Helena Modjeska Chase

Helena Modjeska Chase Johnson Drea (born Helena Modjeska Chase; September 23, 1900 – December 22, 1986) was an American artist, writer, and equestrian.

Early life and education

Drea was born in Omaha, Nebraska on September 23, 1900.

Her father, Clement Chase, Her mother, Lula Belle Edwards Chase, came from a socialite background and allegedly had ancestors who arrived on the Mayflower. Drea was the fourth and youngest child. She was named after her godmother, Polish actress Helena Modjeska. The Chase family often hosted gatherings, attracting artists, writers, actors, and dancers to their home in Omaha. Drea's grandfather, Colonel Champion Spaulding Chase, served as the mayor of Omaha.

Drea attended Brownell Hall, an Episcopal church school for women. During the summers of 1913 and 1914, she also studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. Her mother was an artist as well whom also studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. Her mother's watercolor work and Drea's statuette called "Day Dreams" were often exhibited together.

Drea studied at the Latin school in Chicago and took art and dancing lessons at the Chamber's Academy Ballroom. While attending the Mary C. Wheeler School in Providence, Rhode Island, she was elected one of the editors of the school magazine, the Quill.

In 1916, Drea designed a poster for a fundraising effort to support Unit No.1 of the American Fund for French Wounded Civilian Relief. Her poster was selected for exhibition in New York and later displayed at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Drea graduated from the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts in 1923.

Career and other ventures Drea taught art at the Art Department at Putney School and Hickory Ridge School in Vermont. She also served as the head of the Art Department at Perry-Mansfield Camp in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Real Estate In 1939, Drea bought a hotel in La Jolla, San Diego and named it "La Posada." Today the hotel is known as the Grande Colonial Hotel. She owned and operated the hotel for over 25 years. The hotel, featuring seven small rooms, earned the distinction of being the "Smallest hotel in the World with an Elevator" due to its six-person solid mahogany wood elevator. Helena and her five children celebrated the grand opening of the hotel in 1940, with their two Shetland ponies, Peanuts and Pardner, serving as official greeters.

Equestrianism Drea had a passion for horses and began her herd through a wild horse roundup in the Sand Wash Basin in Colorado. She brought back a wild filly that produced palomino offspring.

At some point, she sold Shetland ponies to Hannes Von Trapp, the youngest son of the Trapp family singers. She also bred Shetland ponies and wild Mustangs from Douglas Mountain, Colorado. In addition to the fellowship, Drea was also a member of the Penn Women of Colorado and the Quill Club of Colorado Springs. Her poems were also published in the Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph.

In 1945, Drea established "Adventure Trails Publications" at her ranch in Steamboat Springs. Helena also published books under the pseudonym Charity Chase.

Music Drea served on the board of the Colorado Springs Chorale. She played the piano, viola, banjo, drums, and cello. She also contributed three oil portraits to the 1944 annual exhibit of the Denver Art Museum.

Drea hosted her own solo art shows, showcasing her portraits and still life studies.

After his death, Drea and their children to Steamboat Springs, Colorado where she purchased a Pine Springs Ranch horse ranch.

In 1965, she remarried to physician Dr. William Francis Drea at Grace Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs. Drea's was given in marriage by her son-in-law, Gunther Paetsch.

Drea's sister, Carmelita Hinton, founded The Putney School in Putney, Vermont.

Drea died at the age of 86 on December 22, 1986, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dr. Harry McClure Johnson a scientist in Maryland and Washington, D.C., She left behind five surviving children from her first marriage and 2 grandchildren.