Natalie Walsh

(Mother of Blake and Helen; Wife of Horace) - Diana Scarwid

Natalie Walsh was born in 1889 to a couple in their early forties in Palo Alto, California.

As the only child of older parents, Natalie soon learned that her mother and father weren’t as energetic or carefree as the young parents of her friends.  Her mother and father would dutifully attend school and social events, but as she got older, Natalie grew tired of explaining that they weren’t her grandparents, so she just said they were.  When her mother found out, she scolded Natalie.  Her father thought it was funny.

Her father had taken money inherited from his father and built the biggest clothing store in the Valley of the Heart’s Delight on the main street of San Jose.  It remained the largest building until Gianni built the Bank of Italy (now Bank of America), building with a tower one block away.  In the early 1920’s, he hired Horace Walsh, an experienced retail clothing manager with a handsome salary, and part-ownership of the store.

Natalie continued working in her family’s store after she graduated from high school until she married Horace Walsh.  The marriage had tongues clucking until the children arrived.  As soon as she learned she was pregnant with Blake, she quit working at the store to become a full-time housewife.

In addition to raising her children, Natalie loves reading poetry and cultivating orchids in a greenhouse that Horace purchased in England.  With profits at the store continuing to grow, she and Horace agreed to build a new home, and hired an architect from San Francisco. Natalie worked hand-in-hand with the architect in the design of all aspects of what became a widely admired family edifice.

Having been raised without siblings by older parents, Natalie is an old soul.  While the colossal energy and verve of her daughter Helen gives her fits, she secretly delights in Helen’s anarchy.  She and Horace share regular laughter over Helen’s outrageous behavior.

Natalie and her son Blake developed a close bond because he was interested in the poetry she read; the orchids she grew, and the care with which she decorated their home.  Helen, on the other hand, found such things stultifying.  Every fall since they were married, Natalie and Horace travel alone to Yosemite Valley to stay in a suite at the Ahwahnee Hotel.  The world always seems a lot calmer and more manageable upon their return.