By Lookout Staff

August 30, 2013 -- The Santa Monica Conservancy -- which is entering a second decade spearheading local preservation efforts -- will host its annual fundraising salon next month at the former estate of actor and conservationist Leo Carrillo.

The event, which will take place at "Los Alisos" ("The Sycamores") on Saturday, September 21 from 4 to 6 p.m., will help raise money to “promote widespread understanding and appreciation of the cultural, social, economic and environmental benefits of historic preservation,” according to conservation officials.

The fundraising event comes one year after the conservancy launched the public phase of a campaign to raise $1.6 million to hire staff, expand programming and complete work on its headquarters, a 1890s shotgun house it helped preserve.

The conservancy is currently spearheading a drive to preserve Downtown Santa Monica’s historic 75-year-old Post Office, a WPA building at Fifth Street and Arizona Avenue.

“A preservationist and conservationist, Carrillo served on the California Beach and Parks Commission for 18 years and played a key role in the state’s acquisition of Hearst Castle, the L.A. Arboretum, and the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park,” conservation officials said.

The Leo Carrillo State Park in Malibu was named in honor of the actor, who appeared in more than 90 films but was best known for playing Pancho in the 1950s TV Western, “The Cisco Kid.”

Carillo came from an old and respected California family. His father -- who was a nephew of Arcadia Bandini, wife of Santa Monica’s co-founder Robert Symington Baker -- served as the beachside city’s first mayor.

His great-uncle was a three-time mayor of Los Angeles and a hero of the Californios during the Mexican-American War, while his great-grandfather was governor of Alta California in the 1830s.
 
Purchased in 1932 for $200, the rambling Carrillo house -- a prime example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style -- sits on a steep hillside he planted with sycamores, oaks, and palms and features patios and courtyards with arcades “fashioned from baked adobe bricks salvaged from an old kiln.”

“Carrillo hired a mason to build the arches roughly to give them an aged appearance,” conservancy officials said.

The current owners, Melinda Gray, an architect best known for contemporary designs, and Bill Borden, have “updated the home while respecting the integrity of the vernacular architecture,” officials said.

Gray’s studio and the home and grounds will be open for touring with a wine and hors d'oeuvres reception.

Tickets are $175 for the general public; $150 for Conservancy members. To purchase, go to www.smconservancy.org or mail a check to Santa Monica Conservancy, P.O. Box 653, Santa Monica, CA 90406. For more information, leave a message at (310) 496-3146.