This collection comprises the personal papers of Martha Padve, a former resident of Crystal Cove, California and member of the Crystal Cove Residents' Association Executive Committee. The collection includes correspondence, reports and proposals, leases, financial records, newsletters, memoranda, clippings, photographs, maps, questionnaires, and other materials related to Crystal Cove. The collection also includes records from the Crystal Cove Residents' Association and reflects Padve's involvement in the Association's efforts to build a case to add Crystal Cove to the National Register of Historic Places and its legal struggles with the State of California over tenancy of the Crystal Cove cottages. Of particular interest are the questionnaires Padve circulated that describe the residents of Crystal Cove and the leaseholder history of many of the cottages.

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. Born on February 22, 1917 in Scobey, Montana as Martha Bertonneau, she later moved to Pasadena, California and married Jacob (Jack) Padve. Together they bought the lease for Crystal Cove cottage #16 in 1957 from Mrs. Helen Pharaoh following the death of Mr. Gerald Pharaoh. Padve retained sole ownership of the lease after her divorce in November 1980.

1.4 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.

The collection is open for research.