Mt. Ada was the name of the Wrigley mansion overlooking Avalon Bay on Santa Catalina Island 26 miles off the coast of California. It was built on the island between 1919 and 1921 for chewing gum magnate, William Wrigley, Jr. for his wife Ada Elizabeth Foote Wrigley (1868-1958) allowing them to escape Chicago's cold winters. Ada always wanted a home with green shutters so William Wrigley designed the home with green shutters.
It is estimated the chewing gum tycoon spent $3.5 million to buy the company that controlled Santa Catalina island. Wrigley was instrumental in putting Catalina "on the map" in the early 1900s. It was Wrigley who had the famous Catalina Casino built and started the Catalina Tile Company.
The word, casino is Italian for "gathering place". Commissioned by William Wrigley, Jr., the art deco Catalina Casino masterpiece opened in 1929 marking the 10-year anniversary of Wrigley's 1919 purchase of the island. This historic icon stands as a reminder of the days when many made the 26-mile trip across the sea to enjoy the island casino and to see a movie in the lower level, dinner and dancing to the sounds of the big band music in the world's largest circular ballroom on the upper level during the casino's heyday as the hub of Avalon nightlife. There has never been gambling at this casino though it has been fully restored and continues to host major events including the annual New Year's Eve celebration, Catalina Conservancy Ball and the Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival. The ballroom is available year-round for weddings, private celebrations and corporate events.
The Catalina Casino Built by David Malcolm Renton
The Georgian Colonial Revival style Mt. Ada Wrigley mansion was built by architect Zachary Taylor Davis, who also designed the Chicago Cub's Wrigley Field. Six acres atop Mt. Ada was picked as it was the first spot to receive morning sun and the last spot to receive afternoon light before the sun dipped behind the mountains. The home was built in an "L" shape and around a formal motor court entry on the mountain side and a grand staircase of over 100 steps leading up to the mansion from the ocean side. Workers had to use gunpowder to blast out the rock and level the site before construction. All building materials had to be shipped from the mainland, by barge and labor was not readily available.
The mansion was originally designed using Ada Wrigley's ideas which included three stories, a Turkish bath, a billiard room, an organ chamber and a refrigerator room. There were six bedrooms, a sun room and an elegant terraced porch. Mrs. Wrigley was fond of succulents/cactus and had the garden planted with a number of unique species. Upon Ada's passing at the Wrigley Mansion in Pasadena the Catalina home was opened to the public for tours. In 1978, it was donated to the University of Southern California. It was refurbished and rented out as a conference center while continuing to give tours to benefit the Marine Science Center based out of the Two Harbors section of Catalina. Since 1985, the Wrigley mansion has been operating as a inn. Guests can rent a room for $1,000 an evening and have a nightcap in the billiard room where the rich and famous once shot pool.
Mt. Ada was added to the National Register of Historic Places August 15, 1985 and is the southernmost LA County landmark. Since 1985, after a million-dollar restoration by Warkentin Cox Architects of Costa Mesa, California it has become a luxury hotel by the name of The Inn on Mt. Ada. Catalina Island's only Forbes Travel Guide 4-star hotel.
The Inn on Mt. Ada
William Wrigley, Jr. was a mass-marketing genius and the undisputed chewing gum industrialist of the early 20th century. He founded the Wm. Wrigley, Jr. Company in 1891. By the time of his passing in 1932 at his Phoenix, Arizona home, Wrigley products were generating $75 million in sales! Wrigley wasn't only the emperor of gum he was the director of a Chicago bank, he bought hotels, he held mining interests and he owned the Chicago Cubs. His fortunes built the famous Wrigley building skyscraper and Wrigley Field in Chicago. For those on Catalina Island, the Wrigley name will forever be associated with the beautiful island purchased sight-unseen by Wrigley in 1919.
Previous owners attempted to make Catalina into a destination until the Wrigley money started pouring in! Wrigley built the island's critical infrastructure by creating reservoirs and piping in fresh water to support the growing population. Wrigley donated land for schools, funded a local quarry for building materials and upgraded the ships that ferried visitors from the mainland. Much of the great architecture and landscaping that would define Avalon's look and feel was sponsored by Wrigley and his family in the 1920s and 1930s. Wrigley's son, Philip Knight Wrigley (1894-1977) worked with local business owners to turn the Avalon waterfront into a bustling commerical district. In short, the Wrigley's developed Catalina into the idyllic vacation haven it is today. Philip was an American chewing gum manufacturer and Major League baseball executive, inheriting both of those roles as the quiet son of his much more flamboyant father, William. His son was William Wrigley III. William and Ada Wrigley had a daughter, Dorothy Ada Wrigley Offield (1886-1979). A son, Hiram A. Miller Wrigley (1892-1892) was born to the Wrigleys though passed at age five weeks.
There were two ways of reaching Mt. Ada .. by golf cart or by walking. To see Mt. Ada by foot involved a 350 foot steep hillside climb though very much worth the climb as the view was breathtaking! So much so, on a clear day while taking in a view of the Pacific Ocean one could see all the way to the City of Angeles .. Los Angeles! The island with its roaming bison and deer, mountains, canyons and inlets is about an hour's ferry ride today from Long Beach, the coastal city in Los Angeles County. Today a Catalina Trolley is provided to reach The Inn at Mt. Ada.
The Wrigley mansion on Catalina Island was referred to as their "summer cottage" and was one of several homes owned by the Wrigley family. They bought a grand renaissance-style home in Chicago in 1911 and commissioned a "winter cottage" in Phoenix, Arizona. The Italian Renaissance style Wrigley mansion in Pasadena, California with its formal garden was built in 1906 and given to the Tournament of Roses as its official headquarters.
Ada Wrigley's Mt. Ada was where two generations of Wrigleys spent their summers watching over the hoi polloi (common people). They welcomed and entertained dignitaries and guests from around the world including United States Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. In the 1920s even the Prince of Wales who later became the Duke of Windsor was a guest of the Wrigleys. The Windsor Room was reserved for the Wrigley's special guests and was situated at the corner of the mansion offering a wrap-around view of both the bay and the Pacific Ocean. The home had a Grand Suite with an expansive private balcony overlooking the former site of the Cubs Spring Training facility in Avalon Canyon. This was Mr. Wrigley's bedroom with views overlooking the former site of the Cubs spring training facility in Avalon Canyon. The Queen's Aviary was Mrs. Wrigley's suite with commanding views. Other guest rooms were named Bethany Glen, Morning Glory and Garden Porch. The Garden Porch was a classic "sleeping porch.
William Wrigley first visited Catalina in February of 1919. He was soon "bubbling over with enthusiasm regarding the possibilities of making the island one of the world's most famous and attractive resorts". Due to a 1915 fire in Avalon which destroyed six hotels and several clubs Wrigley realized Avalon needed to be rebuilt and would require a massive construction effort. Wrigley turned to a man by the name of David M. Renton. Within two days of Renton's arrival in Catalina, he was preparing to build a hundred houses in Avalon. The houses were all sold by summertime. Wrigley trusted Renton with the island by later telling him .. "I believe you have found your life's work on Catalina island. You have my confidence up to 100 percent".
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