In 1894, Anna Held paid $165 for an undeveloped hillside overlooking La Jolla Cove. What she created there was far more than a home. It became The Green Dragon Colony, a gathering place for artists, musicians, writers, ers and actors who found their way to La Jolla.
Held was a German-born governess who had worked for the family of Ulysses S. Grant Jr., son of former President Ulysses S. Grant. After arriving in San Diego, she purchased the land near the Cove and began developing a small collection of cottages that would become one of Southern California’s early artists’ colonies.
The first cottage, The Green Dragon, was designed by young architect Irving Gill, who had been in San Diego for just over a year. Held built the fireplace herself from stones gathered from the area and, with Gill’s help, built a house around it. Eventually, additional cottages were added, creating a bohemian retreat overlooking the ocean.
The colony became a gathering place for creative people from around the country and abroad.
San Diego History Center historian Jean Stern wrote that The Green Dragon served as a center for musicians and artists who came from throughout the United States, with creative people gathering there in an atmosphere of friendship and art.
Held’s connections helped bring a steady stream of creative visitors to the colony. Among those associated with The Green Dragon were writers, musicians, actors, and artists. Horticulturist Kate Sessions, a friend of Held, also helped transform the property by planting eucalyptus trees.
The Green Dragon was part of a larger transformation taking place in La Jolla. The village was growing rapidly in the 1890s, and railroad service helped make the coastal community more accessible to visitors.
By the turn of the century, La Jolla was developing a reputation as a place where artists and other creative people could live, work,ork and exchange ideas. The Green Dragon helped establish that identity.
Held’s colony eventually grew into a collection of cottages, each with its own character and name. Musicians performed there, and visitors were encouraged to leave their marks on the cottages with writing, verses, and musical notations.
The Green Dragon became known as a bohemian retreat and an important part of La Jolla’s early artistic community. Its influence extended beyond the cottages themselves, helping establish La Jolla as an artistic center.
Held, eventually sold The Green Dragon Colony in 1912 for $30,000 — a remarkable return on the $165 she had paid for the land.
The colony’s cottages did not all survive. Four historic cottages remained into the late 20th century, but they were demolished in July 1991 after a lengthy preservation battle. Contemporary Los Angeles Times coverage described The Green Dragon as a famous bohemian retreat for artists and writers.
Today, the city of San Diego says the only intact part remaining of the original Green Dragon Colony is its fireplace, which still bears a German inscription in Held’s handwriting. Translated, it reads: “Sacred to me is my hearth; sacred to me is my home.”
It is an easily overlooked chapter in La Jolla’s history, but it helps explain something that still feels familiar today: people have long been drawn to La Jolla not only to live by the ocean, but to create something inspired by it.
Read more history stories here, and do you have a story to tell? Send an email to DebbieSklar@cox.net.
Sources:
- City of San Diego, “1894, Artistic Center in La Jolla — Green Dragon”
- San Diego History Center, “Artists in La Jolla, 1890–1950,” by Jean Stern.
- San Diego History Center, “U.S. Grant, Jr.: A Builder of San Diego,” by Evelyn I. Banning.
- City of San Diego, “La Jolla — A Historical Inventory”
- City of San Diego Historical Site Board, Green Dragon Colony Site Register.
- Los Angeles Times, “Court Acts Too Late to Save Green Dragon,” by John M. Glionna, July 12, 1991.
- Los Angeles Times, “Council Votes to Save Historic La Jolla Cottages,” by H.G. Reza, Oct. 15, 1986.
