GLENDALE : Historic Goode House to Be a Home Again

An aging treasure of Glendale’s distant past is about to get a first-class makeover and be converted into a community center and a home for the disabled.

City officials held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for the renovation of the Goode House, a large Victorian structure at 119 N. Cedar Ave. built by the noted civic activist and businessman E.D. Goode in the late 1800s.

In a $5-million project of the city’s housing authority, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Crippled Children’s Society, a 25-unit apartment complex will be built on the sprawling grounds around the house, and the structure itself will be fully restored, officials said.

“This is one of the last examples of Eastlake Queen Anne architecture in the city,” said Dave Ahern, a project manager for the city. “It’s a significant piece of history, because Mr. Goode did everything from bringing electric rail transportation to the city, to serving as a founding member of what later became the City Council and School Board.”

The house, which is built of redwood and is a candidate for the National Registry of Historic Places, went through a succession of owners before it was bought by the housing authority for $785,000 in 1992.

Under a 40-year contract, the Crippled Children’s Society will operate the apartment complex, which will be for low-income disabled adults. The Goode House itself will contain offices used by the society and have a recreation room for the wheelchair-bound residents, but it will also be open for community meetings and could become home to the Glendale Historical Society and other groups, officials said.

Ahern said the renovation of the ornate house has taken almost two years to design because of the complicated procedures that must be followed so as not to jeopardize the building’s historical status. He said the renovation, which will be completed by next summer, will be of museum quality.

“We call it the gem of the Jewel City,” he said. “This is going to be a national award winner.”