The Albert H Beach House

Harry Parashis, is a Private art Dealer and collector of California Impressionism. He and His wife, Letitis, make their primary home in Carmel California. He split his time between Escondido and  Monterey, where he owns a 1817 Adobe he is also restoring.

In 1991, at the San Diego Museum of Art, Parasis admired a large landscape called “The Town of Escondido” painted in 1910 by Charles A Fries, the first professional landscape artist to settle in San Diego. After the museum show ended, Parashis offered to buy the painting from its private owner, but was turned down. Nevertheless, he continued to research it, as he does all artworks that pique his interest.  Off to one side of this broad picture, Parashis spotted an alluring Queen Anne-styled Victorian mansion atop a commanding knoll. He went to the same hilltop where Fries had lugged his canvas and brushes to take in the view for himself. Many things had changed since 1910 but, the Victorian house was still there.  Parashis learned the house was for sale, so he went to look at it. He Bought it!  “I thought it would take two months to (restore)”. His goal was to remove anything that does not date back to the turn of the century The Beach House was placed on the National Registered Historic Places by the state Office of Historic Preservation in 1994. It took 10  years to fully restore the mansion.