In Orange County, CA there is a home built by famed New York architect Stanford White. It is a National Historic Monument. Who lived there?

Helena Modjeska (October 12, 1840 – April 8, 1909), whose actual Polish surname was Modrzejewska was a renowned actress who specialized in Shakespearean and tragic roles.

Once in America, Modjeska and her husband purchased a ranch near Anaheim, California. They brought several friends or "colonists" with them.

Modjeska intended to abandon her career and envisioned herself living "a life of toil under the blue skies of California, among the hills, riding on horseback with a gun over my shoulder." The reality proved less cinematic. None of the colonists knew the first thing about ranching or farming, and they could barely speak English. The utopian experiment failed, the colonists went their separate ways, and Modjeska returned to the stage, reprising the Shakespearean roles that she had performed in Poland.

Helena quickly learned English and began performing on the American stage. She performed in theatres across the United States with her husband traveling by her side for the next two decades. In the off-season the couple made their home in this wooded canyon where they created an idyllic retreat which they named Arden, for the forest setting of Shakespeare's play, "As You Like It."

Famed New York architect Stanford White designed their rambling cottage with several porches, a Palladian window and picturesque gables.

You may tour the home led by a docent from the OC Park department. It has been said that this property had the very first pool in Southern CA.