The former home of Henry Allen Rispin, a wealthy oil entrepreneur and developer, is now the focal point of a new park in Capitola, a small seaside community six miles south of Santa Cruz.
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the .86-acre Park at Rispin Mansion includes a new amphitheater, seating areas, picnic tables, restoration of a grand staircase and other historic elements. The mansion was originally built as a second home for Henry Allen Rispin, a San Francisco-based oil baron, whose aim was to encourage wealthy investors from the Bay Area to purchase property in Capitola and build similar structures in an effort to transform Capitola into the Riviera of the New World. The construction costs at the time of the three-story, 9,000 square foot, 22-room Colonial Revival/Mediterranean style mansion was $250,000 ($4.3 million in today’s money.) Following Rispin’s financial downfall, the mansion was sold to St. Joseph’s Monastery for use by nuns of the Poor Clares and became a home for an order known for their vow of poverty and their habit of living barefoot. After the nuns moved out, the mansion was abandoned for decades and fell into disrepair. It was purchased by the City of Capitola in 1985. While the home is not open to the public, the carefully manicured grounds serve as a gathering spot to enjoy the outdoors with a side of history.