History

Former home of noted California journalist Ida Harris

What started out as a one room beach cottage in 1925 soon expanded into a 

2 bedroom, 2 bath, pleasant eclectic Tudor distinguished by a large corner turret with a conical roof and diamond patterned half-timbering complemented by diamond pane leaded windows.  Originally owned by William Harris. Mr. Harris was an interior decorator, British by birth and living in Los Angeles.  By 1926, when the bulk of the expansion was complete, Mr. Harris put a weather vane on top of the turret and the house became known by locals as the weather vane house.  After the completion of the house, the Harris's moved permanently to Laguna Beach. Daughter Ida Harris joined her parents here in 1929 at age 23. 

In addition to abundant character and charm, this home has a rich history.  Harris family lore tells that before returning to Laguna Beach to begin her life-long residence here, Ida Harris was a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. 

Her editor sent her to San Juan Capistrano to do a story on the monks at the mission and their financial troubles.  Pointing to one of the trees, she asked "What kind of bird is that?"  He replied "Oh that's a swallow.  They're

migratory birds, you know, and the interesting thing about our swallows is

that they always come back here, every year, on St. Joseph's Day, on the dot, like clockwork."  Fascinated, Ida wrote a side bar to her main article.  And,

the story goes, it was because of Ida's little piece about the swallows returning  to San Juan Capistrano that the song was written, the festival was started, and all of the other swallow-related activities began!