The Perfect Match
When Freddy and I stepped onto the grounds of the Ole Hanson Beach Club for the first time, something just clicked. The warm ocean breeze, the Spanish Colonial architecture, and the sweeping view of the Pacific felt like something out of a dream of ours. We had toured a handful of venues so far, and I was beginning to feel extremely disheartened. They were all stunning but they either screamed 'corporate mixer' or were just... too large of a space! We were searching for something that felt more like a warm embrace for our wedding. This was the last venue on the list. Before we even walked inside, we turned to each other and just knew this was the one.
What we didn’t know at the time was just how much this venue was already entwined with who we are.
After booking the space, we stumbled upon the venue's history, and what we uncovered floored us! The Ole Hanson Beach Club wasn’t just a beautiful coastal venue—it was a place with a legacy. Built in 1928 as part of San Clemente’s founding vision, the Beach Club was one of the first civic buildings in the city’s North Beach district. It was the crown jewel of developer Ole Hanson’s dream of a “Spanish Village by the Sea”—a community where architecture, landscape, and lifestyle were thoughtfully and beautifully intertwined.
The building’s white stucco walls, red tile roof, and arched windows reflect the Spanish Colonial Revival style that defines San Clemente to this day. It was a place for locals and visitors alike to gather, celebrate, and connect…and most notably, to swim.
In the late 1920s and 1930s, the Beach Club’s Olympic-size pool drew national attention. It became a training and exhibition site for competitive swim meets, hosting memorable Olympians such as Johnny Weissmuller (a five-time gold medalist and the original Tarzan) and Duke Kahanamoku (an Olympic swimmer, surfer, and a key figure in popularizing surfing worldwide). That unassuming pool outside the Club was once a training ground for some of the world’s best swimmers—and we had no idea until after we had already fallen in love with the space.
As two people who spent a lot of our youth and now adulthood in the water, it felt serendipitous. I had been swimming competitively my whole life, and Freddy was also on the swim team. Freddy and I were both lifeguards at different water parks as well, when we met at 16. He broke the ice with the very smooth line, “Do you want to get pho and talk about lifeguarding stuff?” (Spoiler: I said yes, and he stood me up!!) From there, our bond only deepened. The water was our first common ground, but our love for it eventually grew beyond the pool. Today, we’re avid swimmers and scuba divers. We also went free diving with sharks in Hawaii (I totally had a victory vomit when I got back in the boat)! Our happiest days are spent in the water, whether we’re swimming together, exploring the ocean, or simply reading or relaxing by the water and getting a tan.
Then, we uncovered a final piece of information: Ole Hanson, the visionary behind this beach club, began his career in Seattle before heading south to California. In San Clemente, he became the city’s first mayor and worked tirelessly to shape the community, creating a coastal haven that continues to celebrate the beauty of the sea. His legacy of creating a space where people could come together by the water mirrored our own connection to the ocean.
So while the charm and aesthetic of the Ole Hanson Beach Club first caught our eye, it was the history behind it that truly sealed the deal for us. The building, the pool, and the man who made it all happen. Everything about this venue felt like it had been waiting for us. And now, as we prepare to say “I do,” we’re excited to be part of the ongoing story of a place that blends history, water, and community in a way that feels deeply personal and warm to us.
