Twelve Oaks Lodge

Twelve Oaks Lodge is a historic property located in Verdugo City, in the La Crescenta area of Glendale, California. Initially a private residence on 4 1/2 wooded acres, it was converted into a retirement home in 1935 and later functioned as an assisted living facility. In 2013 it was announced that the senior facility would be closed and the property sold to a housing developer, touching off a campaign to prevent the closure.

History

Twelve Oaks Lodge was conceived by James and Effie Fifield. James Fifield was a successful Mid-western lawyer and businessman who headed several companies and civic organizations.^[1] The Fifields spent their winters in California, specifically the Crescenta Valley. They purchased a comfortable 13-room home with oak-shaded acreage in Verdugo City at 2820 Sycamore Avenue. While there they became involved with a charity group called the International Sunshine Society, whose aim was to “bring sunshine into the hearts and lives of those less fortunate”. The Fifields started a local chapter with the goal of providing low-cost home-like housing for the elderly “who can be made happy by our particular brand of sunshine”. Their dream was to turn their home into an old-folks home. When James Fifield died in 1933, Effie began the process of donating their home and property at no cost to the Verdugo Hills Sunshine Society, and by 1935 it was fully deeded to them.^[2]

The Sunshine Society was run by a group of community volunteers. They constructed the various cottages that still stand today, filled them with local elderly who were charged a nominal sum, and provided entertainment and social activity for them as well.^[3] Facilities provided by the Sunshine Society included a library, a recreation room, croquet courts and acres of oak-shaded parkland. Their fundraising included other acts of charity in the Crescenta Valley, such as help for local needy families.

In 1963 the National Charity League of Glendale raised over $50,000 to fund a new retirement home in Glendale. Impressed with the Sunshine Society and Twelve Oaks, they instead decided to donate the entire sum to them, building Stern Hall at Twelve Oaks, a nine-unit residence hall specifically for elderly women.^[4][5] Sensing a kindred spirit in the Charity League, the Sunshine Society decided to merge with the Glendale Charity League, donate Twelve Oaks to them and allow them to operate it, again on a volunteer basis.

The Charity League ran Twelve Oaks until the early 2000s when the facility was donated, once again free of charge, to the non-profit Southern California Presbyterian Homes, which owned several other assisted living facilities. It was felt that a professional organization such as Presbyterian Homes could operate Twelve Oaks more effectively. The Twelve Oaks Foundation, which technically owned the donated property and which held $4.7 million in bequeathed donations, was overseen by the Southern California Presbyterian Homes, and the Board of Directors of the Foundation were replaced with representatives from Presbyterian Homes. In 2011 the Southern California Presbyterian Homes conducted a rebranding campaign and established a DBA as the “be.group”.^[6]

Proposed closure

In 2013, be.group announced that they would be selling the Twelve Oaks property to a housing developer, and the 50 residents were given 60-day eviction notices. The group said they could no longer afford to run the property.^[7] The surrounding community of Crescenta Valley and the former owners, the Glendale chapter of the National Charity League, mounted several campaigns to stop the closure. A website called Friends of 12 Oaks was created in October.^[8] A peaceful protest on October 2, 2013 was attended by over 100 people from the local community as well as several of the seniors still at the home.^[9] Also in October, the Charity League filed a lawsuit asking a judge to block the closure of the facility and to appoint a receiver to control it.^[10]

On September 9, 2013 California State Assemblyman Mike Gatto, 43rd District, requested that the California State Attorney General investigate be.group for improprieties regarding their sale of the donated property, and the legality of transferring a property from a non-profit trust to a presumably for-profit developer.^[11][12]

The original intended purchaser, New Urban West of Santa Monica, California, backed out of the deal amid the community backlash. be.group is looking for another buyer.^[13] The facility officially closes on November 1, 2013.

References