COVER YOUR PLANTS TONIGHT AND PRETEND YOU'RE IN NEW YORK

2010  THE YEAR OF VALLEY ADVENTURES

Winter has come to the San Fernando Valley. The weather person on tv says that it could get down to freezing in Woodland Hills tonight. When I took our new chocolate Labrador puppy outside to play this afternoon, the geese from Canada and the Pacific Northwest were honking up a five o'clock freeway on the 101. Sugared figs from Susan Ingham's garden, fat oranges await picking, - Our puppy's name is Molly Brown. Our lights went out last night for over an hour. We lighted our lives with candles and a portable tv somewhere hoping that the Lakers would get their act going again. Doing a sodoku (sp?) by candle light made me think about Ben Franklin - I actually solved the thing, or perhaps since I couldn't see it all that well,  it was just a belated Christmas wish. Iowa won in the last few seconds! Janne made pumpkin bread with real walnuts in it. I was forced to eat as much as possible to keep it from the fruit rats in the garden. With winter over the Rose Bowl and snow in the Sierra Madres, can Spring be far behind?  Jerry

Gary Fredburg gave this great sheet music to The Museum's Library of San Fernando Valley Entertainment Industry History -  2010.  Jack Oakie lived in Northridge, California

JACK OAKIE's DOUBLE TAKES ADDED TO MUSEUM COLLECTION

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The addition of Jack Oakie's biography, Double Takes continues The Museum's work to document the resident's of Oakridge Estates. Jack Oakie, one of America's most beloved comic actors, and his wife Victoria Horne Oakie were active Northridge residents for many years.

MYSTERY IN JACK OAKIE'S BEDROOM

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Bedroom Mystery Oakridge Estate (click on image to enlarge)

When I looked carefully at the markings behind where once hung a mirror or was covered with stonework, above the fireplace in Jack Oakie's bedroom, I saw these pencil markings. At first blush, I considered that it may have been a worker's message, likely in a foreign script. But, with more thought, the lines may not be in an unknown alphabet, but may have been simple measuring directions.

MORE MURAL PHOTOS OF OAKRIDGE ESTATES

View of the Bar from the Living Room of the manor house of Oakridge Estate.


My blog is resisting loading more than two photos per entry. That is the reason for the multiple entries about the Oakridge Estate.

LIVING ROOM OF THE OAKRIDGE ESTATE

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Living Room and Murals of Oakridge Estate - photos by Gerald Fecht for the Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley 2010.
(click on images to enlarge)
With some of the windows unboarded, a visitor to the manor house of the Oakridge Estate can begin to feel what this splendid old dwelling might become if fully restored.

THE BAR AT OAKRIDGE MANOR

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June 8, 1954
I don't know about you, but one of the things I love best about exploring historical houses and donation boxes given to The Museum, are THE small insights into people's lives. In the Oakridge Manor, two handwritten pages (fortunately dated 1954) reveal the full spectrum of what Jack and Victoria Oakie preferred to offer their guests to drink.

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY TREASURE EMERGES IN NORTHRIDGE

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Living Room Mural detail - Photo by Gerald Fecht for the Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley 2010. (click on image to enlarge)
After years of neglect, the great old Oakridge Manor had its first public preview this last Saturday.
Still in an exceptionally fragile state, Oakridge Manor's living room still houses impressive murals, done by as yet an unknown artist. With a naive innocence, the murals represent a bygone era in decoration.
That the murals were considered, even in their time, as decoration rather than fine art, is exemplified by a light switch placed directly in the center of a mural near the garden door.
For more information about the historic Oakridge Estate, please call the office of Los Angeles City Council District 12 at 1 (818) 756-8501