Once Sen. James Phelan's 12-car octagonal garage, the Carriage House Theatre at Villa Montalvo reopened Sept. 12 after undergoing an extensive interior remodel, with a performance by contemporary pianist David Benoit.
The remodel of the Carriage House, circa 1912, was funded by a year-old campaign which is also raising money to design and build new cottages for Montalvo's internationally recognized Artist Residency Program, the oldest on the West Coast. The campaign has raised $2 million and hopes to raise another $1 million by July 1997, according to Montalvo spokeswoman Wendy Miller.
Although the exterior of the historic theater remains virtually the same, upgrades to the interior include state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems, permanent theater seats, air conditioning and new dressing rooms.
The first public performance in the newly renovated theater will be the Kronos Quartet on Sept. 20 at 8 p.m.
Villa Montalvo is nestled in the foothills above Saratoga, off Los Gatos-Saratoga Road. Proceeds from performances support the Artist Residency Program, Community Outreach activities, the Gallery at Villa Montalvo and Montalvo's Literary Arts programs.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, September 18, 1996.
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