The Italian Renaissance in Santa Barbara Part 1

NOTICIAS Quarterly Magazine Of The Santa Barbara Historical Society Vol. XLI, No, 4

The Italian Renaissance IN Santa Barbara: Part I

Winter 1995

n this issue o/Noticias, Erin Qrajjy tells the story ofSanta Barbaras pioneer Italian families and their descendants. These immigrants, most ofwhom arrived between i8yo and igxo, often came here udth veryfew resources but succeeded in making lasting im pacts on the community. Drawing primarily upon contemporary newspaper accounts and many hours ofinterviews she conducted ivith representatives ofthe localfamilies,the author examines why these immigrants left the home country, how they came to the V.S.,and why they ultimately came to settle in Santa Barbara. She then examines the stories ofthreefamilies and by so doing,illuminates the contributions ofthe Italian community as a whole. It is a complex story,and we hope to bring to light the histories ofotherfamilies in afuture issue ofthe quarterly.

The author wishes to gratefully acknowledge die following for their assistance: Laura Morrison, Qordon Azevedo,Oswald Da Rps, Charlie Craviotto,Danny Craviotlo,Neal Qraffy,Tony Miratti, Peg Mueting, Diana Azevedo, Mario BorgateUo, David BorgateUo, Vic Bottiani, Silvio Di Loreto, Mark DAlfonso, Betty Miratti, TilUe Panizzon, Patricia Cleek, Madeline Petrini, Augusta Lord, Tote BorgateUo,Marie Parma,P^enataMaccianti Nicholas, Virginia Castagnola Hunter,and Mrs. Louis Ppiga.

Front cover iUustration shows two badges ofSanta Barbaras Socieca Italiana di Mucua Beneficenza. AU photographs arefrom the collection ofthe Santa Barbara Historical Society, unless otherwise noted. Front coverphotograph by William B.Dewey.

INFORMATION FOR CONTRIBUTORS: NOTiciAS is a quarterly journal devoted to the study of the history of Santa Barbara County. Contributions of articles are welcome. Those authors whose articles are accepted for publication will receive ten gratis copies of the issue in which their article appears. Further copies are available to the contributor at cost. The authority in matters of style is the University ofChicago ManualofStyle,i^th edition. The Publications Com mittee reserves the right to return submitted manuscripts for required changes. Statements and opinions expressed in articles are the sole responsibility of the author.

Michael Redmon, Editor Judy Sutcliffe, Designer

© 1995 The Santa Barbara Historical Society 136 E. De la Guerra Street. Santa Barbara. California 93101 ● Telephone: 805/966-1601 Single copies $5.00 ISSN 0581-5916

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HE Spanish influence on Santa Barbara is unmiscakabic. Santa Barbara was sur

H

veyed, settled, and spiritual ized by the Spaniards and to them Santa Barbara owes much of its lan

guage and landmarks, its music and archi tecture, and every summer, its largest civic celebration—Fiesta.

Yet one could argue that it was the Ital ians. who, over the last century, built San ta Barbara into the city we know, both in a literal and figurative sense. Hundreds of Italian immigrants arrived around the turn of the century and settled into neighbor hood pockets. Santa Barbarans became fa miliar with their Golcta orchards, their

Montecito dairies, their farming and fish ing. their markets and mercantilism, their hotels and home-building, civic leadership and legal scholarship.

Some of these names arc unique to Santa Barbara, such as Miratti and Bottiani. Some arc synonymous with a certain industry—Prevedello, Panizzon, Durbiano. and Ziliotco in the dairy industry. The farms and ranches of old Golcta bring to mind the names of Pomatto. Pagliotti, and Cavalctto.

The Italian influence is still evident in a very tangible way. Wlicn we admire the fabulous stone walls throughout the upper Eastsidc, Mission Canyon, and the Rivi era, we sec evidence of the Italian stone

n

r

rw Erin Cjrajfy received her B.A. in Music and her AtA.in Marketing Communicatioiisfrom Peppodine University. She is presently a trusteefor the Santa Barbara Alission Archive-Library arid serves as coeditor ofthe Archive-Library’s neivsletter, La Gazcca del Archive. She has zvtitten on local historyfor the quarterly ofthe Santa Barbara Trustfor Historic Preservation and the Santa Barbara News-Press. She IS presently ivorking on two books—a biography ofSanta Barbara community leader Pearl Chase and a history ojSanta Barbara’s Italian community.

69

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70

masons of yesteryear, whose sons and grandsons continue the tradition today.

When we marvel at the intricacies of

follow some years later. Still, they were among the 5.3 million Italians entering the U.S. between 1820 and 1978. The peak

the strong yet graceful ironwork adorning much of the windows on the stucco build

year was 1907. when Italians accounted for nearly eleven percent of all American immigrants for that year.i The majority of the Italians arrived in this country in two distinct waves of im migration. The first wave lasted a good thirty or forty years and occurred around the turn of the century. It may be subdi vided into two parts — those arriving up to 1914, and the second group, which came after the First World War. The ma

ings in the Pueblo Viejo district of down town Santa Barbara, or fashioned into the impressive gates of many a Montccito mansion, we arc viewing generations of Italian family craft and trade.

The influences are also there in unseen but significant ways. Since the time of the Roman aqueducts, Italians have always seemed to have a knack for getting water distributed to land. Here in Santa Barbara County, it should come as no surprise then that our water rights legislation (drafting of the Cachuma Project) came about through a local Italian attorney. In the Goleta valley, innovative soil conservation methods were introduced by another son

of Italy.

It was this Italian renaissance of Santa Barbara that brought men and women, who were poor by economic standards but rich in ingenuity and innovation, creativi ty and craftsmanship, to shape the city into the community that we recognize to day.

rnre ?

One of the first Italian families to settle in Santa Barbara was the Pcndola family, who came here as early as 1852 from Ma donna Del Monte. Antonio Craviotto came in 1858 to Northern California from

jority of Santa Barbara Italian families came during the first part of this wave and included Francesco Miratti (1877), Carlo Bottiani (1882), Peter Pomatto (1885). Alberto Scudelari (1886), Antonio Pagiotti (1890), Michele Cavaletto (1892), Giovanni Battista Castagnola (1900), Alessandro D’Alfonso (1904). Sccundo Borgatcllo (1911). and Giovanni Antolini (1912). Those who arrived after World War I include Antonio Prcvcdello. Attilio Panizzon. and Guiseppe Bortolazzo.

A smaller, second wave came primari ly after World War II and through the 1950s, and included not only immigrants newly arrived from Italy, but a number of Italians who in-migrated to Santa Barbara from American cities. This group included Parisotto (1930), DcLorcto (1947). Renga (1938), Petrini (1953), and Mclchiori (1958), although Prima Rosa Mclchiori "Mom” Signor came over earlier with her husband.

Varazze near Genoa, but did not arrive in Santa Barbara until 1869. From a village in Camintata. Giovanni Parma came to San Francisco in 1867 and then to Santa Barbara in 1872. where he was to meet and later marry a Pendola daughter. These earliest Italian immigrants came out sin gly. and were not yet part of the trend to

^'\vltcrc'Did Tky

from?

The boot-shaped country of Italy ex tends from the sun-kissed, citrus-girded south, w’hich dips its toe in the Mediterra nean. to the lake-rimmed, foothill-fringed towns bordering France, Switzerland, and

THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE Auscria. The Italian peninsula consists of 116.000 square miles, roughly the size of Arizona, and includes a number of adjacent islands, principally Sicily and Sardinia.

