Garden in front of the Banning residence, with Banning's beach in the background, ca.1906

Photograph of the garden in front of the Banning residence, with Banning's beach in the background, ca.1906. The neatly landscaped garden is in the foreground at center. It consists of a large grassy area divided by a concrete pat at right. Several trees and bushes can be seen on the grass, while a cactus garden in in the foreground at left. A steep hill rises at the back of the garden at right. The beach is in the background at left. A man is standing in the garden at left, while a steam ship can be seen on the ocean in the distance at left.; The residence, El Descanso, was for a few years the residence of the J. B. Banning family. From about 1898 it was the residence of Hancock Banning until the St. Catherine Hotel was built about 1917 after the Avalon fire of November 1915.