Rockhaven Sanitarium Opens Its Doors in 1923
In 1923, psychiatric nurse Agnes Richards purchased a small stone cottage on Honolulu Avenue in Glendale, California, and began turning it into Rockhaven Sanitarium.
Her decision came after years of work inside state-run institutions in Nebraska, Iowa, and San Bernardino. She had seen women housed in locked wards, often treated more like prisoners than patients.
Richards planned her facility using the Cottage Plan, a layout that placed small homes across landscaped grounds. Rockhaven opened as one of the first private mental health facilities in the country, owned and operated by a woman and dedicated to the treatment of women.
Its earliest patients were admitted for mild mental and nervous disorders, and families were drawn to the idea of a setting that combined medical oversight with a home-like environment.
The Crescenta Valley's dry air and mountain climate added to the appeal, giving Rockhaven a physical character very different from the crowded state hospitals of the time.
Building a Haven in the 1920s and 1930s
After Rockhaven opened in 1923, Agnes Richards began to expand the property beyond the first stone cottage.
Over the next two decades, she added buildings that turned the grounds into a small campus.
Fifteen structures in total would be completed or relocated to the site between 1920 and 1972, setting the framework for the facility's long use.
Richards relied on a blend of architectural styles to create the atmosphere she wanted.
She acquired five Craftsman cottages during the early years, then hired Prescott and Brothers, a design firm active in California at the time, to draw up plans for Spanish Colonial Revival buildings.
These structures, popular across the region during the 1920s and 1930s, gave Rockhaven a style consistent with its surroundings.
She made deliberate choices to adapt the site to patient needs. Some cottages were lifted and turned on their foundations so natural light could reach the interiors.
Patios and shaded courtyards extended the living space, providing quiet areas outside the small rooms.
Walkways wound through gardens planted with citrus and large oaks, while seasonal flowers filled the air with scent.
The arrangement followed the Cottage Plan model, creating a network of houses and landscaped outdoor areas that shaped daily life at Rockhaven during its first decades.
The "Screen Actors' Sanitarium" Years
By the 1940s and 1950s, Rockhaven had gained a reputation that set it apart from other private institutions.
Reporters began calling it the "Screen Actors' Sanitarium" as more women connected to the entertainment industry moved into its cottages.
The quiet grounds and controlled privacy attracted families who wanted a discreet place for relatives whose names were known beyond Los Angeles.
Among the residents was Gladys Pearl Baker, the mother of Marilyn Monroe.
She lived at Rockhaven from 1952 until 1966 and was noted for several escapes, including a widely reported 15-mile walk to a church after Monroe's death.
Billie Burke, remembered as Glinda in The Wizard of Oz, also lived here during her later years.
Their stays brought outside attention to Rockhaven, but they were far from the only women tied to Hollywood who came through its doors.
Other names included Peggy Fears, a Broadway actress turned producer and real estate investor who died at Rockhaven in 1994.
Josephine Dillon, an acting teacher and once married to Clark Gable, spent her final years here and died in 1971.
Vaudeville performer Marion Eleanor Statler Rose entered as a resident in 1994.
Babe Egan, who led the all-female band The Hollywood Redheads, died at Rockhaven in 1966. Silent film actress Gwen Lee was also among the residents.
These women, drawn from stage and screen, gave Rockhaven a reputation tied directly to the entertainment world.
Shifts After Agnes Richards' Death (1967–2000)
With the passing of Agnes Richards in 1967, Rockhaven came under the leadership of her granddaughter, Patricia Traviss.
She adjusted the focus toward elderly women living with dementia.
The move paralleled changes in long-term care, where smaller institutions were increasingly chosen for closer patient care.
The 1971 San Fernando Earthquake left visible damage across the property.
The earthquake left the walls cracked, and repairs soon became a lasting expense that strained the facility's budget.
Services continued, but maintenance costs only grew heavier in the following years.
The decline progressed slowly but was evident, as portions of the grounds decayed faster than they could be restored.
By 2001, Traviss sold Rockhaven to the Ararat Home of Los Angeles, a large hospital corporation with the resources to take over its operation.
For a short time, Rockhaven continued under their management, but maintaining the historic cottages proved more expensive than expected.
After five years, the corporation decided to sell.
In 2006, developers bought the property with plans to replace the sanitarium with condominiums.
That proposal marked the beginning of a new battle over the future of Rockhaven, one that extended beyond family ownership into public debate about preservation and use.
Community Steps In (2006–2016)
In 2006, сommunity members organized to stop the demolition and pressed for saving the historic property.
Their actions slowed the project and gave preservation advocates time to expand their reach.
In 2008, the City of Glendale purchased the 3.4-acre site for about $8.25 million.
City officials described their intent to open the property as a public park, but the transfer also placed responsibility for the upkeep of aging cottages onto municipal budgets.
During this period, the grounds remained closed, and concerns grew as the condition of the buildings continued to deteriorate.
Friends of Rockhaven, created to protect the sanitarium, took on the role of advocacy. They arranged tours, lectures, and community gatherings to highlight the site's heritage.
Their campaign achieved results in April 2016, when the California State Historical Resources Commission approved Rockhaven for the state register.
Two months later, despite objections from Glendale's city council, Rockhaven was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
At the time of listing, it was identified as one of only three surviving women's hospitals from its period, securing national recognition that preservation groups had worked nearly a decade to achieve.
A Museum in the Making (2017–2023)
After Rockhaven's listing on the National Register in 2016, new proposals surfaced about how to use the property.
In 2017, Glendale began considering adaptive reuse options, ranging from community facilities to commercial development.
By 2019, the city entered a partnership with Gangi Development, but after two years, the arrangement ended without progress.
Momentum returned in July 2021, when California State Senator Anthony Portantino secured $8 million in state funding to convert Rockhaven into the Rockhaven Mental Health History Museum.
The plan called for restoration of cottages, staged rooms furnished to reflect different decades, and curated exhibits tracing women's mental health care.
The grant required Glendale to preserve the site in line with the Secretary of the Interior's standards.
Even with funding secured, advocates warned that the site was neglected. Roof leaks, mold, asbestos, and drainage failures were all noted in reports as ongoing problems.
Friends of Rockhaven, the nonprofit long involved in its protection, responded by suing Glendale.
In court, preservationists argued that funding hadn't translated into real work. As 2023 closed, the museum remained in limbo, dependent on the lawsuit and grant timelines.
Preservation Under Pressure (2024–2025)
In March 2024, a Superior Court judge allowed Friends of Rockhaven to move forward with their case against Glendale.
The complaint detailed leaking roofs, drainage that left water pooled near cottages, and the presence of mold and asbestos.
Glendale answered that nearly $1 million in maintenance had already been carried out in 2020 and 2021, but the court was not persuaded to dismiss the filing.
Five months later, in August, the council signed off on an $8 million plan centered on the 1931 Pines Cottage.
It included restoring courtyards, updating irrigation, and arranging interiors with furniture of the period.
Though some worried about original tilework being removed, the approval cleared the way for construction.
Settlement came in January 2025. Glendale accepted the terms to repair drainage and grading by March 2026 and to identify more work within six months.
By midsummer, reports indicated rehabilitation had begun, with the state's March 2026 deadline in place.