The northern rim of the Italian boot is ruffled with the snowy peaks of the Alps and bejcwelcd with lakes—Como, Maggiore. Lugano, and Garda. Here are found the areas of Piedmonte, Lombardia. Vene

71 and Milan, was home to the Bottiani, Miratti. Vizzolini. Ebertci. and Bottini fami lies of Santa Barbara. The brothers and sisters of the Jordano. Ferrero, and Pomatto families came from Rivarolo Canavese, north of Torino in Piedmonte. Near the French border, from the town of Susa and the surrounding area came the Favros, Durbianos. and Malengos.

cia, Torino, Milano. Veneco. and Liguria.

The first Italian families in Santa Barbara all came from these northern areas. This

'DiJlicy Leave?

portion of Italy — north of a line from Ge noa to Venice — is the motherland for

Until the late nineteenth century. Italy was, in the words of the Austrian states

nearly every single early Italian family in Santa Barbara, There are a few excep tions. Alex DAlfonso came from

man Metterich, only a geographic expres sion. Italy did not become a nation in the modern sense of the word until 1870,

LAquila. about forty miles northeast of Rome. Emanuele Orazio Fenzi, better known to locals as Dr. Francesco Franceschi. hailed from Florence, before his arri

Over the centuries, France, Spain, Aus tria, and the Vatican regularly made Italy a battleground for political or territorial gain. The major kingdoms of Italy itself— Venice, Florence, Milan, Naples, and Rome—warred among themselves, with the result that the country had not been politically unified since the time of the Roman Empire.

As the seeds of revolution covered the

val here in 1895. The Renga family came from Naples after the turn of the century.

For Italians the most important social structure was family first, then friends, then state. For this reason, it was not un common for brothers from one family to come out together or. after coming out alone, a family member would send for siblings. When a man came out and found a steady job. he would send for his wife, who would often come over with a sister who would be married off to the hus band’s brother. Thus, a number of people from the same community would be to gether in the new country.

Not only did the Italians come over as families, but sometimes whole communi

European continent in the early nineteenth century, nationalistic fervor grew. This took hold in Italy as well and launched the fifty-year process of unification and the eventual expulsion of foreign powers from the peninsula. The process culminated in the triumphant entry of Victor Emmanuel II into the ancient capital of Rome in 1870 and the proclamation of the Kingdom of

Italy.

ties made the trip to the New World. One

Almost overnight Emmanuel II found himself with a new nation. "Rome was

tiny town north of Venice, Crespano del Grappo, is the homeland for about forty local Italian families, including the Signor, Melchiori. Guadagnini. Parisotco, Trabacchi, Bortolozzo. and Prevedello families.

Lonate Pozzolo. between Lake Como

not built in a day,” or so the saying goes, but the government of Italy was created in about such a time span. The machinery of the new constitutional monarchy ran awkwardly at first. Although the Italians were weary of local factions, foreign tyr-

72

anny. and seemingly endless warfare, they were equally leery of the new and untried government.

The Italian people were still divided by a number of significant factors. There were at least fifteen different major dia lects. There were unresolved conflicts be tween church and state, between the polit ical culture of north and south, between the needs of the modern urban industrial areas and the needs of the rural, often pov erty-stricken regions.

Economic factors were often not favor able. The heavy French tariff of the 1880s on Italian wines hurt chat industry. Italian fruit growers experienced growing compe tition from California and Florida. Exorbi tant taxes and a system of land tenure in which chose chat tilled the land were sel dom the owners of chat land added to the economic burdens. Internal turmoil was in creased by an economic depression from 1887 to 1891 and a massive bank collapse in 1893.

It was freedom from want and fear chat sent the Italians into the New World.

They came for primarily economic rea sons, as Carlo Spezzibotciani was to relate to his children, "motivated purely by hun ger.’’2 In contrast, in the 1880s and 1890s, the U.S. economy was booming. This was a period of innovation, invention, and en trepreneurship in America. It appeared chat America was the land of opportunity, that success did not depend on your sta tion in life. Tne "common man” could achieve personal and financial success.

The next question is then, "Why northern Italy? ” Why do we not see more Italians from the southern part of the coun try in the late 1800s in Santa Barbara?

Tlic Italians in southern Italy were for the most part more economically disad vantaged. Tliey also did not have the ac cess to new ideas and information so readi-

NOTICIAS

ly dispersed among the northern Italians who enjoyed closer ties to the rest of the European continent. The people of the south tended to be more insular. As they were more likely to be farmers in a feudal land system, it was more difficult to get ahead or even get out.

So it was from northern Italy that San ta Barbara was to receive her tradesmen and craftsmen, her farmers and fishermen, lawyers and civic leaders, who would all contribute in a remarkable way to bring ing about the Italian Renaissance of Santa Barbara.

PowGDiiliey Get tere?

Departure from Italy always started with a ship leaving from major ports in Western Europe. From there, the traveler sailed to New York, South America or San Francisco. For chose who entered America at New York City, the first scop was al ways Ellis Island.

Ac Ellis Island, the harbor was just large enough to accommodate two ships.

The Italians, along with Russians, Auscria-Hungarians and others immigrating before the turn of the century, would be taken from ship to island shore via a ferry boat. On Ellis, they would enter a huge hall, only then to wait in one of the myri ad of lines formed throughout the room to meet with a registry clerk.

The Ellis Island examiners checked over the ship's manifest which included infor mation sheets on all of the passengers.

Each sheet of paper listed no more chan thirty passengers, and included their names, age, sex, marital status, occupa tion, nationality, last residence, destina tion in the U.S., and whether they were literate. In order to ascertain whether these new faces might become dependent on public welfare and a burden to society.

THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE the information also included whether the immigrant had a job in the U.S., if he was in the U.S. to do contract labor, whether he had paid his own way, whether he was going to be met by a relative, and whether he had tickets through to his final destina tion. More pointed and personal queries pertained to any illnesses, deformities, in carcerations, time spent in a poor house, whether the new arrival had ever been supported by charity, and whether he was married to more than one person.

Once they passed this initial inspection, the newcomers were divided into two groups. One was comprised of those stay ing in New York, and another group con tained immigrants who were taking trains to travel to other cities. Immigrants who did not pass the inspection were placed in a separate enclosure marked off by a wire screen.

One out of five new arrivals had to be cither quarantined for illness or detained due to processing requirements and regula tions. At its peak, Ellis Island processed as many as ten thousand immigrants a day.

Many of the poorest Italian immigrants traveled in the steerage section of the ship, so named because that was where the steering mechanisms were located. Unfor tunately. these third-class passengers were treated as third-class citizens in the New World. First- and second-class travelers were able to board a ferry immediately to the island, where they were examined briefly and admitted to the mainland quickly. The third-class passengers often had to wait overnight on the crowded ships before boarding the small boats to Ellis Island.

