San Clemente

Casa Romantica

Casa Romantica is the historic home of Ole Hanson, a co-founder of the City of San Clemente. It’s a beautiful location right by the beach and features arts and cultural events. People also use it as a wedding venue. The day we visited, someone had a wedding planned for later that day. My bf and I stopped by here before heading over to Pizza Port for lunch.

View of San Clemente Pier

Beach view in the other direction

Walkway connecting the main house to the garden

The botanical garden was quite lovely here. We saw these giant hanging plants. Not quite sure what they are, but they look pretty cool and they are massive.

Butterfly statue

Mystery plant. What is it?

Huuuuge plant

Cloud tree statues

The inside of the house has a few antique furniture items displayed. The reading room is a unique shape, like a hexagon or octagon. Two of the windows open to allow ocean cross breeze to cool the room. Natural air conditioning!

One of the things that surprised me was the attention to detail in the house. Look at that ceiling in the ballroom. The recessed squares and all that detailing around the lights. And let’s not forget about the crystal chandelier.

The reading room

An interesting ceiling

It was a cute little tour. I would recommend going earlier in the day; it was getting a little crowded as we were leaving. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures from our Pizza Port lunch. But just know the pizza is delicious, and the beer! Favorite is California Honey Blonde Ale.

Locations:

Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens
415 Avenida Granada
San Clemente, CA 92672

Pizza Port San Clemente
301 N. El Camino Real
San Clemente, CA 92672