The Old Riverside Foundation will present "An Old World Honeymoon" on Saturday, July 19, at the Izaak Walton Building in Fairmount Park, showcasing the interwar-era European adventure of Riverside architect Peter J. Weber and his wife, Clara.
The 45-minute presentation is a preview of extensive research by foundation president Dave Stolte and researcher Ruth West, who spent 14 months creating a high-quality digital archive from Weber's original 35mm film negatives and documenting his life during Riverside's early 20th-century development.
"The honeymoon itself is a self-contained story, and it's pretty interesting," Stolte said. "It's really remarkable鈥攖he more that I've learned about it鈥攖he risk that they took is really impressive."
The Webers embarked on their 14-month journey across the United States, Europe and North Africa in 1931 and 1932, at the height of the Great Depression. Stolte and West have assembled 8,008 photographs from Weber's original negatives and letters from Clara Weber that the Weber family scanned and provided, creating a comprehensive digital archive of materials never before seen publicly except for a couple of private showings.
The presentation will feature Weber's photography and Clara's letters home, telling the chronological story of their travels through a world in transition. The collection captures the shift from old, timeless ways to the rapidly changing 20th century, as fascism was rising and the Great Depression had spread globally鈥攁ll seen through the eyes of a talented and sensitive Riversider.
"Ruth and I do kind of a tag-team back and forth talking about different parts of the story as we go along," Stolte said.
The honeymoon story serves as a chapter in a broader compilation of Weber's architectural work and life in Riverside. The foundation is preparing a book about the enigmatic architect, with art scheduled for printing by mid-August and release targeted for early October.
"They were joined at the hip from the moment they were married until they got back home," Stolte said. "Fourteen months as a trial by fire."
Weber worked within Southern California's Spanish Revival movement, creating grand-scale reinforced concrete structures during the city's prosperous early decades. His University Avenue residence, an eccentric cottage built of modest necessity, served as his personal enclave where techniques he developed may have leaked into his other work as accents rather than main structural aesthetic motifs.
The research represents rigorous historical scholarship aimed at preserving Weber's legacy and documenting his contributions to Riverside's development. The foundation has acquired artifacts and photographs to create a comprehensive archive of the architect's work and personal life, now preserved and interpreted for the community to learn from or be inspired by.
More information: The Izaak Walton Building is located at 2710 Dexter Drive. Complimentary beverages will be provided. Tickets are available at eventbrite.com.
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