Crank House
Fair Oaks Ranch House | |
Location | 2186 Crary St. Altadena, California |
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Coordinates | 34°10′21″N 118°06′20″W / 34.17250°N 118.10556°W |
Built | 1882 |
Architectural style | Victorian architecture |
NRHP reference No. | 97000751 |
Added to NRHP | July 23, 1997 |
Crank House, also known as Fair Oaks Ranch, is an 1882 Victorian style residence in Altadena, Los Angeles County, California. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997 for its association with the early settlement of Altadena. (site #97000751). The house has notably featured in films such as Hocus Pocus (Allison's house interior shots), Matilda (Trunchbull's house), Scream 2 (Omega Beta Zeta sorority house) and Catch Me If You Can (Roger Strong's house).
History
Eliza Griffin Johnston
The Crank House sits on land, the Fair Oaks Ranch, once owned by Eliza Griffin Johnston, the widow of Confederate General
Eliza Griffin Johnston named her ranch "Fair Oaks", after her native city in Virginia and also for the stands of
The ranch was taken over by
James F. Crank
The northern portion was bought by James F. Crank in 1876. Crank came from New York and was impressed with the land, and soon planted
In 1883, Crank invested in the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad, becoming its president. The rail line ran from Pasadena to downtown Los Angeles. Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad was sold and consolidated on May 20, 1887, into the California Central Railway. In 1889, this was consolidated into Southern California Railway Company. On Jan. 17, 1906, Southern California Railway was sold to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and called the Pasadena Subdivision.[4] Even so, Crank suffered financially, and sold the ranch. It was subdivided in 1910. He donated land for the Raymond Hotel in Pasadena, that had his Pasadena rail station. When Mr. Crank and his family first came to California, they stayed at the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel.[5][6][7]
References
- ^ Robert H. Peterson, Altadena's Golden Years, Alhambra, California: Sinclair Printing and Litho, Inc., 1976, p. 23.
- ^ Peterson, p. 23.
- ^ Peterson, p. 40.
- ^ Michele Zack, Altadena: Between Wilderness and City, Altadena, California: Altadena Historical Society, 2004, p. 68.
- ^ wikipedia.org, Sierra Madre Villa Hotel, 1884
- ^ The Career of James F. Crank: A Chapter in the History of Western Transportation, Glenn S. Dumke, Huntington Library Quarterly
- ^ eastofallen, James F. Crank and the Sierra Madre Villa