Once on Ellis, they were subjected to a much more thorough medical examina tion. The smallest imperfection—a crossed eye. a crooked finger, a scar—were all duti fully noted by the inspector. Suspicious

73

imperfections earned the immigrant a cod ed chalk mark on his coat lapel; B back C conjunctivitis, Ct trachoma(a chronic and E F Ft

contagious form of conjunctivitis) eyes face feet

G H K

goiter heart hernia

insanity L lameness N neck P Pg Sc S X

physical and lungs pregnancy scalp senility mental retardation^

When the inspectors read over the ship’s handwritten manifest, it was fre quently difficult to decipher either the handwriting or the foreign names. Quite often immigrants could not spell their own names, or did not know how to spell it in English. Thus the Italian immigrants, like their fellow sojourners from other countries, found themselves with new names in the new country.

Ambrosio Spezzibottiani came through Ellis Island in 1884. Somewhere along the immigration lines, the first half of his name was dropped off and the second half was misspelled, resulting in the family name of Bottini. which he continued to use after his arrival in Santa Barbara. Am brosio's brother. Carlo, having entered the country through San Francisco, was able to retain the Bottiani spclling.4 Once in America, the Italians contin ued on to the West Coast, usually on trains, a trip which could take up to three

74 weeks. Nina Miracci Vizzolini arrived in New York knowing five English phrases, one of which was "apple pic.’’ After she passed the immigration process, she boarded a train for Los Angeles, where the steward asked the young lady what she wanted to eat each time a meal was served. Since all she could say was "apple pie.” this was all that she ordered.

By the time she reached the coast. Miss Miratti was sick and tired of her fa- / vorite dessert.5 / More than one / family "lost” mem- / bers along the way / to journey’s end. In / Piedmonce, three / Giordano brothers made a pact that they would not leave Italy unless they all went to- \ gether. They im- \ migrated in 1888 \ with an ultimate V destination of Santa V'Barbara. On the way. \ other economic opportu- \ nities called. One brother stopped off in Chicago to do some mining. Another brother — headed down to Argentina and was never heard from again. James Giordano alone made it to Santa Barbara to meet his brother-in-law. He then sent for his wife and son. Peter. When Peter started school, he spoke Italian and very little English.

Since he could not spell his name for the teacher, but only pronounce it, the teacher spelled it phonetically as Jordano, as the family name is spelled to this day in Santa Barbara.6 Italians who did not go through Ellis Is land reached the West Coast by sailing

NOTICIAS Below: Nina Miratti was sustained on her journey across the United States by her lovefor apple pie. Pho tograph courtesy ofPeg Vizzolini Mueting.

around the southern tip of South America, as the Panama Canal was not completed until 1914. Many of these Italians found jobs before they ever made it around Cape Horn and back up to the United States. Argentina was enjoyNv ing great economic growth \ at this time, so many \ Italians simply disem barked for Argentina on the way down the \ continent, where, to \ this day. there is a \ tremendous Italian influence and pres ence. Other Italian adventurers, like i Carlo Bottiani in / 1880, actually across / walked / the Isthmus of / Panama, and then / hopped a ship for / San Francisco. / Traveling to San Francisco through or around South America took much longer, but the immigra tion process was less complicated. If there were any problems anticipated at Ellis Is land. San Francisco was considered as a strategy for entering the country.

Once through San Francisco, the Ital ians worked their way up or down the coast. Many settled first in Washington, as was the case with the Favro. Malengo. and Belmondo families, who all came from the town of Suza in Piedmonte near the French border. They decided en masse to move to Santa Barbara and loaded up an entire boxcar with all of their posses-

75

THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

When stone masons from the Lake Como

sions and belongings to send down to San ta Barbara/

region found work was plentiful in Santa Barbara, they sent word back to the homeland, which in turn prompted the ambitious to cross the Atlantic.

Sntitci 3(irCrtm?

It is not difficult to see why Santa Bar bara was selected by the Italians as their destination in the U.S. Tlie terrain and the

'The -tnlm

m StiMtrt fecirtfim

Once an Italian came over and settled in. he often would

inviting climate prompted the sons of Italy to stay here, and many immigrants remarked how much Santa Barbara /

\ bring over his relatives one \ by one, "vouching" for \ their sponsorship or \ providing jobs. Gio-

reminded them of their / ● homeland even though much of Ita ly is quite a bit fur ther north than California.

Italians, like

\ vanni "George A." Cavallctto came out to Santa Barbara in 1892 with only change in his pocket, as his brother had done

-r

other immigrants from that period, tended to settle in communities or en

the year before.

Both had been

claves where they could share their 1 common language and culture. There was a tremendous in

sponsored by their uncle, Lodovico,

fi

formation grapevii among Italian immigr in the New World large Italian communify ‘‘‘ Francisco provided referrals to new arri vals about employment opportunities and the location of other Italian enclaves in California. Before the turn of the century, word was chat there was work to be found on Santa Cruz Island, tending sheep and vineyards. There were also opportuni ties for farming in the Goleca Valley.

Abotx:It was love atfirst sight ichai Enrico Vizzotini met Nina Nfiratti. llxe couple married in 1906. Photo graph courtesy ofPeg Vizgolini Nhieting.

who ran a boarding ~ house and restaurant on Carrillo Street near Mission Creek. While

A

uncle actually had no job" for the teenagers, ne uiu provide them a place to sleep and cat while they looked for cmployment.

Some ol the young Italian women at this time were sent over for arranged mar riages, It was not uncommon for brothers and sisters to be sent over to marry sisters and brothers from another family. The two Spezzibottiani brothers, Carlo Bottiani and Ambrosio Bottini, as they were known in Santa Barbara, married two Miratti sisters. Giovanna and Maria, Stories arc also told of young maidens traveling alone with a family portrait in

76 hand; an "x” above the head of a certain young man would indicate the one desig nated to become her husband.® Of course, there was always room for negotiation.

Enrico Vizzolini accompanied his buddy to the train station in Santa Barbara where his friend was to meet his future bride, the

NOTICIAS

The result, although endearing to the fam ily, could be confusing to outsiders. Peter and James Pomatto had a sister who mar ried James Jordano. The offspring of this marriage produced Peter, josephina, Do minic, John, and Frank Jordano, who in

niece of the Miratti sisters, just arriving from Italy. The young woman, Nina Mi ratti, who by this time had had her fill of apple pic, stepped off the train to meet her beau, but by the end of the afternoon de cided that Enrico was much more interest

turn named their sons Jimmy Pete, James Dominic, Dominic Jr.. John Jr., Frank Jr., and Peter Jordano. If chat wasn’t confusing enough, James and Peter Pomatto each had sons they named Dominic, as well as daughters named Margaret.

There are numerous first and second

ing. Enrico and Nina married in 1906.

Some of the earliest arrivals here

and third generations of Italian families in Santa Barbara—and their collective contri

worked for Justinian Caire on Santa Cruz

butions to the community arc far coo many to chronicle in one article. A selec tion of just a few family stories will give an idea of the impact Italians have had on the community.

Island. Carlo Bottiani tended sheep, Peter Georgi worked there as a farmer, and Louis Miratti, who had experience as a "French waiter,” managed the dining area.

Another group, largely from the Piedmontc area, went to the Goleta Valley to work on the ranches, A number of them saved money scrupulously in order to sub lease their own small plots of farm land, and with increased profits were able to buy up parcels of the ranches they once farmed for the Yankee settlers, Water was scarce, but the newcomers proved to be in genious at dry-farming, and managed to raise a variety of produce—lima beans, walnuts, and lemons. Later, when the Cachuma Project brought in water, land values rose dramatically.

