With 11 linen-backed leaves comprising 22 original 8x10" photographic prints, mounted in pairs, depicting buildings, the grounds, the beach, the polo field, etc. One shows a foursome playing a round including Fred J. (Ted) Reilly, the golf professional for Aptos. Nearly all are described on versos with typed labels or in pencil, several with the photographers' stamps. Housed in a 16x10½ new black linen portfolio with two pairs of black silk ties at fore-edges, original gilt decorated & lettered black cloth cover laid down on front.
Aptos Beach Country Club was an ambitious but short-lived project to develop a luxury resort adjacent to a parcel of nearly 2,000 residential sites along the seaside in Aptos, California. The 2,390-acre property sold in 1872 to Claus Spreckels (1828-1908), the 'Sugar King' of California and Hawaii, who built a large summer home, a resort hotel and a private race track for his thoroughbred horses. In 1924 the land was taken over by San Francisco developers, Monroe, Lyon & Miller who renamed the area Aptos-by-the-Sea and announced plans to build a championship golf course, casino, polo field, luxury hotel, etc. It was never completed due to the Great Depression and other factors. At present the golf course and its lodge have been rebuilt as a private club, the polo field is a dog park, and almost all of Aptos-by-the-Sea is a pleasant residential community known as Rio del Mar. This portfolio is one of the very few surviving records of the Aptos Beach Country Club. Images show: 9 landscape views (2 are aerial shots), 5 of buildings (including: Spreckels's mansion, the lodge under construction), 3 of polo players, 3 views of the beach, 1 golfing photo (mentioned above), and 1 horseback riding. Includes related photocopied/printed papers providing history and other background information.