Spring 2024

know his future wife, Angela Ghirardelli, a talented artist in her own right. Their courtship lasted many years after her art instruction ended, holding fast without marrying due to her parents’ disapproval. But her father relented after the death of his wife, and the couple were finally wed in 1888. During their married life, the pair traveled extensively and spent summers roughing it in Yosemite. Jorgensen was the first artist in resi- dence in the national park.With the government’s permission and a long- term lease, he built a home and studio near the Sentinel Bridge on the Merced River, which was completed in 1904 and is now part of the Yosemite History Center. Jorgensen’s Yosemite studio became a gathering place for artists, early conservationists and dignitaries, including President Theodore Roosevelt. Back in Carmel, Jorgensen designed La Playa himself, a stately stone and wood-frame building, featuring a quatrefoil window inspired by the Carmel Mission. Despite the breathtaking views and grand details of their Carmel home, the Jorgensens’ time at La Playa was relatively brief. Some 148 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 4 (Above) A photo of the interior of La Playa when it was Chris and Angela Jorgensen's home. (Below) Many of the guestrooms feature shell-inspired light fixtures designed for the hotel in the 1930s by famed Monterey interior designer Frances Elkins. Photo: Louis Slevin, Courtesy of Jack Galante and the Lillian Devendorf Hohfeld Collection Photos: Chris Mottalini, Courtesy of La Playa Hotel Photos: Chris Mottalini, Courtesy of La Playa Hotel