Padve, Martha.

Martha Padve was a weekend resident of Crystal Cove, California from 1957 until the 1990s and a longtime activist for preserving its 46 rustic cottages and the surrounding natural environment.v Born on February 22, 1917 in Scobey, Montana as Martha Bertonneau, she later moved to Pasadena, California and married Jacob (Jack) Padve. vTogether they bought the lease for Crystal Cove cottage #16 in 1957 from Mrs. Helen Pharaoh following the death of Mr. Gerald Pharaoh. vPadve retained sole ownership of the lease after her divorce in November 1980. Padve was a member of the executive council of the Crystal Cove Residents' Association. Worried that the Irvine Company would sell the Cove to a developer who would destroy the cottages and natural ecology of the surrounding area, Padve successfully pursued measures to add Crystal Cove to the National Register of Historic Places. Together with another member of the Crystal Cove Residents' Association, Christine Shirley, Padve gathered information about the local history and leaseholder history of the cottages from the residents. Padve also briefly pursued an unrealized plan with Chancellor Daniel Aldrich of the University of California, Irvine, to have UCI purchase Crystal Cove for use as a biological study center and faculty housing. After the Irvine Company sold Crystal Cove to the State of California in 1979, Padve remained involved in the Crystal Cove Residents' Association as it filed lawsuits against the State to allow residents to remain in the cottages. The Association won several lease extensions for its residents, but the State finally evicted all residents in 2001 .Crystal Cove lies on the Pacific Coast between the Southern California cities of Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. Beginning in the 1920s, silent film productions used Crystal Cove as a set for movies set in the South Seas because, during this era, all of the cottages had palm-thatched roofs. S uch movies included Treasure Island (1920), Storm Tossed (1921), Sadie Thompson (1928), Half a Bride (1928), White Shadows in the South Seas (1928), and, much later, Beaches (1988). The last of the cottages was built in the late 1940s. The exteriors of the structures have remained nearly unchanged since the 1950s, although many interiors have been remodeled. Between 2001 and 2006, the State of California restored 22 of the 46 cottages to their vintage 1935-1955 interior and exterior condition. Additional restoration will occur as funds are raised. Beginning in 2001, the Crystal Cove Alliance, a non-profit organization formed in 1999 to preserve and protect the Crystal Cove State Historic District, became the concessionaire for the district.

From the description of Martha Padve papers on the Crystal Cove Historic District, 1940-2003, 1978-1983. (University of California, Irvine). WorldCat record id: 678684007

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