Another group of immigrants, the "Eastside Italians.” settled in the area by the present Santa Barbara Junior High School, in an area bounded approximately

by Milpas, Haley. State, and Anapamu streets. These were the merchants and grocers, the proprietors of boarding hous es. restaurants and hotels, as well as the laborers, clerks, and craftsmen.

It was a popular Italian custom to name children after a father’s father or an uncle.

foMso—y\4rtster 6mLfier Alessandro D’Alfonso was one of the few immigrants to Santa Barbara not from the far northern reaches of Italy. As we have seen, he came from a small town forty miles northeast of Rome. He was one of the early arrivals in Santa Barbara and was to make a profound and very lasting impression here as a master home builder.

In 1904, at the age of fifteen. Alessan dro decided to come to America as his old er brother. Carlo, had. As he planned his crip to Ellis Island, he learned that he would be detained there, as fifteen-yearolds were considered to be adults. He forged his birch dace to appear thirteen, and as a minor was sent to Portland. Ore gon, into the care of his older brother.

Thirsting for education, his first busi ness was to finish a year of high school. He then became apprenticed to a cabinetmak er. With a skilled hand and creative eye for

THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

77

Young ALex DAlfonso, inforeground,fouTid his exjxrience in uoodivorking and cabinetmaking to be invaluable later in his career. Photograph courtesy ofCjordon Aizevedo.

design and detail, Alex, as he was called in the New World, became adept at cabinetmaking. He stayed on with the cabinet maker for four years, making custom furni ture and wooden fixtures for new homes.

After working in Vancouver for a year.

Alex worked his way down the coast to Southern California. It was in Los An geles that Alex learned about the charm ing and beautiful town not far to the north, where much building was going on and he determined to check it out with a friend. Since the two buddies lacked the resources to buy a horse or a train ticket, they simply walked the en tire way to Santa Barbara.^ Alexander found his background in quality cabinetmaking stood him in good

stead and in 1915 he landed a job with a contractor building sets for the Flying A Studio. Alex’s artistic talents and experi ence in cabinetmaking proved invaluable in his new position. Whether making rea listic-looking miniature mansions and homes or recreating a street scene from Paris for the film. Qhost of Epsie Taylor, Alex’s eye for detail and his skills in woodworking were a welcome addition to the other studio talents.

At the same time, he gained an infor mal education in design, balance, and placement, when dressing and staging each street scene. This gave him an eye for aesthetics which he utilized when later developing his neighborhood communities on the streets of Santa Barbara.

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78

The D'Alfonso 50tts, Daniel and Carl, at play. Carlzoas to die tragically at the age ofnine in an automobile accident. Plwtograph courtesy ofQordonALZcvedo.

D'AIfonso realized the importance of communicating in the language of his new country and set about learning as much as he could to improve his skills in this area.

First, he signed up for night courses so that he could continue to learn to speak, read, and write English more competently.

Tlien he determined to rent a room with a Spanish family, so that he could learn to speak and practice his Spanish, Alex was directed to the home of Dona Luisa Mostero on West Figueroa Street. The family enjoyed having the busy, talented young man in their home, and admired his desire to learn and better himself. For his part, twcnty-fivc-year-old Alex found himself an admirer of Dona Luisa’s pretty grand daughter, Maria Bclino, sixteen, and asked

for her hand in marriage. They were wed in February of 1917 In 1920, Alexander D’AIfonso decided to go into business for himself—building houses. His first group of homes was on a tract of subdivided land near Alisos Street.

The third house he built there was the one he called home, on the corner of Alisos and Mason streets.

Alex drew up all the plans for virtually every house he built, sketching out his ide as at his small kitchen tabic. He brought in a host of professionals, from painters to plumbers, from plasterers to carpenters and electricians. DAlfonso was once de scribed by an architect as being the "last true professional company—having all trades under one roof.”10 The quintessen-

THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE cial D'AIfonso home was solidly builc, and fcacurcd expert craftsmanship. His homes were created in the California Cottage style, with red tile roofs and white stucco walls.

D’AIfonso-built homes quickly caught on, and Alex found his services were in great demand by the rapidly growing community. His labor force multiplied un til he had as many as thirty men working on his crew. Within five years, D'AIfonso had built nearly two hundred homes, and for a time averaged one home a weck.^l D’AIfonso had become one of the busiest contractors in the city from his office at 1229 State Street.

The 1925 earthquake had destroyed many homes and commercial buildings in Santa Barbara. D'Alfonso’s homes, how ever. remained intact and almost all of them stand today, a tribute to his reputa tion for building "quality homes" of solid craftsmanship and materials.

After the tragic death of Alex’s nineyear old son, Carl, in an auto accident in 1929, Alex returned to Italy with his wife and older son, Daniel, aged ten. The D'AIfonsos visited the great cities of France, Spain, and Italy, which filled Alex's mind with designs and plans for more beautiful buildings .

Upon the family’s return in April 1930. after a year-long absence. DAlfonso was immediately in demand again, and in fact built thirty-two homes between April and November. By the following year, Alex built a Spanish-Mediterranean style home on Mission Ridge for his family, which now included a new baby girl, Diana.

Wlien the city planning commission formed in the 1930s, D'Alfonso’s insight and intelligence were a needed and wel comed asset to the agency; he served on the commission for twelve years.

When penciling out his ideas for his

79

homes on his drafting board at their din ing room table. D’AIfonso would often confer with his wife Mary for suggestions. Mary once proposed for one of his houses, that the living room be off to one side, so that people would not have to walk though the living room to get to the rest of the house. The idea was one of the most successful designs incorporated into his construction.

Borrowing from his cabinet construc tion background, D’AIfonso came up with some innovations of his own. He devel oped an overhead garage door on an ellip tical circle, which needed less clearance.

At that time he was working at the Am bassador Tract along West Beach. Some one wanted a door to a garage in a twostory building. Since the frame could not be raised, it meant there was only sixteen inches for clearance. D’Alfonso’s newly designed door only needed two inches of clearance.

American entrance into World War II affected virtually all areas of civilian life in Santa Barbara, and the building trade was no exception. To comply with wartime regulations, D’AIfonso worked on building dairies and ranches in Moorpark, Lompoc.

Bucllton, and San Julian. He also worked one year in Santa Maria.

Life returned to a more normal pace af ter the war. D’AIfonso moved his office to 6357; North Milpas Street and there con structed the beautiful D’AIfonso Building.

His son, Daniel, returned from the war and joined his father as a partner in busi ness, helping him to build some of D'Alfonso’s finest ments.

residential

develop

Perhaps the best-known is the little en clave on the lower Riviera—a community of homes, artfully constructed, complete with ornamental stone work, sidewalks, curbs, and utilities. Antonio Prevcdello,

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80

for whom D’Alfonso had built the Milpas Dairy, owned several tracts of land and ranches throughout Santa Barbara. One area, the Arata Tract, had no roads, but

Tlic majority of Santa Barbara’s Italians came from northern Italy. }r[ap designed and draiai by the author.

was already subdivided. Prevedello sold it to D’Alfonso. who wanted to develop the land and built thirty-four houses. What was unusual about this subdivision was

Prevedello took D'AIfonso to Gardena in Los

that instead of building identical houses, DAlfonso gave each home a unique de sign. elevation, and view.

Ever resourcclul. D’Alfonso built the

ticed in Los Angeles that they had all kinds of fly traps. to kill the flies."

