Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker

Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker (1827–1912) was a wealthy Californio landowner and socialite of Los Angeles. She played an important role in the elite society of early Los Angeles and, later, Santa Monica. She was married to two wealthy Anglo-American men over the course of her life, Abel Stearns and then Colonel Robert S. Baker. Like many californias of her time, Arcadia Bandini provided to her Anglo husbands opportunities for entrance into and alliances within the established californio elite society. She was a skilled businesswoman in her own right, as well as a renowned hostess and organizer of balls and other social functions.

Through her Bandini family wealth and the wealth of her husbands, she amassed an enormous estate and fortune, and upon her death was one of the wealthiest women in America. In her later life, she was considered "the great benefactress of Santa Monica" for her investments in and contributions to the development of the city. As she had no children and died intestate (without leaving a will), her death prompted an infamous court battle for control of her estate. was considered the "first citizen of San Diego," and the Bandini family home, Casa de Bandini, was the center of San Diego society. The social gatherings and dances in the Bandini home and gardens were so renowned that Juan Bandini achieved legend status and was labeled by historian Winifred Davidson as the "Prince of Hosts." Bandini and her sisters Ysidora and Josefa were said to have made a United States flag out of fabric from their own clothes and put it up at Juan Bandini's San Diego ranch in 1847.

Stearns, a former U.S. citizen, became a naturalized Mexican citizen and converted to Catholicism in order to do business and own property in Mexican California. He became one of the wealthiest men in Los Angeles, and his wealth was supplemented by Bandini's substantial dowry of land. They lived together in a home called El Palacio (The Palace; also known as the Don Abel Stearns House), built in 1859 in the Pueblo de Los Angeles. This large adobe home, which surrounded an extensive courtyard and patio, was a major site for Los Angeles high society. An 1860 census form recorded 19 people living in El Palacio, including "Refugio Bandini, Bandini's sisters, nieces, nephews, distinguished guests, secretaries, servants, painters, and laborers" in addition to Abel and Arcadia.

Arcadia Bandini de Stearns, along with her sisters, hosted many balls and other grand social functions for elite californios and naturalized Anglo-Americans like Stearns;

Abel Stearns, nicknamed "Cara de Caballo" (Horse Face) for his long face, was generally known and remembered as a good friend and husband, but was also known to have a bad temper. at age 72, leaving all of his fortune (in land and money) to de Stearns Baker.

To Colonel Robert S. Baker In 1875, the widowed de Stearns Baker married Colonel Robert S. Baker (1826–1894), a wealthy Anglo American from Rhode Island who owned Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica, where they settled. Colonel Baker had come to California in 1849 during the Gold Rush and worked in the San Francisco mining supplies business, as the company Cooke and Baker. He then worked in the cattle and sheep trade in Northern California, before purchasing Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica from the Sepúlveda family for the opportunities in the cattle trade it offered. With this purchase, he moved to Los Angeles, where he met and married de Stearns Baker. Baker's possession, through the marriage, of the Bandini family's holdings of Rancho La Laguna and Rancho La Puente further expanded his ranching business.

The couple moved to Santa Monica, where they played a crucial role in the development of the community (see below in "Santa Monica" section). They resided in "Ocean Cottage" by the pier. At the home, de Stearns Baker continued to do what she had done so well in Casa de Bandini and El Palacio - entertaining and hosting many elite guests and influential political figures.

The Bakers did not have children. Colonel Baker died in 1894, leaving his money and estate to his widow. de Stearns Baker continued to live in their home on Ocean Avenue until her death in 1912.

Landowner, businesswoman, and benefactress Though she married two Anglo-American men and during her lifetime California came under control of the United States, de Stearns Baker reportedly never spoke English, but rather did business in Castilian Spanish. Thus, she required an interpreter; for many years, her husband Abel Stearns filled this role.

Los Angeles Much of the commercial life of the city of Los Angeles, as well as the high society life, centered on Abel and de Stearns Baker because of the prominence of Abel Stearns' warehouse, "La Casa de San Pedro." de Stearns Baker's wealth and social status made her "the most formidable of all" the elite California women, and she worked with Los Angeles club women on events like the yearly Fiesta de las Flores.

Legacy The grand hotel at 1700 Ocean Avenue, by the Santa Monica pier, was named "The Arcadia Hotel" in honor of Arcadia Bandini de Baker. It opened its doors in 1887, but was closed down and demolished in 1909.

On October 18, 1987, a bronze bust of Arcadia Bandini de Baker was unveiled at Palisades Park, Santa Monica. Created by artist Masahito Sanae, the bust is mounted on a four-foot pedestal and is placed at the center of a rose garden. A bronze plaque on the front reads:

DEDICATED / TO / ARCADIA BANDINI DE BAKER / 1827-1912 / FOR HER LOVE AND DEVOTION TO SANTA MONICA AND / GENEROUS CONTRIBUTIONS OF LAND TO BENEFIT / THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY / BY / THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA / BANDIDI FAMILIES AND FRIENDS / SANTA MONICA HISTORICAL SOCIETY / MASAHITO SANAE / SCULPTOR / OCTOBER 18, 1987.

Ethnic/racial identity

Many elite Californios/as like Arcadia Bandini stressed their "Spanish" (rather than Mexican) blood and heritage, thus aligning themselves with Europe and whiteness and distancing themselves from the mestizaje (racial mixing) associated with Mexico It is estimated that 2,000 people attended her funeral, held in St. Vibiana's Cathedral, which is a testament to her status as a public figure and pillar of the community. In the end, the rest of the estate was distributed among de Stearns Baker's relatives.