Some five years before she and her husband, Count Bozenta, began living at the fairy-tale estate they called Arden, Madame Helena Modjeska spent an idyllic retreat among friends in San Juan Capistrano.
The middle and late July can be dusty, dry, and hot in San Juan. I suspect it was more so in 1883 when Modjeska and Co. descended into the lulling, lazy hospitality of Judge Richard Egan and Marcos Forster. Driving, hunting, fishing, horseback riding, and swimming filled in the hours not leisurely spent in siesta and dining. Doubtless the very "atmosphere" of old Capistrano inspired Modjeska to live nearby.
Building their own hideaway up in the Trabuco canyons, the Count and Countess -- Shakespeare enthusiasts -- called it Arden after the forest in As You Like It.
Opening Arden in 1888 and selling it in 1906, Modjeska would be delighted to see how well the old place is still being preserved for you to see today, up in the Trabuco.
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