Food for Thought, Part I: Rossmoor Center

This is the first in a series of posts about all the places to eat around here over the years.     The development of the Rossmoor Shopping center is an interesting story, but too long to deal with here, so look here instead.        The original, very ambitious plans for the Rossmoor Center were … Read more

1959 – Rossmoor home is given away on “Queen for a Day” TV show

One of Ross Cortese’s strengths was his marketing skills.  The homes were okay, construction was better than most but as a developer he paid attention to the little things and then made sure everybody knew about them. Cortese hired top name designers and architects — as much for their name as their work.  He made … Read more

1955-56 — Before Rossmoor, Ross Cortese built the Frematic Homes in Anaheim

This article was originally published in the Anaheim Historical Society’s January 2010 newsletter.  I have been in touch with the author and we have shared much information on Ross Cortese, who developed and built four very distinctive tracts of single-family residential homes, before going on to even more success as the developer of the Leisure … Read more