Heritage Museum of Orange County: A Hidden Gem

For the past several years, I have had the pleasure of being affiliated with the Heritage Museum of Orange County, the non-profit organization that owns and maintains the Kellogg House, a lovely Victorian home located in the heart of one of Santa Ana's many industrial areas.  The organization has turned the house into a teaching museum that provides hands-on instructional tours to elementary school children located throughout the Orange County area.  It is, without a doubt, a hidden gem and I cannot endorse their educational tours strongly enough.  But the Kellogg House and its surrounding grounds are also available for weddings, events, movie/photo shoots, and meetings for social interest groups!

It's easy to imagine a romantic wedding taking place just steps from an authentic 1898 Victorian home, complete with a wrap around porch, stately white columns, a 
curved set of windows tucked beneath a cupola that hosts an authentic surveyor's transit, a white iron widow's walk, and french doors leading out to a balcony overlooking a garden setting, complete with a babbling fountain.  

The interior boasts one of a kind Victorian architecture inspired by designer Hiram Clay Kellogg's travels aboard sailing ships to and from Hawaii in the 19th century, including a circular staircase winding around an authentic ship's mast, an open concept, crow's nest style attic, and an oval dining room with an original tongue-in-groove wooden floor.  Furnished with period pieces including velvet upholstered settees, chairs, a fainting couch, several RCA Victrolas, an Edison Talking Machine, a pump organ, a piano and two antique wooden wall-mounted telephones, all would provide a spectacular backdrop for a Victorian or Steampunk-themed wedding.  

As a vintage and antique collector, I find that there is little as heartwarming as discovering an old Victorian that has not been modified and modernized from its original glory, especially here in Southern California!  This house is truly a one of a kind treasure to the communities of Santa Ana, Orange County, and vintage and antique enthusiasts everywhere!