Padua Hills
Padua Hills traces its roots to the 1920s, when a group of Claremont residents pooled resources to purchase over 2,000 acres in the foothills, determined to keep the area away from developers who didn't share their vision. Herman and Bess Garner led the effort, building the Padua Hills Theatre in 1930 and shaping the surrounding streets, including Via Padova, into a home for artists, artisans, and craftspeople connected to the Claremont Colleges. Many of these newcomers arrived on the GI Bill after World War II and found a tight knit artist community that would come to define the neighborhood for decades. Names like Millard Sheets, Sam Maloof, and Harrison McIntosh worked and lived here, and their creative energy shows up today in the character of the homes along Via Padova: Spanish Revival and mid-century architecture, hand-built details, and a sense that each property was made rather than mass-produced.
That legacy lives on through Claremont Heritage and the annual Padua Hills Art Fiesta, which still draws artists and visitors to the olive groves surrounding the historic theater. Walking through the neighborhood today, you feel the layered history at every turn: the winding hillside streets, the mountain views, the mature trees planted nearly a century ago. It's a place where longtime residents can trace the story of a specific artist or family behind almost every home, and where the foothill setting still delivers the same quiet, removed feeling that first drew the Garners and their circle here.
