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Title: John Vilelle Stereo Transparencies
Dates: 1954-1987
Collection Number: 2019-005
Creator/Collector:
Vilelle, John (1897-1981)
Extent:
34 Kodachrome stereo transparencies
Repository:
Sherman Library and Gardens
Corona del Mar, California 92625
Abstract: This collection consists of Kodachrome stereo transparencies
of The Arches Café, John Vilelle in his garden, and the Mariner's Mile section
of Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach.
Language of Material:
English
This collection is open for research. The collection includes a set of reference
prints made from the transparencies
Property rights to the physical object belong to the Sherman Library. Literary
rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The Sherman
Library do not hold the copyright.
John Vilelle Stereo Transparencies. Sherman Library and Gardens
Biography/Administrative History
John Vielle (1897-1981) was born in Santa Ana in 1897. His family moved to Newport
Beach about 1906. Vielle worked in a sugar mill and in the oil fields until 1926,
when he and a business partner opened a gasoline and service station. The station
was named The Arches after its distinctive architectures. Located on land purchased
by John Vilelle's father, the service station was on the corner of the newly
opened Coast Highway and Balboa Avenue in Newport Beach. Vilelle's business
partner left after a brief time. Vilelle eventually added a restaurant next to the
service station, which became a popular spot for both locales and Hollywood actors
visiting Newport Beach. In 1955, Vilelle sold The Arches restaurant to Bob
Batchelor.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection consists of Kodachrome stereo transparencies of The Arches Café, John
Vilelle in his garden and the Mariner's Mile section of Pacific Coast Highway.
The collection includes fifteen images of The Arches Café, which Vilelle founded in
1926 and sold in 1955. A single image is dated 1954. The other transparencies of The
Arches Restaurant are undated exterior shots of the building during a remodeling,
ca. 1956. Most images of the Mariner's Mile section of Pacific Coast Highway
were taken from Vilelle's home at 230 Ocean View Ave., which overlooked Pacific
Coast Highway. Two of the images show buildings along Pacific Coast Highway burning
on the night of January 11, 1975. Several other images taken later show the damage
wrought by the fire, which was the largest fire in the city of Newport Beach up to
that time.
Newport Beach (Calif.) – Restaurants - The Arches
Disasters – Fires John Vilelle
Newport Beach (Calif.)
stereo transparencies