Riverside County | Cheryl Spelts Photo Blog

March 9, 2008 by Cheryl Spelts

Desert Hot Springs, California

One big benefit to all the rain we got in January and February, is the wildflowers in March! I was out in the desert today – out by Palm Springs – and everywhere you looked there were wildflowers in full bloom. It was a gorgeous day too – warm and sunny with a big beautiful blue sky.

For some reason I can’t really explain, I really like this tiny little house. Maybe it’s the colorful window coverings? Maybe it was the quiet? The only sounds were some chickens clucking in the distance. Maybe it was because it was smack in the middle of the best field of wildflowers I found? Yeah, that’s probably it.

When I got out of my car, a jackrabbit came crashing out of the brush only a few feet away from me. I love jackrabbits! They’re like mini kangaroos with massive hind legs and they soar when they jump. He wasn’t too afraid of me, he only went a couple of dozen feet away, and then sat and watched me as I worked. I kept expecting him to hop away, when I turned my back, but every time I looked over, he was still there, sitting totally erect, with one eye on me.

Can you find the jackrabbit? It’s tough. If you look at the two brown cactus in the center of the photo, he’s sitting right in front of the base of the cactus on the left, and he’s in profile.

I also saw a few healthy bees. Lately all I’ve seen have been dying bees, on the ground, walking in circles. It’s a real crisis, so I was happy to see some bees doing what bees are meant to do – hopping from flower to flower and helping to pollinate the world. We need the bee!

And I saw lots of wildflowers and cactus and brush – really pretty stuff!

November 20, 2007 by Cheryl Spelts

Temecula, California

I was going through some old images today and found this one and thought I’d share it here. It’s from 2004, in Temecula, California, and was shot on film. Gotta love those clouds!

January 19, 2007 by Cheryl Spelts

Moving to Riverside

Big news! I’m getting ready to move to Riverside and I’m really excited about it.

I’ve lived in San Diego for almost my entire life – I was born here! But I did spend six months once in a cute little apartment on the top floor of an old Victorian in downtown Riverside. I’m a huge fan of 100-year-old houses so Riverside is nirvana for me. In 1885 the area had the highest per-capita income in the United States, because of the orange groves, and the residents put their money into their houses – and thankfully a lot of those Victorians and Craftsmen homes still exist. Plus there are smaller cottages from the twenties and thirties on the same streets. My favorite area is directly west of the Mission Inn. The realtors tend to prefer the Wood Streets area, which is just a few blocks south, and it’s a very nice area – and it does have old houses – but that neighborhood feels a little “newer” to me, and with me, the older the better!

So with the move looming, I’ve been doing a lot of commuting. The last two weeks I’ve split my time between my current home, and hotels, and my mother’s house, since she lives closer to Riverside than I currently do. Just a few more weeks to go, and then I’ll be settled in Riverside and ready to get to work. I’m looking forward to it!

February 4, 2006 by Cheryl Spelts

Estudillo Mansion, San Jacinto, California

The Estudillo Mansion was built in 1885 by Fransisco Estudillo in San Jacinto, California. It’s still the most beautiful home in the town, over 120 years later!

We got a special tour from Dick Kroker, a friend of my grandparents from way way back. He and his wife Del have been involved with mansion for many years, so he was a great tour guide!

The staircase is beautiful, but it’s very steep and the railing is really low. The average person one-hundred-years ago was significantly smaller than we are today, but this railing is so low, it makes me wonder if the Estudillo family was even shorter than the norm?

Upstairs are several bedrooms, and if you look in the closets you can see traces of wallpaper from several different decades. This house was a home for many years.

The old plaster has cracked away in places, and you can see that even though the brickwork on the exterior is even and perfectly aligned, on the interior they used left-over bits and pieces, since they planned to cover it up with plaster anyway. The house was recently retrofitted to withstand earthquakes, but I believe this damage was caused by an earthquake in the past.

A bit of the past is visible through the flaking paint in the dining room. How far back this goes, I don’t know? Could it be original to the house – or was it added later?

The fireplace mantle is carved marble – and features two cameos, one on each side. It’s got a dorky little modern screen in front of it now, but I’m sure they’ll eventually remove it and get a more authentic solution in place.

This interior is of a window on the front of the house. You can see the bricks are more evenly aligned here, and you can see the curved brick-work above the window. On the exterior that curved brick-work is visible in the top photo.

Several years ago the wrap-around porch was accidentally destroyed by an overly zealous construction crew. The gingerbread was salvaged and is back in place today, but the columns and porch roof are unfortunately all new construction. Even when a building is well-loved by the community and on the National Register of Historic Places, it’s still at risk as long as there are people who don’t understand the historical significance.

Edited to add: I went back in 2010, and got some really beautiful shots of the exterior – definitely worth checking out! http://cherylspelts.com/blog/2010/07/estudillo-mansion-in-san-jacinto/