Jackson Residence, Rancho San Carlos

Hildreth Meière attended polo matches with a friend while staying at a cottage that had belonged to architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in Montecito, California in 1931. While there, she saw Will Rogers play polo and often visited with Charles Jackson, Jr., an avid polo player, and his wife. Interior designer Cornelia Conger commissioned Meière to paint three maps in the entrance hall of the Jackson residence at Rancho San Carlos. The maps depict Santa Barbara, the United States Showing Polio Grounds, and Rancho San Carlos:

Entrance Hall, with maps and friezes below. ©Jim Barsch, 2014

In all, Meière painted three maps. The map on the left depicts Santa Barbara.

Map of Santa Barbara. ©Jim Barsch, 2014

The center map shows polo grounds across the United States:

Map of United States Showing Polo Grounds. ©Jim Barsch, 2014

A map of Rancho San Carlos is on the right:

Map of Rancho San Carlos. ©Jim Barsch, 2014

Below each of the three maps runs an appropriately themed frieze. The scale of each frieze can be seen in relation to the map above it:

Frieze attached to Map of Rancho San Carlos. ©Jim Barsch, 2014

Frieze below Map of Santa Barbara. ©Jim Barsch, 2014

Frieze below Map of United States with Polo Grounds. ©Jim Barsch, 2014

Frieze below Map of Rancho San Carlos. ©Jim Barsch, 2014

Meière in front of Map of Rancho San Carlos, 1932

Meière posed in front of her map of Rancho San Carlos. A beach scene is visible on the left side of the attached frieze. The maps and friezes for the Jackson commission are among the few residential commissions Meière designed during the first part of her career. Meière painted the maps in her New York studio.