Modjeska House

A National Historic Landmark. Built in 1888 (Queen Anne style architecture in the United States). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. 14 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1901.

From the record

“Arden, also known as The Modjeska House, is a historic home designed by Stanford White in Modjeska Canyon, California. It is significant for being the only surviving home of Helena Modjeska, a Shakespearean actress and Polish patriot.”
Wikipedia article Modjeska House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 136 National Register listings published here for Orange County · listed in 1972 · category: Building · built in 1888, Queen Anne style architecture in the United States, by Stanford White · a National Historic Landmark.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

National Historic Landmark. The highest federal designation, held by about 2,600 places in the country against roughly 100,000 Register listings.
What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 4 buildingss, 2 structuress as contributing to the listing.
Still standing. The Park Service records this property as extant.
Address. Modjeska Canyon Rd., Modjeska, 92676
When was it listed? December 1972
Category. building
Census division. Silverado
When was it built? 1888
Architectural style. Queen Anne style architecture in the United States
Architect. Stanford White
National Register reference number. 72000244 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Then and now

1901 to 1997

The ground this property stands on, surveyed 96 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet covering Modjeska House, surveyed 1997

Topographic sheet covering Modjeska House, surveyed 1901

Fires near this property

92 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 92 fires within 5 miles of Modjeska House between 1992 and 2020, burning about 55,930 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 14 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	30
Equipment and vehicle use	19
Arson/incendiarism	14
Recreation and ceremony	11
Misuse of fire by a minor	6
Power generation/transmission/distribution	4
Smoking	3
Debris and open burning	2
Natural	1
Fireworks	1
Other causes	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
7 September 2006	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Cleveland National Forest	LIVEOAK
3 September 2005	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Cleveland National Forest	POOL
26 September 1995	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Cleveland National Forest	POTSIE
25 September 2004	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	14 acres	Orange County Fire Authority	SANTIAGO FIRE
25 September 2004	Equipment and vehicle use	14 acres	Riverside Unit	STATE FIRE
25 September 2004	Equipment and vehicle use	20 acres	Cleveland National Forest	MODJESKA
23 September 2012	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Cleveland National Forest	TRABUCO
23 September 2010	Equipment and vehicle use	38 acres	Cleveland National Forest	LONG

Every fire recorded in Orange County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 27 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 27 workings within 5 miles of Modjeska House: 12 past producers, 6 producers, 6 prospects, 2 occurrences. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Lead, Gold. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Baker Ranch Extension	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Blue Light	Lead, Zinc, Silver, Copper, Gold	Past Producer	Pyrite, Sphalerite
Blue Light Mine	Lead, Gold, Silver, Zinc	Past Producer
Hicks Canyon Prospect	Fire Clay (Refractory)	Occurrence
Ladd Canyon Deposits	Limestone, General	Prospect
Sentinal Oak	Gold, Silver, Lead, Zinc	Prospect
Silverado-Santa Rosa	Silver	Producer
Wilhunt Mines	Lead, Gold, Silver	Past Producer
Unnamed Prospect	Lead, Silver, Zinc	Prospect
Unnamed Prospect	Lead, Silver, Zinc	Prospect

Every working recorded in Orange County

Storms near this property

5 since 2007

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Modjeska, the town this property stands in, in 5 storm reports between 2007 and 2008: 5 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
May 2008	Flash Flood	Modjeska	$500,000	Heavy rain from a thunderstorm over the Santiago Burn Area triggered damaging debris flows in Modjeska Canyon. The lowest floor of a 2-story house was completely inundated with approximately 1000 cubic meters of debris flow material. Damage to this home was extensive. The yard of a nearby home was inundated with approximately 2500 cubic meters of debris flow material.
May 2008	Flash Flood	Modjeska	$150,000	Heavy rainfall from a thunderstorm over the Santiago Burn Area triggered flash flood and debris flows in Trabuco Canyon near O' Neill Regional Park. Live Oak Canyon Road was shut down after it was inundated with up to four feet of water. The mud and water rushed out of Trabuco Canyon and poured into Cook's Corner, a roadside biker bar at the intersection of Santiago Canyon and Live Oak Canyon roads. The bar was completely flooded and filled with mud.
January 2008	Flash Flood	Modjeska	$40,000	Heavy rain showers over Modjeska Canyon caused a debris flow at the Lost Canyon Ranch. The debris flow originated on a hillside about 500 feet in elevation above the ranch and destroyed several fences and horse stalls as it raced toward Santiago Creek. The owner estimates property damage at his ranch to be near $40K.
December 2008	Flash Flood	Modjeska	$10,000	Heavy rain in the Santiago Burn Area caused mud and debris flows in Modjeska Canyon. Many of the roads and yards that were buried in mud by this debris flow were impacted by similar debris flows last winter. The amount of mud and rock left in the wake of the debris flow was extensive but damage to roads and property was minor.
November 2007	Flash Flood	Modjeska	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Orange County

Maps showing this location

14 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

1901 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000 - 6 printings
1902 USGS Corona quadrangle1:125000 - 7 printings
1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1942 USGS Santiago Peak quadrangle1:62500 - 3 printings
1947 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
1949 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
1954 USGS Santiago Peak quadrangle1:24000 - 7 printings
1956 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
1959 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000 - 3 printings
1960 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1965 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
1974 USGS Santiago Peak quadrangle1:24000
1983 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:100000
1997 USGS Santiago Peak quadrangle1:24000

Listed places nearby

1 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph	Property	Distance	Listed
	Jose Serrano Adobe	5.7 miles	1976

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 72000244 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Orange County	All 136 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.