D’Alfonso noted. ”I no ticed the flies on the ceil

homes from scrap lumber to save on con struction costs. During the war. the local branch of the Lockheed Company bought the armory at 700 East Canon Perdido Street to use as a shop to build aircraft wings. Alter the war. Lockhcfd wanted to get rid of the building, so DAlfonso bought whatever they had, as construc tion materials were still in short supply.

The wall paneling he took for lumber; the four-by-tour beams used as curbing were ripped up by DAlfonso and cut to make two-by-fours. The two-by-twelvc shelves were cut up for use as two-by-fours.

D’Alfonso also bought the wiring and plumbing in the building. He used all of the material in the new Arata Tract homes, which sold for between $12,500 and $15,000. D’Allonso named the streets, L’Aquila Lane, after his hometown, and Diana Lane and Diana Road, after his daughter.

In the late 1940s. Antonio Prevedello approached D’Alfonso about building an other dairy at the present site of the Sears department store at 3845 State Street. Prevcdello heard that city leaders were going to pass a zoning ordinance prohibiting dairies in that area, so he wanted a dairy that essentially would not look like a dairy. What Prevedello had in mind was a building that would look modernistic, with clean lines.

Angeles County to show him other dairies. "I no

ing. I thought,'My gosh, what if 1 could get a dairy where there were no flies?’

I noticed too. that flies hung around under the beams, the place where the wind did not blow,"

RIV AROLO Af Jordano Pomatto PaglioUi Cavaletlo SUZA Favro Malengo Durbiano

ASTI Borgatcllo

This was the inception of D’Alfonso’s "window-less and fly-less dairy.’’12 After the new Santa Barbara dairy was built, the state milk inspector examined the new Prevedello dairy and then reported to the Milk Inspector’s Conven tion in Los Angeles. Many a dairyman took the long drive up to Santa Barbara to see the remarkable and fly-free dairy. D’Alfonso was then hired to con struct dairies in Los An geles and Moorpark.

In the 1950s. D’Alfonso bought forty acres for $40,000 in the Riven Rock area of Montccito, originally part of the Stanley McCor mick estate. He subdivided the land into twelve lots and sold one lot to Eli Luria, one to a Russian prince, and built ten hous es on the remaining lots.

VARA2 Craviol

THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

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81

LAKE COMO REGION 'Arnold!

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D’AQUILA D'Alfonso

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Ac this time, the real estate market was sluggish, but D’Alfonso went ahead and built the homes, in order to keep his "good men" in the company. Some of the houses were custom-designed for clients, includ ing Commendatore Etcorc dc Zoro scl

Cappelcr (the Marquesc de Cappelicr) and his wife, Anne Mary. The world-famous sculptor designed his own home and D’Alfonso worked from his sketches.

Prince Ranicri di San Faustino was an other Riven Rock client of D'Alfonso’s.

82

NOTICIAS tours of the terrain and the natural habi tat of the area, building around trees and boulders. The material for the stone walls at Riven Rock was taken right from the property.

In 1956, D’Alfonso's son-in-law, Gor don Azevcdo, joined the family business.

While at first recognized as a builder of residential properties. D’Alfonso had been responsible for commercial properties throughout the Santa Barbara area as well.

The Nogales Medical Building near Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, the Coca-Cola Bottling Company plant at 135 East Or tega Street. Guadalupe School, the El Pra do Motel at 1601 State Street, and the St. Francis Medical Convent were all built by D’Alfonso. He also built the first Sambo’s Restaurant at 216 West Cabrillo Boule vard. He even built cabin cruisers for the

The tract Alex D‘Alfonso developed in the Diana Rpad area in Santa Barbara’s Riviera neighborhood was one ofhis proudest accoinpUshments. Photograph by the author.

His wife had fallen in love with the old stone walls of the garage (formerly a barn) at Riven Rock, She had D’Alfonso gut the inside of the stone building, put in wiring for electricity as well as plumbing, and create a house from the inside out. The building stands today at 190 Riven Rock, D’Alfonso also built homes above Riven Rock for Lloyd Wright, son of famed ar chitect Frank Lloyd Wright, and another enclave of homes on Roble Lane and Arbolado Road.

D’Alfonso was one of the first devel opers to cake an environmental approach CO building. He was not one to level a piece of land by bulldozing. Rather, he would design a building to fit the con-

Castagnola family.

Alex’s company was selected by the Franciscans to work on a number of imOld Mission. provements at the D’Alfonso built the mausoleum there, as well as the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. He re-oriented the altar in the mission church in the mid-1960s, working carefully to match the style and design of the original construction.

In November 1971, Alex D’Alfonso was honored with a decoration by Gio vanni Leone, the President of Italy, through the Italian Counsel. D’Alfonso was presented with the Cavalier of the Order of the Star of Italy because he had helped so many Italian immigrants in San ta Barbara to find employment.

The legacy of the D’Alfonso family lives on through the many homes and buildings they created throughout Santa Barbara and Montecito. Even today, real estate listings will describe a house as a "D’Alfonso Home’’ implying inherent beauty and quality craftsmanship.

83

THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

A

■■■’ll

► D 'Alfonso, late in life, with a map showing all the buildings he constmeted in Santa Barbara.

Crtmofto ■ roM works In the middle of the nineteenth century, Antonio J. Craviotto looked out from his modest home down upon the Gulf of Ge noa. Although he came from the tiny town of Varazzc, he still felt the ravages of the recent revolt in Genoa, nearly thirty miles away. Dissatisfaction with the gov ernment. and suspicion of all foreign pow ers did not make for good economic condi tions. Antonio wanted the chance for steady work, and to be able to reap the profits of his labor, but he realized chat his opportunities in Italy were limited. Anto nio wanted to make a better life for him self and often thought about immigrating CO America.

At this time, the ’49ers were racing to the California coast with dreams of strik ing it rich by finding gold. Many succeed ed and returned to their homes across the

country and throughout the world with gold in their pockets. When stories of the "Miner Forty-Niners" reached the cars of Antonio back in Varazze. he decided to give the Golden Coast a try, too.

Antonio sailed from Italy at the age of thirty-eight. He traveled and worked his way across Mexico, stopping for a time in the state of Sonora. There, in the town of Hcrmosillo. just about two hundred miles south of the border, he met Delores Buclna. ten years his junior, and took her to be his bride.

By the time the couple reached the Sier ra Nevada gold country, they realized that steady employment was preferable to and more practical than dreams that might never "pan out.” They abandoned the idea of mining for gold and moved to Ha'yward where Antonio worked for ten years as a carpenter.

In 1869, Antonio and Delores packed up their belongings and traveled down to Santa Barbara. They settled in a cottage

84

NOTICIAS S

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The Beckpmand CravioUo grocery on the northeast comer of Canon Perdido mud Qarden streets.

at 311

West Victoria Street.

Antonio

found work as a carpenter at the Old Mis sion. Not long after the Craviottos' arrival in Santa Barbara, Delores gave birth to a baby boy, Fredcrico Erasmo, followed by a daughter. Bridget.

When Fredcrico and Bridget were grown, they married a sister and brother, respectively, of the Gonzales family. Sib lings marrying into the same family was not an unusual custom during that era. Fre dcrico married Mary Gonzales and Bridget married Mary’s brother, Manuel.

