Rome California Garden
Location: Rome
Type of village: light-structure bungalows
Year of opening: 1952
Year of closing: 1960
A little history: Built in 1950 by the Italian Count Veglianiti de Veechi on the occasion of the Holy Year, the California Garden in Rome is located a few steps from the Vatican in the university gardens on the banks of the Tiber. Inspired by American motels, the California consists of a group of bungalows, each with its own amenities. A swimming pool adorns the village.
The Count died in 1951, and his wife, who had Gérard Blitz among her acquaintances, contacted him to suggest the California Garden. This is how, in 1952, the Roman village appeared in the Trident.
Although you can stay there for a maximum of 15 days if you want to discover Rome and its region thanks to a varied excursion program designed by Dimitri PHILIPPOFF in 1953, the village will remain mainly used as a "transit village" for GMs going to Corfu or for excursions from Baratti or Elba.
Just as in Helsinki in 1952, Club Méditerranée took advantage of the 17th Olympic Games held in Rome in 1960 and offered a package that included accommodation and access to the Olympic stadiums. Nearly 1,000 tents were set up in a large field adjacent to California Garden, which also belonged to the Countess. This would be the last year of California Garden, and the village would be completely full during these Olympics.
Good evening. I am a former GM. I stayed at the California Garden in August 1952.
That's when I met Gérard Blist. I was 18 years old and I have wonderful memories of this man.
Dove era situato estattamente il California Garden a Roma? Grazie.
As I said above, I went to the California Garden in 1958. Much later, in February 1985, I was technical director of a major furniture factory, and we manufactured the furniture for the village of Mourèa. I traveled to Polynesia to supervise the installations. On this occasion, I met Gilbert Trigano to finalize this matter, and we had lunch for this at the Château de Mercues in the Lot.
Dove era situato estattamente il California Garden a Roma? Grazie.
Dove was located in the California Garden in Roma. Grace