Mansion Serves as Home to Fund-Raiser
More than 400 boosters of the arts got a close-up view of the swankiest new house in town Thursday as travel service magnate Edward Hogan offered up his $20-million, 22-room Lake Sherwood mansion for an Alliance for the Arts fund-raiser.
Hogan, who built the 17,500-square-foot Chateau Pleasance in the past two years, plans to let local arts and charities use it for fund-raisers.
He dismisses those who may think his home--which features eight gold nozzles in one shower stall--as somewhat excessive.
“I say I won’t interrupt your dream if you don’t interrupt mine,” said Hogan, who made his fortune founding the Pleasant Holidays group travel agency.
Outside, more than 400 women strolled up stone pathways among rosebushes and fountains to view the hilltop property in Sherwood Country Club, one of Ventura County’s wealthiest enclaves.
Some peeked in the windows at the marble staircase, the chandeliers and giant ceiling paintings--not to mention the genuine gold used on fluted columns throughout the home.
The house--with its manicured lawns, roses, shrubs, blue pools, six fountains and 22 statues--is modeled after the chateaus Hogan and his wife, Lynn, saw while traveling through France’s Loire Valley.
Alliance for the Arts, the fund-raising arm of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, hoped to make $50,000 from the event.
“A lot of people don’t understand the Civic Arts Plaza is run all on donations,” said Beverly Dallas, president of the Angels of the Alliance auxiliary.
The alliance routinely provides money to bus schoolchildren from less-affluent areas to watch plays and concerts at the arts plaza. Recently, 2,000 students from Oxnard were brought in to watch a dance production of “Cinderella.” It also funds a speaker series, Broadway shows, Shakespearean plays and sponsors local performances by the National Ballet of Russia.
“We couldn’t exist without the alliance,” said Tom Mitze, Civic Arts Plaza theater director. “Raising funds is done like this everywhere in the U.S. The arts are subsidized privately here and publicly in Europe.”
Vendors, who donated 20% of their profits back to the arts alliance, sat in front of the house selling jewelry, handbags, artwork, pillows and stationery. A Saab dealer was on hand offering free test-drives of a new red convertible.
Inside the house, Hogan wandered about the spacious rooms and hallways. Outside, across the golf course, he pointed to a stable housing his Arabian horses.
He said the home, which he will share with his wife and four poodles when it’s finished next month, has been a dream since he bought the land 12 years ago. He named it after his birthplace in Point Pleasant, N.J. The couple now live on Westlake Island in Westlake Village.
Aside from running his $400-million-a-year business, Hogan heads the Hogan Family Foundation, which donates money for college scholarships, abused children and medical flights. The foundation recently bought land near the Civic Arts Plaza to create the Gardens of the World educational park.
“Andrew Carnegie, a man I often quote, said the toughest job he ever had was giving his money away,” Hogan said. “Some charities aren’t that reputable, but the [Alliance for the Arts] is very good. They are doing tremendous things.”
