Artist’s Old House Is Now a High Desert Landmark

Self-taught artist Howard Arden Edwards may not be remembered for the movie sets he decorated in Hollywood’s early days, but the home he built has become a high desert landmark.

Surrounded by Joshua trees in a granite outcropping called Piute Butte, it rises like an apparition in the middle of the Antelope Valley.

From a distance the building’s gabled roofs seem more appropriate to the Swiss mountains than the Mojave Desert.

Driving closer, you’ll see the hand-painted exterior decorations that give the 1920s house its Old West identity. They are colorful images and symbols of Indians, whose vanishing culture was the lifelong passion of Edwards.

Today the artist’s home is the Antelope Valley Indian Museum, which is filled with artifacts collected by both Edwards and Grace Oliver, who bought the property in 1938.

Less than a decade ago the state’s parks department acquired their collections, plus the remarkable house and the 300 acres surrounding it.

Visitation Restricted

The museum was reopened to the public in 1982, but limited funds usually restricts visitation to two days a month.

The museum is open the second weekend of the month, closed during July, August and September.

Upcoming dates to visit are March 12-13, April 9-10 and April 16-17. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Entry is $3 per vehicle, cars with senior citizens $2.

On your outing, be sure to include nearby Saddleback Butte State Park, a sanctuary for Joshua trees that has nature trails, picnic and camping sites.

To reach these high desert attractions from Los Angeles, head north on Interstate 5 to join the Antelope Valley Freeway (California 14) through the San Gabriel Mountains to Lancaster.

Exit at 20th Street West to Avenue J, turn right and go 17 miles east to 150th Street East. Turn right three miles to East Avenue M, then left to the museum entrance.

Chalet-Like Architecture

The main house is notable for its chalet architecture and seven roof levels, but it also has been built around huge boulders that are still inside the rooms. Steps lead between rocks to an upper level where part of Piute Butte serves as a natural stone floor.

Adding to the home’s design is the artwork of Edwards, which adorns ceilings and support beams throughout the structure. Especially impressive are the huge ceiling paintings of kachina images in the former living room.

That room is called Kachina Hall and also features carved kachina figures as well as Indian baskets, pottery, blankets, rugs and other weavings. Other items range from early firearms to animal trophy heads.

On the wall are portraits of Edwards, who lived from 1884 to 1953, and the second owner of the museum/home, Grace Oliver, who died in 1985 at the age of 86.

Step up to the adjoining room that was once the dining area. It now displays artifacts of Indians of the Southwest.

Then climb between boulders to the upper level that’s called California Hall and was the main exhibit area when the building served as a residence for Edwards and, later, Oliver. Two-dozen display cases around the walls show off their original collections.

A Trading Center

The Mojave area was a trading center for various tribes, and the items have been traced to many parts of the United States. They included everything from shell jewelry to arrowheads and grinding rocks.

The uneven, rock-floored room has tree branches for handrails and logs for benches that are covered with cow hides.

Other rooms in the rambling house are expected to be opened for viewing as soon as funding is available. Docents are on hand to answer questions and give informal tours.

Docents also will direct you to the Joshua Cottage, where a “touch-table” of Indian food preparation is a highlight for young visitors. They can grind meal with a pestle and mortar and start a fire by twirling a hearth stick between their hands.

In another room in the cottage you’ll meet an Indian artist who displays and sells traditional and modern work such as turquoise and silver jewelry. Slide shows about Indian culture are presented on weekends when there is no guest artist.

The Antelope Valley Indian Museum also has a gift shop and sells coffee and cold drinks. For more information, call (805) 942-0662.

From the museum parking area, a half a mile nature trail offers the Mojave Desert’s flora and fauna. Then drive to Saddleback Butte State Park. Continue east on E. Avenue M to 170 Street, go left two miles to E. Avenue J and turn right to the park entrance.

The 3,000-acre park was established in 1960 to preserve the unusual Joshua tree and other native plants and animals once common in the area. Among park residents are the desert tortoise, coyotes, kit foxes, road runners, rabbits, lizards and snakes.

Forest of Strange Trees

The half-mile Joshua Trail has strange trees found only in isolated areas of four Western states. Pick up a trail guide that describes how the trees reproduce by both seeds and sprouting roots, how they serve as hosts for small animals and how they adapt to the desert’s changing elements.

Also drive through the park’s “forest” of Joshua trees on the milelong road that goes south to the campground.

A hiking trail leads from there almost to the peak of 3,651-foot Saddleback Butte. Pay $6 to overnight at one of the 50 first-come, first-serve campsites.

Dress warmly for unpredictable winter weather in the desert. There are no food facilities in the park, so stock up on picnic supplies or stop for a meal in Lancaster or Palmdale.

To return to Los Angeles, head west on Avenue J back to Lancaster, or go south on 170th Street to Palmdale Boulevard and turn west to Palmdale. Then rejoin the Antelope Valley Freeway and Interstate 5 south.

Round trip from Los Angeles to the Indian museum in the Mojave Desert is 174 miles.