Castle Knoll Road is named for a castle built almost a century ago in La Canada-Flintridge. Lieutenant Governor Albert Wallace built it, but quickly sold it to multimillionaire real estate developer Frank Strong. Documentary filmmaker John Newcombe says Strong had a wandering eye.
"He was a real philanderer and his wife got really mad at him when he went off to a convention in Chicago with some other women, and she painted the castle bright pink as revenge."
The Chicago convention Strong attended was the 1920 Republican National Convention. Strong's good friend, Ohio newspaperman-turned-politician Warren Harding, was nominated for president, and won the election.
It was a convention trip Strong would never forget. That bright pink castle was a daily reminder for the rest of his life – and beyond. It stayed that color for 70 years.
(Airdate: 4/26/2009)
Comments (1)
We have owned the castle since 1992. It was gray when we bought it, although we watched as John and Wendy Anderson, the prior owners, changed it from pink to gray and began exterior renovations. The Andersons sold the house to Prudential relocationin 1989. A lawsuit was subsequently lodged by the Coutin family, from whose surrounding property the castle had been carved out and sold in the 60's to fund the development of Castle Knoll Road--then called Coutinwood and later changed. The property was encircled in chain link fencing by the Coutins and had lain fallow since 1989 when we stepped into the shoes of Prudential in the lawsuit and bought the castle.
Posted by Annsley Strong | on June 8, 2009 6:02 AM