Hazel Watrous (February 12, 1888 – October 2, 1954) was an American writer who was co-founder of Denny-Watrous Management. The company presented performances in

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and ric ...

. She and Dene Denny played roles in founding the Carmel Music Society, the

Carmel Bach Festival The Carmel Bach Festival (CBF) began in 1935 as a four-day series of concerts at the Sunset School Auditorium and the Carmel Mission Basilica. Over the years, it grew to a three-week series of concerts, recitals, master classes, lectures, and open ...

, and Monterey's First Theater. They hosted musical concerts and lectures from their home. In addition, they established the Denny-Watrous Gallery.

Early life

Watrous was born on February 12, 1888, in

Visalia, California Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...

. Her father was Stephen Watrous, a professional landscape photographer who settled in San Francisco in 1852. Watrous completed her art major at

San Jose State College San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

Career

Watrous spent numerous years working for the Fisher Studio in Los Angeles, California, where she served as a theater critic for their productions and roadshow

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

acts. Additionally, she designed costumes and sets for the Moroni Olson Players in Los Angeles. While living in San Francisco, Watrous assumed the position of Art Supervisor for the Alameda City elementary and high schools located in the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa countie ...

Carmel-by-the-Sea

In 1922, Watrous and Dene first encountered each other at a party held in the studio of a mutual friend in San Francisco and quickly became a couple. They came to

Carmel-by-the-Sea Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and ric ...

in 1923 for a vacation and remained to make it her home. To generate income, Watrous and Dene took on the task of designing residential houses, completing a total of 36 homes. Among these projects were

Johan Hagemeyer Johan Hagemeyer (1 June 1884 21 May 1962) was a Dutch-born horticulturalist and vegetarian who is remembered primarily for being an early 20th century photographer and artistic intellectual. Life and work Hagemeyer was born in Amsterdam, the Nethe ...

home and studio (1923) and plant biologist Fremont Ballou's board-and-batten cottage located on Carmel's Upper Trail, along with several others in

Carmel Woods Carmel Woods is an unincorporated community in Monterey County, California, United States. It is located adjoining the northern city limits of Carmel-by-the-Sea and adjacent to Pebble Beach.Carmel Woodsat Geonames.org (cc-by)post updated 2006-0 ...

Denny-Watrous Studio (Harmony House)

Watrous and Dene had purchased a lot from Frank Davendorf in 1922, and temporarily resided above a garage while Watrou designed and built a two-story

American Craftsman American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. Its ...

-style home, now called "Denny-Watrous Studio" or commonly known as "Harmony House." They expanded it into a studio in 1926. The studio became a gathering place for musical performances and lectures. Composer

Henry Cowell Henry Dixon Cowell (; March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher and teacher. Marchioni, Tonimarie (2012)"Henry Cowell: A Life Stranger Than Fiction" ''The Juilliard Journal''. Retrieved 19 June 202 ...

and architect

Richard Neutra Richard Joseph Neutra ( ; April 8, 1892 – April 16, 1970) was an Austrian-American architect. Living and building for the majority of his career in Southern California, he came to be considered a prominent and important modernist architect. He ...

gave a lecture and courses. Recitals led to the establishment of the Carmel Music Society in 1926. The Denny-Watrous Studio was registered with the

California Register of Historical Resources The California Register of Historical Resources is a California state government program for use by state and local agencies, private groups, and citizens to identify, evaluate, register and protect California's historical resources. The register i ...

on April 8, 2002. It holds significance as a representation of Watrous's architectural expertise. The distinct style of Watrous is clear in the house, characterized by her trademark use of round arches. The interior concert space features an early cantilevered balcony that provides an unrestricted view of the musical performances held within. In 2017, the Harmony House was almost destroyed by fire. The rebuilding of Harmony House took over a year.

Denny-Watrous gallery

In 1929, Denny and Watrous established the town's first fine arts gallery, Denny-Watrous gallery, in the

De Yoe Building The De Yoe Building is a historic Tudor Revival style commercial building in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The building was designed and built by the master builder Michael J. Murphy. It was designated as an important commercial buildin ...

, located on Dolores Street, and 7th Avenue. In 1931, they added a stage for theatrical performances and sponsored chamber-music recitals. They presented paintings by

Galka Scheyer Galka Scheyer (born Emilie Esther Scheyer; 15 April 1889, Braunschweig – 13 December 1945, Los Angeles) was a German-American painter, art dealer, art collector, and teacher. She was the founder of the "Blue Four," an artists' group that consist ...

's Blue Four, and the first rehearsals of the amateur orchestra took place as well as the first known American performance of Bach's composition ''

The Art of Fugue ''The Art of Fugue'', or ''The Art of the Fugue'' (german: Die Kunst der Fuge, links=no), BWV 1080, is an incomplete musical work of unspecified instrumentation by Johann Sebastian Bach. Written in the last decade of his life, ''The Art of Fug ...

''. In April 1935, opera singer Maria Montana performed at the Denny-Watrous Gallery. The Denny-Watrous gallery later moved to the Murphy Building on San Carlos Street.

Carmel Music Society

In 1927, Watrous and Dene took the initiative to assemble a group of music enthusiasts from the local community, leading to the inception of the Carmel Music Society. They collaborated effort with Henry F. Dickinson and his wife Edith, who became the organization's inaugural treasurer and one of its first presidents respectively.

Denny-Watrous Management

In 1928, the official partnership of Denny-Watrous Management was launched. They secured a lease for the

Theatre of the Golden Bough The Theatre of the Golden Bough was located on Ocean Avenue in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. This "Golden Bough" was one of two in Carmel's history. It was destroyed by fire on May 19, 1935. History The theatre was designed and built by Edwa ...

from Edward Kuster, and in 1937 leased California's First Theater in Monterey. On June 3, 1937 the theater reopened as a playhouse where the Troupers of the Gold Coast performed. Over twelve months, they produced a total of twelve concerts and eighteen plays, among them

Ferenc Molnár Ferenc Molnár ( , ; born Ferenc Neumann; 12 January 18781 April 1952), often anglicized as Franz Molnar, was a Hungarian-born author, stage-director, dramatist, and poet, widely regarded as Hungary’s most celebrated and controversial playw ...

's ''Liliom,''

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

's '' The Emperor Jones,'' and

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

's ''Ghosts''. Denny-Watrous Management brought top musical attractions to the

San Jose Civic Auditorium The San Jose Civic (formerly known as the San Jose Civic Auditorium and City National Civic) is a former arena, currently operating as a theatre, located in downtown San Jose, California. The venue is owned by the City of San Jose, is managed by ...

. In 1932, Watrous and Denny brought the Neah-Kah-Nie String Quartet, with Michel Penha as its director and cellist to Carmel. In 1935, Watrous and Denny established the

as a four-day series of concerts.

Politics

In 1938, Watrous was appointed by Mayor

Herbert Heron The Forest Theater is an historic amphitheater in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Founded in 1910, it is one of the oldest outdoor theaters west of the Rockies. Actor/director Herbert Heron is generally cited as the founder and driving force, and ...

to serve on the Carmel City Council from 1938 to 1940, during the unexpired term of Gordon Campbell who resigned from the council to accept an appointment to the United States Marshal's office at

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

Death

Watrous died on October 2, 1954, in San Jose, California.

Notable work

* Johan Hagemeyer House (1923) * Zanetta Catlett Cottage (1924) * Fremont Ballou House (1925)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watrous, Hazel 1888 births 1954 deaths People from Visalia, California Writers from California People from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California San Jose State University alumni