Fredcrico and Mary's first home was at 432 West Figueroa Street. The couple had three children within as many years—Fred A. in 1891, followed by Erasmo J, and Anita.

Fredcrico found employment at local grocers. As a stockman, it was his job to display and replenish the shelves with

fresh Santa Barbara produce. With his grocery experience, he decided to open a store of his own. He entered a partnership with Levi Bcckom and opened a small market. Bcckom and Craviotto, at 135 East Canon Perdido Street, which they successfully operated for over a decade.

The building still stands and presently houses law offices.

Fred A, Craviotto started working as an apprentice to blacksmith. Eliseo E. Arcllancs, in 1906, Arellanes had a shop in the hub of downtown Santa Barbara at 28 West Dc La Guerra Street, where he forged springs for carriages, and shoes for the horses. Two years later, Erasmo began his apprenticeship with another local blacksmith. J. B. Quintero, who had a shop at 16 West Canon Perdido Street.

The brothers learned the cricks and cools of the blacksmithing trade at the

THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE hands of master craftsmen. They were taught that the anvil was the most impor tant tool for the blacksmith. Its wide flat top was used as a firm base for hammer ing the iron bars to a flatter shape, or as a plain surface on which to weld pieces to gether. The pointed end of the anvil was utilized by the smith to bend and curve the iron pieces.

"Strike while the iron is hot" took on a new meaning for Fred who learned that the color of the heated iron Indicated when the metal was ready to be formed, how it should be handled, and for which specific use it was ready.

The young Craviottos learned that a light yellow color in heated iron indicated

FredA. Craviotto at ivork_.

85

the best temperature for forging, and that a white color indicated that the iron was sufficiently hot enough for welding. If the iron was deep red or maroon, then just the surface of the metal was ready to be chis eled and marked or otherwise finished. If the iron was bright red or even a light red, the piece was ready to be bent or twisted or stretched as a whole. At this tempera ture, the surface would be too brittle for the blacksmith to finish or chisel, and in fact would scale. In addition to horseshoes and carriage springs, blacksmiths also created household and yard tools.

By 1916. Fred had married Marie Chard and the couple lived at 1415 San Andres Street. They had two children. Es ther and Edward. Erasmo married a young Basque from the south of France, Jenny Ocafrain, and set up housekeeping at 1321 San An dres Street.

The Tomlinson

brothers.

Herbert and George, had a harness and saddlery shop at 714 State Street and would stop by the Arellancs estab lishment. They often had the chance to observe Fred A. hard at work. Although barcyears old, Fred was a capable young employee and the Tomlinsons hired him In

-.'S ly fifteen

1908. He stayed with the Tomlinsons about ten years.13 Erasmo was also on the move. In 1910, he went to work for Hunt, Son, and Schuster, blacksmiths, and two years later he joined the blacksmith shop of the Hen dry brothers. Bill. Nick, and Jim, at 20 West Cota Street.

The brothers came from a Scottish family of twelve chil-

86

NOTICIAS

Scottish family of twelve children. Arroyo Burro Beach is popularly known as Hend ry’s Beach in Santa Barbara and is named after this family, Erasmo. also known as E.J. and also as Dan, worked with the Hendry Brothers for five years.

In 1917, at the age of twenty-four, Erasmo opened his own shop. Craviotto Ironworks, at 36 West Ortega Street, one block away from his former employers.

His enterprise was off to a good start, when the First World War intervened. E. J. went abroad to fight in the American army, and asked his brother Fred to run the shop for him.

So while Erasmo went to serve in the war, Fred kept the business going. Upon his return after the war. Erasmo saw that it was time to bring the business out of the nineteenth-century horse-and-buggy stage and into the automotive era of the twentieth century.

During the era of the Roaring Twenties, much of the Craviotto’s work was in the production of "leaves” for automotive sus pension systems. "When these would break or crack, they would have to be re placed by the ironsmith. The work was hard and dirty. The spring leaves were dif ficult to take off. and they were naturally caked with mud and dirt from the roads.

Sometimes people would want to have their car lowered which would require tak ing off and adjusting the spring leaves within just fractions of inches. The Cravi otto brothers helped Santa Barbarans stay on the road.

There were several ironwork shops in downtown Santa Barbara. They were all competitors in one sense of the word, but actually their relationships were friendly, as each shop really had its own specialty with in the business. The Craviottos continued their work with the spring leaves and they also handled springs for dump trucks.

The main entry gate at Lotusland in Montecito is one of the finest examples of Craviotto ornamental ironwork- Photographby WilliamB. Dewey.

During World War II. the business went through another modulation. Because of the war effort and the scarcity of supplies and certain raw materials which were needed at the front, people were asked to make do and make it over. When major appliances, such as water heaters, broke down, they could not be replaced, only re paired. As every home was in need of a working water heater, the Craviottos were often called upon. Their repair work in volved applying metal "Band-aids” to the water heaters where leaks had developed and holes had occurred.

After the war, the Craviottos saw an increased demand for ornamental iron work, The former opera diva, Madame Ganna Walska. was developing her famed Montecito estate, Lotusland. Hundreds of craftsmen, from architects and builders to stone masons to gardeners, worked to create her legendary home and garden.

The Craviottos were brought onto the scene to produce the magnificent entry gate at Sycamore Canyon Road..

In 1949, E. J.’s son, Charles, joined his father’s shop and took up the trade for the next generation. The following year, the younger son. Daniel, also joined the fami ly shop. For nearly a half century, one

THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

87 Santa Barbara and Golcca experienced a building boom. In particular, the growth of the University of California. Santa Bar bara, necessitated construction of new homes and student apartments in neigh boring Isla Vista. The Craviottos were re sponsible for hundreds of custom balcony railings seen throughout Isla Vista and Goleta.

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Today’s blacksmiths still work using methods as in the days of old. Ornamental work by the Craviotto brothers is always a custom job designed and sized specifical ly for the project at hand. Examples of their work include railings, gates, fences, security grilles; tables, chairs, and benches; decorative hardware, architectural lighting fixtures, sconces, and window frames.

A. The Crauiottosjust need to step outside oftheirshop at 63^ Anacapa Street to admire their u'ork, on the Los Anros Building at 705-707 Anacapa Street.

Photograph by the author.

The Craviottos also have a popular local "sideline" of making hand-crafted barbe cues and cooking utensils. The latter are known throughout Santa Barbara for their trademark twist pattern in their handles.

Examples of the Craviotto’s special or

generation of Craviottos had been in volved in the evolution of the blacksmithing business. Now a second generation was ready to be trained to see the business through to the twenty-first century.

When he knew his sons were willing and able to take over the business, E. J. de cided to retire from the trade. In April of 1958, he left the business to Daniel and Charles. A smart businessman and a wise father. Erasmus turned the shop complete ly over to his sons and left for Europe for three months, ensuring that they would stand on their own two feet in running o the shop, and were free to implement their own ideas and business practices.

During the second half of the century, the business developed almost exclusively into ornamental ironwork. Almost as soon as Daniel and Charles took over the reins,

namental iron work may be seen through out the Santa Barbara area, from the cus tom iron gates found in driveways of many a Montccito mansion, to the win dow grills gracing many a Spanish-style home and building.

