David C. Cooks's Other House

David C. Cook lived at 105 N. Gifford here in Elgin in the home shown below.  

This is what it looked like a few years ago when it was Bowes Retirement center. Notice the one story addition and loss of the conical roof on the bay with a dormer in its place. 

 

A few years ago it was foreclosed upon. Trying to recoup some of its losses, the bank sold many of the interior details. Click here to see a slide show of them before they were removed. The Preservation Ordinance kept them from selling the stained glass windows. Our neighbor, Jeff White recently reminded me that David had another house in Piru, California, a town which he founded. He thought others would be interested so here is a picture of his other house:

Here is what Wikepedia says about it:

Also known as the Newhall Mansion or Cook Mansion, the Piru Mansion was built in 1890 and is Ventura County Historical Landmark #4. It was built by Piru's founder, David C. Cook, a wealthy publisher of Sunday School tracts and supplies from Elgin, Illinois, who had wanted to establish a "Second Garden of Eden," ^[1]   specifying, tradition says, the planting of Biblical apricots, dates, figs, grapes, olives, and pomegranates. Cook's house became known as the Piru Mansion because of Sunkist's "Mansion Brand" valencia oranges, which can still be found in the area. The mansion originally utilized natural gas as it possessed no electricity or running water.

In 1968, the Mansion was purchased by the Newhall family. Scott Newhall began restoring it after the earthquake of 1971, during which the two chimneys were knocked down. In February 1981, a spark from a painter's blow torch ignited the house while it was being painted and burnt it to the ground. ^[2]   The owners, seeking to reconstruct their home, utilized old photographs and the assistance of people who had restored the house during its lifetime. The new mansion was completed in December 1983.

In 1994, the Northridge earthquake also knocked down two chimneys. In 2003, the Newhalls sold the Piru Mansion to David Newhall Hill, a relative of the Newhall family. In 2012, the Mansion was sold to a private investment group and converted into an event venue for weddings, corporate retreats and other occasions as well as a private vacation rental for overnight accommodations. ^[3]

 

Click here to see interior pictures.  

If you are interested,  click here to read some info on David's house in Elgin when it was on the Elgin Historic Housewalk. Mark your calendars for the 35th Annual Housewalk to be held on Sept. 11th and 12th.