a town was surveyed in Avalon Canyon for development as a resort and a hotel was built. In 1888, Gano purchased several choices lots overlooking Avalon Bay and retired to the island to begin construction of his home. He engineered the piping of water from local springs for the hotel and his new home. He also built cisterns on the hill behind his house and a very accurate sundial at the west entrance. A bachelor, Gano lived alone in the house that he had built largely by himself, while he enjoyed the island recreational activities of fishing and sailing and practiced his hobby of fine woodworking in his basement workshop. He was typical of the self-reliant, middle-class pioneers who imposed their genteel lifestyle on the rugged and isolated island. The house in its prominent location quickly became an island landmark and has been featured on postcards since the 1900s.

In failing health, Gano subdivided and sold his property in 1921 and returned to Pasadena to be cared for by a friend. The home was purchased by the Joshua Reed Giddings family, also Pasadena pioneers, who had been vacationing on the island for years. The home was renamed "Holly Hill House," and a stone wing was added to the basement level for cook's quarters. The house served as the family vacation home through two generations in the continuing tradition of middle-class Southern California families seeking the sea to find relief from the heat of inland summers. Prior to World War II, an estimated one-fourth of the summer homes on Catalina were owned by Pasadena families, whose manners, morals, and social structure dominated the social life of the island.

The home and adjoining bay frontage were purchased by the John Smith family in 1961. They formed the Holly Hill Development Co. with plans to develop the bay frontage, but excavation of the hill undermined the stability of the house. Excavation was stopped and the hill reinforced; no further cracks have appeared in the basement. The roof of the cupola burned in 1964. The house was rented for several years and became dilapidated.

Victor A. Kreis purchased the house, but not the bay frontage, in 1971. He is restoring the house as nearly as possible to its turn-of-the-century style, working with historic photographs and local memory. Kreis has replaced the cupola, restored the original floors and woodwork, much of the exterior decoration, and the second-floor balcony. His major alteration has been expansion of the kitchen alcove in keeping with the style and proportions of the house. The house, including kitchen and bathrooms, has been furnished with turn-of-the-century antiques (including stove and other fixtures), thus enhancing the character of the home. Furnishings include a dining room table made by Gano and some of his tools and hand-made utensils, as well as a small chair with needlepoint seat made by a Giddings.

The house retains most of its original fabric and character and continues in its original use as a vacation home. The cisterns and sundial are still intact. The Holly Hill Docent Council of the Catalina Island Museum Society conducts guided tours for groups by appointment. The house serves as an excellent illustration of the ingenuity of the early settlers and the prevailing lifestyle on the island for fifty years. It remains a prominent landmark within view of a large percentage of the town. All visitors arriving by boat walk past it as they enter the town. It forms one of their first impressions of Avalon.