Restorative Power : Historic Home Gets New Life as Part of Housing Complex for Disabled

Two years ago, the E.D. Goode House was infested with termites, dilapidated after years of vandalism and neglect and surrounded by a chain-link fence, unfit for human habitation.

But today, the historic home will be re-christened, fully restored and given a new lease on life. In a $4.3-million project by Glendale’s housing authority and the Crippled Children’s Society, the 1887-vintage house, built by early Glendale civic activist Edgar D. Goode, will become the centerpiece of a 25-unit housing complex for the disabled.

Preservationists struggled for years to restore the site, which is one of the last examples of Queen Anne Eastlake architecture in the city, and city officials called the end result a “perfect marriage” of historic restoration and a charitable cause.

“It’s a significant piece of history, because Mr. Goode did everything from bringing electric rail transportation to Glendale, to helping found the Glendale schools,” said Dave Ahern, a project manager for the city’s housing department. “Now it’s back looking the way it should, and it’s going to serve a very good cause.”

The Crippled Children’s Society will operate the apartment complex, which will house low-income disabled adults and their families, while the Goode House will contain offices for the charity and a recreation room for residents. Under a 40-year contract, the house will also be open for public tours and used for community meetings of the Glendale Historical Society and other groups, Ahern said.

The project got rolling in 1992, when the society approached the city with a $2-million federal grant. The housing authority then bought the house from Joe Ayvazi, a local developer, for about $725,000. At the time, the house was surrounded by ramshackle bungalows and had been unoccupied for more than 10 years.

In all, the city has spent about $2.3 million in funds designated for low-income housing toward the project.

Several earlier attempts to renovate the house and integrate it into a low-income housing project for seniors or the disabled failed either because financing was unavailable or because of objections from the historical society.

“Initially, the intent was to make the Goode House just a place where people could go visit, a museum type of thing,” said Councilman Larry Zarian, who chairs the housing authority.

“Those proposals never came to fruition, primarily because of the cost. But we thought the Crippled Children’s Society proposal was the best of both worlds. . . . It’s costing a lot of money, but we feel we’re investing in both the past and the future.”

The project was not without its challenges.

City officials worked with architects for nearly two years to make sure the new apartments matched the old home, and to preserve the Goode House’s eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places while making it comply with federal disabled-access laws. Then the Northridge earthquake knocked the Goode House off its foundation, adding $60,000 in repairs to the restoration costs.

But residents who began moving into their new apartments last month said they were more than pleased by the result.

Nick and Marilyn Franklin, who both have cerebral palsy and must use wheelchairs, called their new apartment “a Christmas gift from God.”

“This has brought both of us a great sense of security,” Nick said. “It’s more than we could have ever asked for.”