By james art A nonprofit preservation group has settled a lawsuit brought against the city of Glendale that claimed the Rockhaven Sanitarium, founded by a psychiatric nurse more than a century ago, has fallen into disrepair.
The Friends of Rockhaven petition challenged what the group said was the failure of the City of Glendale and its City Council to comply with the Glendale Municipal Code by maintaining and preserving the historic property now known as the Rockhaven Sanatorium Historic District.
On Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Steven I. Gurvich signed court papers agreeing to retain jurisdiction over the case to enforce the terms of the settlement, which includes the city agreeing to make improvements to the ponds and grading issues near all Rockhaven buildings by March 2026, and to identify items that can be done in the six months after 1 January 2025.
In addition, within nine months, the City will conduct structural assessments of Coulter Cottage and Nurses Cottage, and within one year, the City will identify other maintenance issues and take appropriate rehabilitation steps.
In the petition, filed in April 2023, Friends of Rockhaven alleged that the city’s alleged “delayed and delayed maintenance” increased the cost of making the repairs needed to rehabilitate Rockhaven, thereby causing “damage to the public purse “.
The group pushed for, among other things, repairs to Rockhaven’s roof, exterior drainage and storm gutters, and the removal of mold, asbestos and lead.
In court filings, attorneys for the Glendale City Attorney’s Office denied the conservation group’s allegations.
“Simply put, this action … is both premature and unnecessary, as the city has voluntarily assumed the obligation … to rehabilitate and preserve Rockhaven,” city attorneys argued in their court filings.
Rockhaven was founded by psychiatric nurse Agnes Richards in 1923, starting with a two-story Craftsman-style “Rockhouse.” Richards eventually acquired neighboring homes to incorporate them into a women-only facility, and for most of the 20th century, Rockhaven Sanatorium was an institution for mentally ill women.
“Rockhaven was conceived as an antidote to the prison-like atmosphere in the asylums of the time, where patients were often confined indefinitely and sometimes abused,” the petition states.
Rockhaven was eventually put up for sale to private developers who in 2006 planned to raze the lot to build condos. But Friends of Rockhaven stepped in to oppose the deal, and the city bought the property in April 2008 for about $8.25 million, the petition states.
Despite Rockhaven’s historic value, plus an $8 million state grant and community efforts to save it from demolition, the city has allowed the “Gem of the Foothills” to fall into disrepair, the petition claims.
“The buildings contributing to the Rockhaven Sanatorium Historic District are in deplorable condition due to the city’s ongoing mismanagement of this important historic property,” the petition states.
Since purchasing the historic property, the city has ignored its own experts who recommended measures to prevent, among other things, water leaks and mold damage and other hazards, thereby jeopardizing its historic preservation and causing further damage. states in the petition.
In a February 2016 letter, City Manager Scott Ochoa admitted to a state historic preservation officer that the city provides limited maintenance to protect buildings in Rockhaven and that such a course is not viable in the long term, according to the petition.
The California State Historic Resources Commission gave unanimous approval to list Rockhaven Sanitarium on the California Register of Historic Resources in April 2016, and Friends of Rockhaven successfully nominated the property for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, which recognized the property in June that same year, the petition said.