Category Timeline 1

Ganna Walska receives the Polish Gold Cross of Merit from the Polish Premier and in 1934 she is awarded the French Legion of Honor for her contributions to French culture.

Madame Walska wins her U.S. Customs case, establishing the right for American women to have a separate domicile from their husbands. She also purchases the Chateau de Galluis, a country estate outside of Versailles and Ganna begins cultivating the property…

Presidential candidate Herbert Hoover visits Cuesta Linda as part of a garden tour fundraiser.

Ganna Walska goes into the perfume and cosmetic business, creating numerous fragrances and beauty products to help defray the costs of her theatre and its renowned orchestra.

The Gavits hire local architect George Washington Smith to construct a perimeter wall, pavilion, stable, swimming pool, bathhouse and several other outbuildings.

The first half of Ganna Walska’s 13-city U.S. concert tour is cancelled when McCormick undergoes an emergency appendectomy. She completes the tour with a performance at Carnegie Hall and returns to America for other concert tours in 1925, 1928, and…

Ganna Walska’s divorce in May from Cochran is the subject of much speculation in the press. In August, her marriage to Harold McCormick brings additional scrutiny into her private life. Madame Walska acquires a majority of shares of the Théatre…

Ganna Walska is devastated when Dr. Fraenkel dies of a stomach ailment. Three months later, aboard the Aquitania en route to Paris, she meets Alexander Smith Cochran, the sole heir of Smith Carpet Manufacturing. He proposes two days later and…

In February, Ganna Walska makes her New York concert debut at the Biltmore’s Morning Musicale, sharing the bill with famed tenor Enrico Caruso. Her debut in Cuba is not considered a success. In the hopes of securing future singing opportunities,…

Madame Walska moves to New York to avoid World War I and learns that Baron d’Eingorn has died in battle.