In 1911, Secundo Borgatcllo and his pregnant wife, Marcellina, prepared for their voyage to the United States from their small hometown of Scandaluzzo, near Asti and the French border. They had decided to follow Marcellina’s broth er, Albino Prato, to Southern California to seek a better life. He encouraged the new ly-weds to come to Santa Barbara, where he felt the chances of employment were excellent. This was a period when many cast coast residents were developing es-

NOTICIAS

Secundo and 7A.arce.lli' na Borgatello udth four oftheirfive children,from left to right, Laura, Charles, Ida, and Au' gusta.Son TAario would ccnne along soon. Photo graph courtesy of Ida and Laura Borgatello and Augusta Lord.

taces in Moncedco and there was a de mand for servants, cooks, gardeners, maetc.

Prato sons, worked as a chauffeur for the wealthy industrialist, George Owen Knapp.

Secundo and Marcellina had barely been in Santa Barbara two months, when they became parents of Charles A. Borga tello. Shortly thereaf ter. Secundo found a position as a gardener on the twenty-three 'i acre estate of the Ed- I ward Ryerson family. I El Cerrito, which was I located in Sycamore I Canyon near the *' junction of Hot i Springs and Alston roads. The Borgatellos moved to a proper ty of three cottages at 76 Cota Lane, with in walking distance of the Ryerson estate.

In the next five years the family rapidly grew as three girls, Augusta, Laura, and Ida, were added. Secundo secured a new job as a gardener on the estate of David Benton Jones on Alston Road. In 1916, Jones broke ground for a new home that

would take two years to complete. Dur ing construction, Borgatello was hired to work on the grounds’ landscaping.

In 1918. son Mario F. was born. That December, Secundo returned home one day with a headache and a dry cough. By evening he was running a fever and had a sore throat. He had picked up the deadly Spanish influenza, an epidemic that

THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE reached worldwide proportions. Secundo Borgacello died December 18ch, two days after showing the first symptoms.

The widowed Marcellina was faced with the task of raising five young chil dren on her own, including an infant son.

Taking inventory of her assets, Marcellina recognized her talents as a cook and that there was room enough for eight guests in the three cottages on the property. She de cided to take in boarders to make ends meet.

A number of Italian men working on the great Montecito estates as gardeners or masons came to live at the Borgatcllos.

Marcellina had the help of her three daughters to prepare the meals. Her small vegetable garden supplied fresh produce and her chickens provided eggs. The Borgatcllo home was the last stop on the de livery route of Maccianti’s bakery, which delivered ten loaves of French bread every day. Bread was a part of every meal. The family packed lunches for the boarders to take to work and the hearty dinners tradi tionally finished with fruit rather than a sweet, sugary dessert.

In the early 1920s, people commonly separated their garbage. Dry garbage con sisted of paper goods, boxes, and bottles.

Wet garbage contained vegetable matter, leftover food, etc. The latter was often used in compost heaps or as feed for chick ens, pigs, and the like. Marcellina would send Charlie around to their Montecito neighbors with a pushcart to collect the wet garbage for the family chickens.

As the eldest child. Charlie rose to the challenge of helping the family make ends meet. Industrious and hard-working, he found a variety of jobs to help out. Before he was out of high school, Charlie worked as a delivery boy for the Maccianti Bak ery and as a clerk and delivery boy for William Colville, Sr., at the Montecito

89

Store near the corner of East Valley and San Ysidro roads. In 1930. upon his gradu ation from Santa Barbara High School, the yearbook stated his outlook for the fu ture was "work."

Charles Borgatello’s first break in open ing his own business came when the Bark er family went on vacation. The Barker property on School House Road included a small hog farm. The Barker boys, Jamie and Jesse, had a large, two-wheeled wagon which they would cart over to the home of Frances Bliss to pick up her wet gar bage for their hogs. When the Barker family went on vacation. Charlie was asked if he would like to perform this task.

He started off with a Model T Ford truck and soon received a number of refer rals from his mother’s renters. One of the boarders was a gardener who worked on the estate of Mrs. Charles H. Jackson on San Leandro Lane. Mrs. Jackson was the mother of C. H. "Pete” Jackson, who later owned the San Carlos Ranch in Monteci to and the Petan Dairy. When the garden er heard that Mrs. Jackson had some ma terial she wished to discard, he put her in touch with young Borgatello. Other boarders connected Borgatello with work for H. C. Chatfield-Taylor and Edward B. Babbitt.

The business continued to grow. In 1931. Borgatello bought a new Chevrolet truck and christened his business, Borga tello Disposal. He bought the business of another trash collector, who had some dozen accounts in Montecito.

In 1936, Mario Borgatello finished high school and joined his brother in the busi ness. Four years later, the team formally created Borgatello Brothers Refuse Dispo sal Service, It truly was a family business, with the Borgatello sisters helping with clerical duties and accounting. The broth-

90

NOTICIAS i7

horse and wagon to haul.

They expanded to become

m I

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1^ Montecito Garbage and, after ● y buying out another hauler, be●f

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■■ I came American Montecito ^ Garbage. They became the . largest firm servicing outlying

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areas, such as Hope Ranch H and Carpinteria. Another Ital^ Stephan Raffetto, served ^ the Mission Canyon area. '●' Otto Hopkins had several acM ^ counts in Montecito. such as

From kft 10 nght Laum, Ida Mono F.. Augusta, and Charles BorgatdBikmorc Hotel and the San to in the yard oj thar Cota Lane home, ca. 1923. Photograph courtesy of Ysidro Ranch, as well as some Ida and Laura Borgatello and Augusta Lord.

ers made trash runs three to four times a week, although some large estates, such as the McCormick family’s Kjven Rpcki, re quired pick-ups six days a week.

The brothers had a fleet of large, green, open-stake pickup trucks to collect the re fuse. Usually the trucks carried six fiftygallon oil barrels to transport the wet gar bage to neighboring farms and ranches for the livestock. Dry garbage was unloaded by pitchfork at a nearby landfill. These sites included one near Santa Barbara Jun ior High School, one off of Las Positas Road near Bel Air Knolls, one off of the 4500 block of Cathedral Oaks Road, and one near the tar pits in Carpinteria.

A major step forward for the business came in 1942 when the brothers received the contract for refuse disposal at the U.S. Marine air base in Goleta. The brothers then purchased one of the first parcels on San Antonio Creek Road. On these ten acres they established a hog ranch and of course fed the hogs the wet garbage they collected on the base.

The Borgatellos were not the first in this business. George Travena and Lino De Lorenzi were among the first, using a

accounts in Hope Ranch.

Local government regulated collection territories to avoid duplication of services.

At the end of World War II. the city of Santa Barbara put out to bid the trash col lection business for some of its outlying areas. The Borgatellos picked up the con tract for Mission Canyon and a number of other neighborhoods.

Not long after coming home from the war, Charlie Borgatello met another re turning veteran and old neighborhood friend, William Walker. Walker was one of five children of Talbot "T C.” Walker who had made a fortune in the firm Pope and Talbot, a shipping company in San Francisco. The Walkers had moved to Montecito in 1919 and had purchased The Qables on Alston Road. Before the Second World War. William Walker had served as a volunteer fireman in Montecito with Charlie Borgatello. He later served as a fire commissioner for Montecito.

Walker had saved some $15,000 when he got out of the military after the war.

He, his father, and Charles and Mario Borgatello formed a partnership to pur chase the Buell property off of East Val ley Road for $45,000 in 1946. They de veloped the property into Montecito

THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

91

Village, which became the commercial heart of Montecito.

