Rockhaven Sanitarium Historic District facts for kids
The Rockhaven Sanitarium Historic District is a special place located in Glendale, California, in the Crescenta Valley. It's named after a unique hospital called Rockhaven Sanitarium. This hospital was opened in 1923 by a nurse named Agnes Richards. It was a private place for women who needed help with their mental health or nervous conditions. In June 2016, this property was added to the National Register of Historic Places, which means it's a very important historical site. In 2021, it was announced that Rockhaven will become a museum!
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A Special Kind of Care
Rockhaven was designed with a special idea called the "Cottage Plan." This plan meant having many separate buildings spread out in beautiful gardens. The goal was to make the place feel like a peaceful home, not a big, scary hospital. Rockhaven is a great example of an early hospital that was owned by a woman and cared for women. It was one of the first of its kind in the country. It shows the dream of its founder, Agnes Richards, who wanted to make things better for women with mental health challenges in the early 1900s.
Agnes Richards was a registered nurse. She decided to start her own hospital because she didn't like how women with mental health issues were treated in large, state-run hospitals. She had worked in big hospitals and saw how difficult it was for patients. Agnes wanted to create a calm, home-like place where women could get care while being surrounded by lovely gardens and nature.
Buildings and Design
The Rockhaven Sanitarium Historic District covers about 3.4 acres. It has many old hospital buildings and small guest cottages. There are 15 buildings in total, built between 1920 and 1972. Agnes Richards even moved some buildings to the Rockhaven site. She also lifted and turned some buildings to make sure sunlight could shine into the rooms.
Richards bought five buildings that were in the Craftsman style. She also hired architects to design buildings in the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture style, which was very popular in Southern California in the 1920s and 1930s. The buildings had patios and courtyards that felt like outdoor living rooms. These spaces offered privacy and a sense of calm for the women staying there.
Famous People Who Stayed Here
Rockhaven Sanitarium became known as the "Screen Actors' Sanitarium." Many famous actresses and people from the entertainment world stayed there.
- Gladys Pearl Baker, who was the mother of the famous actress Marilyn Monroe, lived at Rockhaven from 1952 to 1966.
- Billie Burke was a famous Broadway and film actress. She is best known for playing Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz. Billie Burke lived at Rockhaven for a long time.
- Peggy Fears was a Broadway actress and a performer in the legendary Ziegfeld Follies shows. She later became involved in real estate. She passed away at Rockhaven in August 1994.
- Josephine Dillon was a well-known acting teacher and was once married to the famous actor Clark Gable. She passed away at Rockhaven in November 1971, where she had been cared for.
- Marion Eleanor Statler Rose was an actress famous as half of the vaudeville duo Statler & Rose. She appeared in musicals like King of Jazz (1933). She became a resident at Rockhaven in 1994.
- Mary Florence Cecilia (Babe) Egan was the leader of an all-female band called The Hollywood Redheads. They played music all over the United States, Canada, and Europe in the mid-1920s. Egan spent her last years at Rockhaven and passed away in 1966.
- Gwen Lee was a stage and film actress and a "flapper" in silent films of the 1920s.
What Happened to Rockhaven?
Agnes Richards managed Rockhaven Sanitarium until 1967. Then, her granddaughter, Patricia Traviss, took over. During Traviss's time, Rockhaven changed to meet the needs of its residents. It became a popular place for caring for elderly women who had memory problems.
In 2001, Traviss sold Rockhaven to a large hospital company. However, by 2006, they found it too expensive to keep up. They sold it to developers who wanted to tear down the buildings and build new apartments. But the local community stepped in to stop this! In 2008, the City of Glendale bought Rockhaven for about $8.25 million. The city planned to open the property to the public as a community park.
In 2016, the City of Glendale considered different ideas for the site, like a mental health facility or a shopping center. However, in 2019, Glendale stopped working with a developer. Then, in July 2021, something exciting happened! The site received $8 million from the state of California. This money was requested by Senator Anthony Portantino. The plan is to renovate and preserve the historic Rockhaven property so the public can enjoy it as a museum.
Becoming a Historic Site
The California State Historical Resources Commission officially approved listing the Rockhaven Sanitarium on the California Register of Historical Resources on April 18, 2016. Even though the City of Glendale had some objections, a group called the Friends of Rockhaven successfully nominated the sanitarium to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was officially added in June 2016. Rockhaven is important because it's one of only three women's hospitals from its time that are still standing.
Friends of Rockhaven
The Friends of Rockhaven is a special group that works to protect the buildings and history of Rockhaven Sanitarium. Their main goal is to create a park and community center there for everyone to enjoy.
