Jack & Helen Frye Story

Sedona’s Celebrity Love Story

The Frye Legacy

A Lifetime of Accomplishment

The Frye Mansion at Arlington- Across From the Whitehouse

Called ‘Hillcrest Farm’ by the Fryes, ‘Four Winds’ by Howard Hughes, and the ‘TWA Executive Residence’ by the Press. Currently the property is called ‘The Cedars’. As a landmark it’s known as the Doubleday Mansion

For a moment in time this stately TWA Executive Mansion played a role that boggles the mind. It entertained dignitaries like the White House as music spilled out over the pool and gardens down to the banks of the Potomac. Partnerships were clinched and countries came together; history was forged. TWA encompassed the world!

Sedona TWA Frye Mansion- Washington D.C.- Across Potomac From White House

By Randall Reynolds

This is the 'NEW' (Sedona Legend Helen Frye - the Camelot Years of TWA) website, original format launched in 2003, is no longer supported by host Yahoo GeoCities and has been discontinued. Portions of the original website will be rebuilt within these pages. Please note the recently launched website www.sedonatwa.org is no longer valid. The new revised overview title is now 'The Sedona Frye TWA Story' with world url www.sedonatwa.com. This effort is managed and owned by Sedona Legend Publishing

Herein you will find a historic perspective of Sedona that was nearly lost to time itself, the real HISTORY of Red Rock State Park, a rich and valuable legacy which must not ever be forgotten or swept under the carpet, a showcase of treasured information and documentation. Sedona's history with Transcontinental & Western Air (TWA), one of the world's largest and most beloved airlines and how this association helped put Sedona Arizona on the map! 

Red Rock State Park, a 'Crown Jewel' of the Arizona State Park system and one-time private playground of the rich and famous. Originally owned and discovered in 1941 by one of the most glamorous couples in America and one of the greatest aviation legends this country has ever known! An association so powerful the original identity of the property will always be known as the Frye 'Smoke Trail Ranch' and the 'TWA Ranch at Sedona'. Dare to delve beneath the surface and discover the hidden and forgotten history of one of the most pristine, beautiful, and priceless real estate parcels of the Southwestern United States, and the legends who owned it

This website serves to offer readers of the book “Jack & Helen Frye Story – the Camelot Years of TWA” with images that compliment the biography. Photos were not included in the publication because of copywrite restrictions. An effort will be made to not include a lot of repetitive narrative on these pages, as this can be found when reading the book. This website will be updated and refined as time allows, and as well, the layout will be improved in an easy to navigate format. Please click the following link to purchase the Biography Novel Love Story “Jack & Helen Frye Story - the Camelot Years of TWA” available on Amazon in soft cover or Kindle.

’A colonial mansion resided in by two remarkable people, a couple so charismatic, that 65-years later they are remembered as legends! With a seemingly endless circle of friends, they empowered the world. An estate with a carpet welcoming all to the ‘Camelot Years’ of Transcontinental & Western Air and the glorious Future of Aviation!

The Doubleday Mansion pool was a treasured luxury updated by the Frye’s which they used as a quiet retreat from their harried life in Washington D.C. They loved to swim and entertain poolside. Swimming areas were found at all their homes

The Doubleday Mansion pool was a treasured luxury added by the Frye’s which they used as a quiet retreat from their harried life in Washington D.C. They loved to swim and entertain poolside. Swimming areas were found at all their homes. The only image of the pool area from the Frye ownership is seen above. Helen Frye's niece Sheryl plays with a childhood friend Wally Neely next to the swimming pool of the Frye Doubleday Mansion at Arlington, VA. (about 1944-45). Notice they are both drinking Coca Colas! Sheryl recently told me that there was a frog in the pool so none of them would go swimming. Funny what children remember- huh? In a letter to Frye architect John Gaw Meem in Santa Fe, N.M., Helen describes the mansion's pool area- "we have a swimming pool here in Washington that has dressing rooms under a flagstone walk around the pool, and we have a dickens of a time to keep the rain from leaking through. I have even had it torn up and re-cemented underneath and still it leaks badly". (January 16, 1945) Jack and Helen Frye were both avid swimmers. They swam frequently at their 5-acre estate at Overland Park Kansas which had a large pond and stream flowing through the rear of the property. They also loved to swim in Oak Creek which snaked through their 700-acre ranch at Sedona Arizona. This was the motivation that drove the Frye’s to create a beautiful swimming sanctuary at the Doubleday Mansion. They not only entertained poolside frequently but would relax in the refreshing waters late in the evenings to unwind before retiring. The pressure on Jack Frye as head of TWA before and after the war would have destroyed an average man. No one describes it better than Helen herself in letters to Frye friend in Flagstaff Arizona (Timothy Riordan) as seen below. Helen Frye Letters describes mansion life, "We are now established in our country house in Washington, which in my opinion, is a pretty poor substitute for the ranch, but still very, very much better than hotel life. The house is about two hundred years old and has seventy acres of land with a lovely swimming pool. We are going to get a couple of riding horses and stock the place soon. Do you think you could ever consider an Eastern trip? Jack and I would both enjoy very much having you come and spend a month with us." Helen Frye, Hillcrest Farm, Falls Church, Virginia, February 21, 1944. "We have a new pet, which is a little unusual and I want to tell you about it. About three weeks ago right after a bad thunderstorm, Sonja, my big police dog, found a baby hawk on the lawn. He was all by himself, no momma, no papa, and he couldn't fly even downhill. I told Sonja not to hurt it and of course she didn't but she was very curious and had to sniff him all over. The hawk refused to back up an inch and sat back on his tail, put his feet up and opened his mouth and dared anyone to touch him. When I picked him up, he stuck his talons in my fingers until it was very painful, but he soon got over that and has been very gentle since. I kept him for a week. At first, I put him in the wastepaper basket at night, then inside an inverted lampshade, but finally had to settle for the top of the door to the bedroom as he was very unhappy except when he was on the highest spot in the room. One day I sat him in the window and the robins outside got very excited and the baby responded very excited too. I have known of other birds caring for young of another species when something would happen to their parents and I thought since the baby was so anxious to get to them that they were going to adopt him. I put him out on the roof, but it was a mistake. The baby Thunderbird lost his balance and fell off the roof and only kept from hurting himself because a limb of a tree broke his fall. Then the robins started dive-bombing him and the little fellow caught on very quick; he ran for cover and was very glad to see me when I arrived. The Thunderbird won't eat anything but raw meat and seldom ever takes a drink of water but goes for lemonade once in awhile. I carried him around on my shoulder every time I went outside, thinking that sooner or later he would feel confident enough to fly away, and after a week of care he did fly away. We didn't think we would ever see him again, but he showed up the next day at the pool and has been there every day since. He comes down and lights on your head or arm and makes little bird noises and eats what you have for him-- which is either parts of Sonja's horse meat or the lung or liver of a chicken. My houseman is quite fond of him too and spends his leisure hours every day giving the bird a bath. Although the swimming pool is there and shallow water goes over the rim, this Thunderbird likes his bath in a pie-pan and assisted by his own personal valet. He really soaks himself good but never drinks it. All the liquid I've ever seen him drink is blood and lemonade.