Village South on the other side of East Valley Road.

The partners brought in some of the leading Italian craftsmen to work on the "village," which grew in sections over the years. Chester Carjola designed the first building in the center, the first commercial medical building in Montecito. Louis Mazzetti, a locally well-known artist, de signed the horseshoe-shaped plaza around a grass-covered knoll, which gave the complex the informal and intimate feel of a European park.

In 1952, Borgatello Disposal bought the accounts of Otto Hopkins. In 1958, Mario and Charlie decided to formally incorpo rate as Channel Disposal. At this time, Laura Borgatello joined her brothers in the

Stonework was featured throughout the development with a stone wall surround ing the plaza and an Italian fountain at its center, built by Oswald Da Ros. The fountain’s base was of limestone, a favor ite of Charlie Borgatello, while the foun tain itself was of Santa Barbara sand stone.

The old Buell house was moved back away from East Valley Road and part of it was later incorporated into the Wells Fargo Bank building. In the 1970s, the Borgatello brothers and their partners would begin development of Montecito

business, Channel Disposal expanded fur ther in 1960 by buying out the Taverna business and adding their first packer trucks — new, covered trash collection trucks. At first painted orange, they later were turquoise.

Channel Disposal was strictly regulated by local authorities including fees charged to clients, fees charged to the company at landfill sites, and the areas the company was allowed to serve. This included the area from the Santa BarbaraWentura county lines to Gaviota, Another compa ny, Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI) was responsible for Santa Barbara city proper and an additional small sliver of the county. With the average county resident producing between two and three pounds of trash a day. Channel Disposal picked up over five hundred tons (one million

Charles, at left, and Mario,center, with unidentified boarder infivnt ofthe brothers'iggi Chevrolet truck Photograph courtesy ofIda and Laura Borgatello and Augusta Lord.

NOTICIAS

92

pounds) of crash daily county-wide.

In 1974. the Borgacello brothers split Channel Disposal into two companies.

Charlie continued to run Channel Dispo sal. which retained its original territories, from Montecito east to the county line.

Mario Borgacello now ran Marborg, the company name being a condensation of his names, and served Mission Canyon.

Hope Ranch, and from Golcca to Gavioca.

Marborg also branched out into recy cling and reclamation services, including the recycling of building materials. Once the bane of landfill owners, old appliances such as refrigerators and stoves could now be recycled for their material value by Marborg. Cement from building sites could be broken down and reused.

After the death of Charles Borgacello in 1993. the two companies rejoined in one office. Mario A. and David, the sons of Mario F. Borgacello, maintain the crash and recycling business, while Norman, the son of Charles Borgacello. operates the re tail plaza, Montecito Village.

MStOM They arrived by ship, by rail, by wag on. some simply walked. Many had virtu ally nothing when they arrived except the clothes they were wearing. Some had no family, they knew no one in town, they did not know the language. But all arrived here willing to work hard to make a fresh start, to embark on a new life. They won friends, married, had children, built profit able businesses, launched successful ca reers. Most of all, the Italians of Santa Barbara earned the respect and affection of their community and became a valued and integral part of the everyday life of their adopted home. Their influence has shaped Santa Barbara in countless ways.

1. Pamela Reeves, ELlis Island,(New York: Crescent Books. 1991), 89.

2. Victor Bottiani, conversation with au thor, September 1993.

3. Reeves, Ellis Island, 89.

4. Victor Bottiani. conversation with au thor, September 1993.

5. Peg Vizzolini Muecing, conversation with author, October 1993.

6. Peter Jordano. conversation with au thor. November 1993.

7 Madelene Favro Pecrini, conversation with author, August 1995.

8. Peg Vizzolini Muecing, conversation with author. Spring 1994.

9. Diana D’Alfonso Azevedo, conversa tion with author. November 1993.

10. Ibid.

11. Michael J. Phillips, History ofSanta Barbara County California From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present lime, Volume II,(Chicago, The S. J, Clarke Publishing Company, 1927), 239.

12. Alex C, DAlfonso. Interview by Vir ginia D Alfonso, 6 June 1981. Santa Barbara Historical Society.

13. Charlie Craviocco, conversation with author, October 1995.

14. Mario F. Borgacello. interview with author, October 1995.

15. Oswald Da Ros. Interview by Marga ret M. Griffin, 15 March 1988. Santa Barbara Historical Society.

SANTA BARBARA HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES Richard Glenn Jo Bech Van Gelderen .

Lani Meanley Collins .

Jean Goodrich Warren Pullman Miller

Peter Brown Foster Campbell Marilyn B. Chandler Barbara Cleveland Dan Cross George E. Frakes

President . . First Vice President Second Vice President

Neal Graffy Lawrence Hammett Robert G. Hansen John W,Hunt C. Seybert FCinsell Thad MacMillan

Secretary Treasurer

Jane Mueller Jack Overall John Pieman Barbara Robinson Ruth Scollin Cicely Whcelon

George M. Anderjack, Executive Director

LIFE MEMBERS The Santa Barbara Historical Society wishes to thank and acknowledge with pride the following Life Members for their continuing support.

Mr. Stephen A. Acronico Mr. & Mrs. William B, Azbell Mr. & Mrs. J. W. Beaver Mr. & Mrs. Danily Bell Mr. Marvin J. Branch Mr. & Mrs. Ashleigh Brilliant Mr. H. R. de La Cuesta Burkhart Mrs. Virginia Castagnola-Hunter Mr. Pierre P. Clacyssens

Mrs. R. E. Danielson, Jr. Mrs. Albert De LArbre Mr. & Mrs. Gordon Fish Mrs. Helen W.Foyer Master John Galvin Mr. Michael Galvin Miss Sally Gane Mr. & Mrs. Keith Gledhill

Mr. Spencer L. Murfey. Jr. Mr. David F. Myrick Mr. & Mrs. Godwin J. Pelissero Miss Frederica D. Poett Mrs. Rena Redmon Mr. & Mrs. Paul Ridley-Trec Mrs. Alma R. Ritchie Mr. Wade Rubottom

Mrs. Florence Corder-Wittcr

Mr. Richard C. Harpham Mrs. Georgette Higginson Mrs. Glenn D. Hillebrand Mr. Eric P. HvolbiSJll

Mr. J. V. Crawford

Dr. C. Seybert Kinsell

Mr. Richard G. Croft, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Oswald J. Da Ros Marla Daily

Mr. 6i Mrs. William F. Luton. Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Burke H. Simpson Mr. Ivano Paolo Vit Mrs. Jane Rich Mueller

Mrs. Natalie B. Clark-Harpham Mr. & Mrs. Charles Clcck

Mr. William W. Murfey

Mrs. Melville Sahyun Mr. & Mrs. Peter J. Samuelson Mr. & Mrs. J. Terry Schwartz Mrs. David Shoudy Mr. Walter G. Silva

Mr. & Mrs. John C. Woodward

Museum & Library; 136 East De la Guerra St., Santa Barbara, ca 93101 ● Telephone; 805/966-1601

Non-Prufic Organization U.S. Postage PAID Santa Barbara California Permit No.534

NOTICIAS Quarterly Magazine of the Santa Barbara Historical Society P.O. Box 578 Santa Barbara. California 93102-0578

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CONTENTS

Pg. 69; Italian Renaissance in Santa Barbara