After Phelan's death, the entire estate was donated to California as a park and then a cultural and arts center as it exists today.

In 1911, James D. Phelan, a three-term mayor of San Francisco who would go on to be California's first popularly elected US Senator, purchased 160 acres (65 ha) in the Saratoga countryside and foothills.

[5] Jack London, Ethel Barrymore, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Edwin Markham were among Phelan's many guests.

In 2004 it became the Montalvo Art Center's Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Program[7] with 10 newly designed discipline specific live/work studios and a commons building.

[8] After World War II, a shift in priorities for the SFAA left many people concerned about the future of Villa Montalvo.

On April 11, 1971, serial killer Karl F. Warner murdered his third and final victim, Kathy Bilek, 18, on the grounds of Villa Montalvo.

Funding support is provided by the Friends of Montalvo memberships, as well as foundation grants, other private donations, and earned income via ticket sales and rental fees.

[11] In the fall of 2004, Montalvo opened the Sally and Don Lucas Artists Programs, which offer facilities and staff that are supportive of the creative process as well as state-of-the-art technology.

It is free and open to the public during daylight hours and run as part of a non-profit organization for art, artists, and the local community.

Trees native to the Santa Cruz Mountains include bay, California nutmeg, Douglas fir, big-leaf maple, tanoak, and coast live oak.

Other plants common in the area are broom, mountain mahogany, chamise, coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis), madrone, manzanita, monkey flower, pitcher sage, poison oak, and toyon.