The Sherman Library & Gardens

 It takes up an entire block on Coast Highway in Corona del Mar. What is this place behind the adobe walls?

There is a block on Coast Highway in Corona Del Mar which is different from all the beach shops and stores that line PCH. There are several low adobe buildings with a wall which surrounds the whole block. The buildings and the walls are covered by a wide variety of trees, plants and flowers. The windows in the buildings have iron grates and are usually shuttered giving the whole block a feeling of an enclosed and protected world. A sign identifies the building and the enclosed grounds as the Sherman Library & Gardens.

I suspect that there are many people who, like me, intend to stop by some day and see what is in this adobe building and behind these walls. And even though there are over 3000 friends of the Sherman Library and Gardens, I suspect that there are many more people who, like me, have never quite found the spare time to investigate this intriguing place.

Which is too bad because this little oasis of tranquillity is a first class destination point for anyone who loves plants and flowers, a stunning study place for anyone with an interest in our area's history and a nearly perfect site for anyone who wants a lunch, a tea, a wedding reception or a meeting place for their organization.

Arnold Haskell

The story of the library and gardens begins in 1955 and, strangely enough, does not involve a man named Sherman. It was in that year that businessman Arnold Haskell purchased Norman's Nursery at the corner of Dahlia Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway in Corona Del Mar. He planned to use the small adobe building on the site as his Orange County office and to turn the nursery area into a garden.

Over time a different vision emerged. Somewhere along the line he had the idea of creating an oasis of tranquility which he would one day donate to the community. In 1966 Haskell donated his property on which his business was located to a foundation he had created. He then worked to acquire the rest of the block. By the end of the sixties he had succeeded and these parcels became part of the grant. In total there was 2.2 acres of prime real estate on which to construct his oasis.

With a modesty that was surprising then and astonishing today, Haskell named the library and gardens, not after himself, but after his mentor and benefactor M. H. Sherman. Since Mr. Sherman had passed away several decades earlier, this was truly an act of respect and not an attempt to gain the favor of someone richer and more powerful.