Arabella Huntington

The late Arabella Huntington, married to both railroad magnate Collis Huntington and later his nephew Henry Huntington, is entombed in the mausoleum with Henry at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino. Her portrait hangs in the library with Henry's. Her enigmatic past has always fascinated Huntington scholars, including Robert Wark, the art curator. When Joseph Regan and the under-40 Huntington Society of Junior Fellows got feedback thatmembers wanted a black-tie party, they pondered and concocted an Arabella Ball.

WHEN THE current mortgage crisis ends, someone is going to make big bucks. Probably developers. They'll buy up houses at bargain prices, tear them down, put in a subdivision and start hawking mortgages. The L.A. investor's rule: It's never about the house; it's about the land. Few knew this better than speculator Henry E. Huntington. One of America's richest men, Huntington rolled into town around 1900.

Introductions come in all shapes and sizes and fit all sorts of occasions. At academic conferences, junior faculty introduce senior scholars with two goals in mind: to pay homage to admired authorities while showing off their own talents. At cocktail parties, people introduce one another because it's the polite thing to do -- and because friendly chitchat is fun.

Introductions come in all shapes and sizes and fit all sorts of occasions. At academic conferences, junior faculty introduce senior scholars with two goals in mind: to pay homage to admired authorities while showing off their own talents. At cocktail parties, people introduce one another because it's the polite thing to do -- and because friendly chitchat is fun.

I enjoyed the article on Sam Girdler. However, someone should tell Zan Thompson that Henry E. Huntington was not one of the Big Four of California railroading notoriety. She's thinking of Collis P. Huntington. Henry was his nephew, and along with his widow, Arabella, his heir. Together, Henry and Arabella Huntington left us Huntington Library and Gardens, and some surviving miles of track for the Big Red Cars. LAURIE A. PERRY Venice

This new column will explore the ghosts of Southern California's residential landscape -- social, political or cultural landmarks that have since been destroyed or altered beyond recognition. WHEN THE current mortgage crisis ends, someone is going to make big bucks. Probably developers. They'll buy up houses at bargain prices, tear them down, put in a subdivision and start hawking mortgages. The L.A. investor's rule: It's never about the house; it's about the land. Few knew this better than speculator Henry E. Huntington.

Hanging in the Huntington Library in San Marino is a portrait of a mysterious and extraordinary woman of towering strength and determination. Her name was Arabella Huntington, and through her marriages to two of California's richest men, uncle and nephew, she wielded enormous power over the state's emerging arts culture.

Power, money and love fuel extravaganzas. Railroad millionaire Henry E. Huntington had all three and used them in the closing decade of his life to build his eponymous San Marino library and gardens. You know the mansion, the cactus and the Japanese tea house. What you may not know is that Huntington's estate once had a gallery dedicated to his wife, Arabella. Known as Belle, she probably was born in Alabama, and through brains and charm she became the mistress of Collis P. Huntington, financier demon of the Central Pacific Railroad.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino has been awarded a $237,300 grant by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation. The grant will be used for the conservation of the Arabella Huntington Memorial Art Collection and renovation of the collection gallery located in the library building.

After a $20-million renovation, the Huntington Art Gallery in San Marino is scheduled to reopen May 28, officials said Friday. The facility on the grounds of the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens has been under repair since January 2006.

Hanging in the Huntington Library in San Marino is a portrait of a mysterious and extraordinary woman of towering strength and determination. Her name was Arabella Huntington, and through her marriages to two of California's richest men, uncle and nephew, she wielded enormous power over the state's emerging arts culture.

The late Arabella Huntington, married to both railroad magnate Collis Huntington and later his nephew Henry Huntington, is entombed in the mausoleum with Henry at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino. Her portrait hangs in the library with Henry's. Her enigmatic past has always fascinated Huntington scholars, including Robert Wark, the art curator. When Joseph Regan and the under-40 Huntington Society of Junior Fellows got feedback thatmembers wanted a black-tie party, they pondered and concocted an Arabella Ball.

I enjoyed the article on Sam Girdler. However, someone should tell Zan Thompson that Henry E. Huntington was not one of the Big Four of California railroading notoriety. She's thinking of Collis P. Huntington. Henry was his nephew, and along with his widow, Arabella, his heir. Together, Henry and Arabella Huntington left us Huntington Library and Gardens, and some surviving miles of track for the Big Red Cars. LAURIE A. PERRY Venice

The setting was straight out of a 17th-Century painting. Besides the three dance floors, 100 dinner tables and more than 1,000 guests on the lawn of Henry E. and Arabella Huntington's 130-acre back yard, in clear view were the Huntingtons' illuminated beaux-arts mansion and 28 17th-Century garden statues on the North Vista, site of Saturday night's gala. Lilies, roses, delphinium and ivy spilled out of urns on candle-lit tables covered with ivory satin.