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| The Savitt-Diamond Wedding, San Ysidro Ranch— oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches, by Sam Day |
Forbes
Magazine recently called this “America’s Best Hotel," but the San Ysidro Ranch
has been familiar with such accolades since it became a resort in 1892. In its
early years it became a darling retreat for a new industry: Hollywood. Winston Churchill brought his family here. John Huston wrote the screenplay for The African Queen here. Sir Lawrence Olivier married Vivien Leigh in this same
garden. The Kennedys honeymooned here; a cottage is named for them. Jessica
Simpson got married here this summer.
But it is
not a place of glamour and glitter to the glitterati: it’s a place to get away
from all that. Indeed, it seems like Eden. Originally deeded along with the
Santa Barbara Presidio by King Charles III of Spain in 1780, and for much of
the 19th century a working citrus ranch, the property still covers
five hundred acres. Two hundred of those acres are meticulously gardened, with
not a pebble out of place. (I know, I tried to look for one to weigh down the
vase that held my brushes. I probably would have had to hike down to the creek
to find one.) The forty-one cottages are secluded and homey, unostentatiously decorated
with antiques, oriental rugs, and fine paintings. It seems every structure is
covered by bougainvillea.
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| Detail of couple |
Though
there are many separate gardens— from the Rose Garden to the Chef’s Organic Garden
(plotted with traditional Spanish geometry, with a fountain in the center)—
this couple were married on the main lawn behind the hacienda, between the
pergola and the reflecting pool full of water lilies, under a chuppah laden
with hydrangea and roses.
I painted
from mid afternoon until the end of cocktails, just before the sun set. The
bride and groom found a few minutes to stand for their portraits between photos
and dinner at the Stonehouse Restaurant, a short stroll away. I then took the
easel down to the Hydrangea Cottage, where the painting was displayed during
dancing in the courtyard.
Adjacent to
that structure, I relaxed in what became my favorite building on the property:
the old faithfully restored adobe cabin, which dates to 1825.
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