Costa Mesa is the family business

Lolita Harper

The sweat may be gone from its brow, but the muscle of the Segerstrom

family continues to shape the history of the city.

From toiling in the fields to hustling in the boardrooms, Henry

Segerstrom has watched Costa Mesa grow from a farm community to the

“City of the Arts.” Unlike others who have lived in the city since

before incorporation, the family patriarch has the distinction of

helping forge the city’s history, not just living through it.

Henry Segerstrom was 30 years old when Costa Mesa was

incorporated. Just getting started in the family business, Segerstrom

became a strong component of the city’s evolution.

“Personally, I believe the most important decision the Segerstrom

family ever made was the decision to annex properties to Costa Mesa

rather than Santa Ana,” Segerstrom said. “That determined the growth

potential of Costa Mesa, and from that point on, it has been an

experience of very rapid growth and transition from farming to

development.”

Where lima bean fields and dairy farms once abounded stand the

world-class shopping center South Coast Plaza, a premiere performing

arts district, the Home Ranch property and a business district

housing skyscrapers with views of all of the above mentioned.

Always the polished professional, Segerstrom focused on business,

the family name and the pride of helping to shape the city’s past,

present and future. The gleam in his eyes when he talked about his

heritage, his favorite spots in the city and the future of Costa Mesa

gave insight to his deep-rooted affinity for the area once known as

Greenville.

“I get a thrill out of the Performing Arts Center,” he said.

“Going to Segerstrom Hall and seeing how many people enjoy it and

what it means to people.”

In 1882, Charles John Segerstrom, 28, and his wife, Bertha, took

their three young children and left Sweden -- where C.J. had learned

to farm -- for the United States. The family landed in Orange County

in 1898.

After a wagon trip to present-day Costa Mesa, the family sowed its

rural roots. At first, they leased the 40 acres, growing alfalfa to

feed cows and starting a dairy. After some success, Segerstrom bought

the land on Fairview Road north of where the San Diego Freeway now

runs. The family still refers to the land as Home Ranch.

Segerstrom said he has always been very proud of his family, from

its farm worker roots to the white-collar branches. The family

agricultural operation once covered land as far south as Wilson

Avenue in Costa Mesa and as far north as Warner Avenue in Santa Ana.

“Personally, I enjoyed very much the exhilaration of [farm work],

but I am very proud of our family for accommodating the needs of a

growing community,” Segerstrom said.

While the agricultural business was still booming, the family

ventured into development.

In 1948, the family took its first step away from agriculture and

purchased the warehouse and supply area of the former Army base in

Santa Ana. Coincidentally, that was the first year Henry Segerstrom

started working for the family business, he said.

“I was involved in the leasing of those warehouses,” Segerstrom

said.

Considered the leader of the family’s successful transition from

farming to the world of development, Henry Segerstrom -- third

generation -- is best known for developing South Coast Plaza and the

South Coast Metro area and providing the vision and money to build

the Orange County Performing Arts Center and South Coast Repertory

theater.

His involvement in the performing arts is extremely rewarding,

Segerstrom said. The cultural district puts the gem in the city’s

crown.

“When I was younger, we didn’t have those presentations. The

community was too small,” he said.

Segerstrom enjoys the occasional peaceful visit to the Estancia

Adobe, which sits on five acres of park land his family donated to

the city.

“I like to walk around there and I am very proud our family had a

part in saving that land,” he said.

And, of course, he never gets tired of going to South Coast Plaza.

Segerstrom holds near to his heart the very firm belief that his

family developed Costa Mesa while always taken into account the

integrity of the land and the interests of the community.

When the family started construction on May Co., people questioned

the wisdom of placing a retail store in the middle of desolate land.

When the beams for the Westin Hotel went up, people were skeptical.

“People thought we were crazy when this 17-story building was in

construction,” Segerstrom said.

The community continues to marvel and criticize the family’s

development decisions, but it all comes with the territory.

Segerstrom said he will continue looking forward, bringing

high-quality projects that he believes will have the same success as

those in the past.

“Time has proven those decisions were well made,” Segerstrom said.