Baldwin's Baby Doll

April Fool's Day was my mother's birthday. My sister, Helen, and I were all set to take her on an outing to the Huntington Gardens. Alas, the joke was on us, because — as we found out from the gatekeeper once we'd arrived — the Huntington is closed on Mondays. He was kind enough to suggest that we instead go to the nearby Los Angeles Arboretum, which we did. The Arboretum, we were to discover, is on a tract of land that was once the Rancho Santa Anita, an old Mexican land grant. This ranch has a long history of ownership, and a number of residents have left their mark on the property. Hugo Reid, who owned the land in 1822, build an adobe house which still stands. It is a well-preserved California artifact. In a city where a supermarket built in the 1960s can ask for historical protection status, real antiques are hard to find. It was the Queen Anne cottage, however, that caught our attention. Built by Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin in 1885, beside Baldwin lake — a natural body of water formed by the Raymond Hill Fault — this red and white gingerbread house is stunning. As the story goes, wealthy theater owner, "Lucky" Baldwin, built the house for his fourth wife, the 16-year-old Lillie Bennett. Albert A. Bennett, the bride's father, designed the cottage. However, the couple was never to live there together. They separated a year after marrying. Baldwin moved into the old Reid adobe and turned the cottage into a shrine to his third wife, Jennie Dexter, Lillie's predecessor and the mother of his daughter. Inside are two, almost-life-sized portraits of her. A stained glass window also bears her likeness. Throughout the years he owned it, Baldwin used the cottage as a guest house, where he often housed famous pals like, Sarah Bernhardt and Wyatt Earp.

It is no more uncommon for a young girl to marry a rich older man today, than it was 125 years ago. Yet, the sketchy historical information at the house — which I have recounted here — whetted our appetites to know what had happened to sour the May-December match so quickly. Since I am a natural conspiracy theorist, I postulated that Lillie and her father had arranged the nuptials just to get him an architectural commission. I pictured her eluding "Lucky" at every turn during that year, much like the child bride in Tennessee Williams', "Baby Doll." Helen, who it turns out has a mind even darker than my own, speculated that it was Bennett and Baldwin who were in collusion. In this version, the daughter is still the currency for a lucrative building contract, but she has far less power having gone from queen to pawn. We have no evidence to suggest either of these scenarios is true, but we were entertained by our notions nonetheless.

Near the cottage, stands a coach house-stable which was built in the same ornate style as main house. With its cedar and redwood paneled horse stalls, this barn is nicer than most homes. A short walk from there, through a formal rose garden and citrus grove, stands the Santa Anita Train Depot. It was constructed by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad in 1890, and moved to the property in 1970 to keep it from being demolished in the name of progress, otherwise known as the Foothill Freeway. The Santa Anita Ranch was eventually purchased by Harry Chandler and then donated to the State of California. All the buildings at the Arboretum are protected, historical landmarks.

I have said nothing yet of the gardens which are expansive and, with their mix of native and tropical flora, certainly rival the nearby Huntington and Descanso — and it costs less to get in, too. The Los Angeles Arboretum is altogether lovely. In the end, none of us regretted the day's change in plans, and my mother had a happy birthday after all.