National Register visit 192: Doctors House 📍1692 Brand Park Dr, Glendale
Built from 1888-1890 when Glendale was a brand new community, the Doctors House is one of just two standing Victorian homes in Glendale, and the only one you can actually walk through! It got its name from the four medical men that lived here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but it was also occupied by the pioneering actress/filmmaker Nell Shipman (and her two bear cubs!) and two families of Croatian immigrants with a pretty amazing backstory.
This is one of LA’s more exuberant Queen Anne-Eastlake style home, right up there with the Victorians you’ll find in Angelino Heights and Heritage Square. It’s also important for its wild preservation story. The Doctors House faced demolition in 1979 and was saved by a large group of passionate community members who created the Glendale Historical Society for the express purpose of saving this building. They convinced the City of Glendale to purchase the house from its new owner, took out a $30,000 loan to move it to Brand Park, and then spent the next four years restoring it to its near-original condition with a corps of dedicated volunteers, who spent a combined 18,000 hours bringing the Doctors House back to health.
Doctors House now operates as a house museum. It’s a vivid glimpse into what life was like in turn-of-the-20th-century Los Angeles, and a reminder of what can happen when an entire community cares about preserving history.
All historic photos are courtesy The Glendale Historical Society.
I’m visiting all the LA landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places. Read about this one and many more at Etandoesla.com: etandoesla.com...
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