Club outing to the Chapman Estate in Shell Beach
The club had an outing to tour the Chapman Estate in Shell Beach. We had a delicious lunch provided by Luca's Deli & Wine from Arroyo Grande. We were served to different salads and two different pastas along with Capese sandwiches.
The English Tudor mansion sits on a cliff in Shell Beach with gorgeous views. It was built by Art and Celia Rogers between 1929-1930. Our own Sharon Ellis played there as a girl. She is the niece of Art & Celia Rogers. The property was sold to Clifford Chapman in 1962. Mr. Chapman turned the estate into a hub for local philanthropic events, neighborhood celebrations and gatherings for his friends and family. Upon his death Mr. Chapman gifted the estate to the City of Pismo Beach. Pismo Beach has just recently, this January, turned the operation of the estate over to the Chapman Estate Foundation. Public Tours are available Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11AM-1PM and Fridays from 5PM-7P:M. The Foundation opens the lawn up on Friday evenings for picnics with locally provided music for a nominal fee of $5.
For more information look at the Foundation website at chapmanestatefoundation.org. The website has a video tour of the property.
We had a tour by Linda Jewell who works for the Foundation. We toured the grounds and inside the home. Inside, we toured the large dining room with ocean views, the kitchen which includes the original china and viewed the large collection of art, sculptures and antiques displayed within the home. The Gull cottage is the oldest building on the property built circa 1925. There is an outdoor pool with the water pumped up from the ocean by a windmill. The windmill pumps the water over terracotta tiles to heat the water for the pool.
It was a fun day!