We have had the League of Nations represented here this week and all of them, you understand, are in direct line of business and most of its post-war planning. Col. Shoop, who was the first man out on the invasion on 'D' day, flying a P-38, and the first man back to report- was here for a dinner of hot dogs cooked over the barbecue at the pool late one evening. His tales are very exciting and interesting, and I guess he is very lucky to be back here now, although he will return soon. He says those bombs- the robot ones- are really terrible. This fellow was test pilot for the Constellation and was on the trip coming across. We have had during the past week guests from France, Holland, Arabia, China, South America, New Zealand, Egypt, Canada, Scotland, Africa.  

There's no use explaining to you why my husband hasn't any time to go visiting. I am more thankful every day for the swimming pool; otherwise, he would be doing like he did the last three years-- working in the hotel and office all the time. Now he often takes his people to the pool and they can keep cool, bodily, as well as mentally, while they work on their plans. Last night at midnight you would have probably gotten a kick out of seeing him and another man, like two porpoises in the pool, just leisurely moving about under a big moon. It looked like pleasure but when you got close enough to hear them, they were working on very serious business." Helen Frye, Hillcrest Farm, Falls Church (Arlington VA.) July 10, 1944.

Other renovations on the Doubleday Mansion (medicine cabinets) are discussed with Frye architect John Gaw Meem, Flagstaff, he was working on a Sedona home (House of Apache Fires) for the Frye’s. “This old house we have remodeled here in Washington had some corner lavatories. I like them even though the medicine cabinet goes to one side or the other. The side for the best light can be chosen and they take less room. I used two of them here.” Signed Helen Frye (October 27th, 1946)

Jack and Helen Frye were both avid swimmers. They swam frequently at their 5-acre estate at Overland Park Kansas which had a large pond and stream flowing through the rear of the property. They also loved to swim in Oak Creek which snaked through their 700-acre ranch at Sedona Arizona. This was the motivation that drove the Frye’s to create a beautiful swimming sanctuary at the Doubleday Mansion. They not only entertained poolside frequently but would relax in the refreshing waters late in the evenings to unwind before retiring. The pressure on Jack Frye as head of TWA before and after the war would have destroyed an average man. No one describes it better than Helen herself in letters to a Frye friend in Arizona as seen below.

Also, it must be stated Howard Hughes was a frequent guest and had his own set of rooms.

The Frye time frame at the Doubleday Mansion was experienced during a monumental era in the history of our great country (during and after World War I I). Although the Frye’s resided at the mansion for such a short time they are well-remembered icons of the property even now some 70 years later. When the war was over, everyone's lives had changed amid much loss in our world, yet great things were still accomplished. The Virginia mansion was no longer needed by TWA, and the Frye’s moved on to other endeavors, milestones, and accomplishments around the country. Did Helen Frye miss the mansion life? In the mind of this author, it’s highly unlikely as Helen’s life was a social whirlwind of entertainment and travel. From the time she met married New York scion Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr. (from 1932 to 1940) to her later marriage and association with Jack Frye (1938-1950) she became weary of her fast-paced social whirl and the responsibilities it placed on her as a hostess and wife. She and Jack both longed for the quiet solitude of their Sedona Ranch, a place where they could escape the crowds and reporters and relax in peace. It’s doubtful that either one of them “missed” the mansion, as it really was a just a finely decorated reception hall for TWA business, not so much a comforting private “home”. They lived there because TWA dictated it, neither one of them ever aspired to one day own a colonial estate and mansion (with endless upkeep) in the suburbs of Washington D.C. The Frye’s had a lot of irons in the fire by war’s end and other more intimate homes. They owned a small home in Georgetown (likely used for privacy), a large Tudor-home on 5-acres in Overland Park, Kansas, a suite in New York City, three ranches in Arizona, one in Sedona, where they were building a 11,610 square foot home (House of Apache Fires) adjoining several other Frye ranch houses, and two other ranches east and west of Flagstaff Arizona (50,000 acres in all). They also owned property in Texas. The mansion in D.C. gave Frye and TWA the tool it needed to wine and dine the most powerful political and commercial powers of the world with one goal in mind- to secure overseas routes after the war, which would (and did) enable TWA to encompass the world. The host and hostess of this miraculous feat were Jack and Helen Frye; the reception hall was the Doubleday Mansion and never again would TWA experience such a world of "Camelot"!