Proposing to build a residential area that would rival Bel Air and Beverly Hills, Mr. Peter Snyder, began construction on a development called Midwick View Estates. This development, which was styled after the Spanish Colonial Revival, officially opened in 1929. The focal points were Jardin El Encanto (“El Encanto”) and Cascades Park, a waterfall that would fall 70 feet into a cascading pool.

Intended to be a future community place for civic and cultural purposes, El Encanto has tile-studded fountains, hand-crafted decorative wrought iron work, a meeting hall with high vaulted ceiling and heavy hand-embellished wood beams. The exterior walls are stucco and the doors, windows and decorative details reinforce the Spanish Colonial Revival style of the design. The building’s interior has remained much the same as in 1929, while the exterior experienced significant changes over the years. It was restored by the City of Monterey Park in 1994 through a State preservation grant and Community Redevelopment Agency funds. The Cascades fountain, with the same name theme, has also remained the same since its construction.

Mr. Snyder’s dream of many beautiful homes around a small park with a lovely waterfall at one end and a delightful place of entertainment at the other, did not become fully realized due to the depression. What he did complete, along with efforts of developing the East Side of Los Angeles, was a major influence upon Monterey Park and commercial business in the area. The major thoroughfare that was created by joining Atlantic Boulevard between Whittier Boulevard and Hellman Avenue in October 1929, went directly through the heart of Monterey Park, with the Cascades and El Encanto built on a parallel axis to Atlantic Boulevard. The surrounding streets in the area were even given Spanish names, one of which was the maiden name of his wife, De La Fuente.

Since then, El Encanto has been owned by several parties and functioned in a variety of ways: the Oneonta Military Academy, a wedding chapel, a busy USO Center, and now, the Chamber of Commerce Offices.

The Cascades was given to the City of Monterey Park, and appropriately adopted as “Cascades Park.”

Both of these sites, along with the area that was established have played an important role in the history of Monterey Park and its development. So much so, that the Cascades is depicted on the City of Monterey Park’s seal.