Articles

An advertising postcard from the mid 1950’s shows the building bedecked with individual TV antennas. The octagonal forth floor Sky Room crowns the building.
(ERVHS)

“Meals in the dining room:
Breakfast: 7:50
Dinner: 12:20
Supper: 5:00
Trays may be served in the room by order of the Nurse or Physician.” (Quotations and interior photos from an undated W.T.C.U. Home brochure/ ERVHS)

“Members of the Eagle Rock Ministerial Association hold Vesper services on
Thursday afternoon. Entertainment by groups, organizations and individuals is scheduled from time to time, along with seasonal parties and teas in the auditorium or the fourth floor Sky Room. This large lounge provides also a library, sewing room and games and crafts area.”

“There are three rates payable in advance monthly: for room without bath, or for room with bath in the main building, and for room with bath in the cottages. All rooms are single, all are outside rooms, and all rooms have a lavatory. The rate includes three meals a day, laundering of all linens, five pieces of personal laundry each week, and a thorough cleaning of the room once each month.”
“Residents must be of a Christian background, ambulatory, physically and mentally able to care for herself and the room without assistance”
“Residents are urged to furnish their rooms as they choose.”

This photo postcard was probably taken a few years after the home opened in 1928. Note the Churrigueresque ornamentation over the main door.
“The four-story main building is in the shape of a Maltese cross with the elevator in the center and four wings reaching out.” (Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society)

Ground was broken on the building May 8, 1927; at that point $200,000 was yet to be raised. “This building will be of fire proof construction, three stories high in the shape of a cross. There will be 100 rooms, all of which will be outside rooms and will accommodate 112 persons. It will consist of offices, reception room, dining room, kitchen and an auditorium with a seating capacity of 250 persons.” (Eagle Rock Sentinel April 13, 1927 / ERVHS)

Built in 1886 by Mr. and Mrs. John Broxham, the house still stands on Hill Drive today. The land was watered by a spring from a cave dug into the hills. W.J. Cook, who resided in the house in 1909, was the president of the Eagle Rock School Board. A later owner, Dr. Marion Michael Null wrote a book called “Forgotten Pioneer: The Life of Davy Crockett” in 1954. (Published in the Los Angeles Herald Sunday Magazine)

“Miss Pratt died in 1965, and the Eagle Rock home passed into other hands and if birds are psychic as some authorities believe, they mourned.
Now through efforts of the Los Angeles and San Fernando Audubon Clubs, Helen Pratt will always be known to birddom as children and adults meet in the screened in “treehouse” (now the “Lakeside Lookout”)-at Descanso Gardens in La Canada-where they can watch the gathering of birds from all the world. A bronze plaque will tell the story to many generations how a “bird lady” who once lived in Eagle Rock made the world a cheerful place full of song and beauty.” (caption Nelda Thompson-ERS, photo EW)

This motto over the fireplace translates roughly as “Forward !” (with spelling and grammar errors, we are told).

“Her home was not only the mecca for birds (yes, some of them actually came into the house for refuge or a special snack). That home was also a haven for people, too. Many friends loved to sit by her big fireplace where she could whip up a fire in a couple of seconds. She loved to entertain small groups where the conversation usually got around to birds.” (quote Eagle Rock Sentinel-Nelda Thompson, photo ERVHS-Pratt Collection)