La Crescenta, CA

The fortress-like rock houses of La Crescenta, Calif., (pop. 12,500) weren’t built in time to help defend against the bands of thieves and bandits who once roamed the foothills between Southern California’s Verdugo and San Gabriel mountains, but if they had they’d probably still be standing today.

“People who live in stone houses have an affinity for history,” notes Maria Muriello, who lived in one of the older rock houses for 15 years.

“Bits of local history—of the house and town—come to me from neighbors and folks who once lived here,” says Kim Bergner, a rock house resident for 19 years. Bergner’s home, like most of the original La Crescenta rock houses, was built in the mid-1920s.

The land now known as La Crescenta was originally inhabited by Gabrieleno Indians and later settled by Don Jose Maria Verdugo, after whom the nearby mountains are named. In 1784, Verdugo was granted 36,000 acres by the Spanish Crown, uprooting many Gabrieleno Indians. He eventually went bankrupt, and the homeless bandits and thieves who roamed the foothills, Gabrieleno Indians among them, became known as “verdugos.”

In the early 1880s Dr. Benjamin Briggs, a physician from Crawfordsville, Ind., made a worldwide search for an ideal climate and ultimately found his way to Southern California. He named the town after three crescents or mountain peaks (creciente is Spanish for crescent) he saw while looking out his window one day.

It had been his desire to devote himself to horticultural pursuits and the establishment of a health resort, but Briggs did not live to carry out all his plans. However, many people interested in his ambitions became attracted to the area. Health workers and physicians soon established clinics; sanitariums for asthmatics and other facilities for the sick were built.

In the mid-1920s, La Crescenta’s first rock houses were constructed. All are of natural rock, with the sweeping wide porches popular in the ’20s. The use of local rock—an economical and environmentally astute choice—helped keep the homes cool in summer, warm in winter (stone holds heat well, smoothing out temperature swings). While many others have been built since, most with a mixture of rock, stucco, and wood, the original homes—still occupied—can be found on Fourth Avenue in the older part of town.

Bergner’s house, one of the originals, has retained its rustic charm. A floor-to-ceiling fireplace completely of stone adorns the living room, while outside, the front porch abuts a wildflower garden.

“Some (neighbors) ask to come inside to reminisce,” she says. Indeed, on Fourth Avenue, stone house residents enjoy a camaraderie of sorts; they interact daily and their children often play on the same baseball team.

For Muriello, a real estate broker, owning a rock house was pure serendipity. She recently sold the home, outgrowing the two-bedroom, two-bath structure, but fond memories remain.

“I’d always wanted to live in a house made of stone,” she says. “While driving around, my husband and I saw this house. It was love at first sight. We miss the security it gave us.”

Muriello’s three daughters, who shared one bedroom, were born in the rock house. The roomy kitchen of knotty pine and fixtures dated to 1927; a venerable copper-lined and oak-trimmed bathtub was popular in the 1800s. The original windows, though rippled with age, added to its charm. The house has survived three earthquakes.

Bergner glows when talk turns to her home. “This house speaks to me,” she says. “It’s like my protector. I will never sell. I’m happy here. Whether it’s because of the house, I don’t know, but it’s a happy house.”

Mary Helen Ponce is a freelance writer from Sunland, Calif.

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