Castle Crags c.1888

Castle Crags c.1888, a photo by Michael Locke on Flickr.

Designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2008, Castle Crags was designed by an unknown architect or builder in about 1888 in the Queen Anne style of architecture. Defining features of the style include a hip hipped roof and raised porch supported by simple square pillars and pediment. A bay turret with pointed finial rises from the partial third-story at the northwestern corner, demonstrating the asymmetry and irregular massing typical of Victorian-era buildings, according to Los Angeles Historian Charles J. Fisher who represented the owners in the historical designation process. The exterior has ship lath siding with fish-scale finishes on the upper levels, stained glass windows, decorative banding across all of the façades and the pediment, a wraparound porch extending from the front to the eastern façade, and ornamental corbels around the turret and shed window.

When built in 188, the surrounding area was almost entirely farmland and peach orchards, according to Fisher. In 1906. the house was sold to Charles Young and his wife Emma, a local booster who eventually helped to establish the Eagle Rock Historical Society. Emma remained in the house until 1957. Located at 5027 El Verano Avenue in Eagle Rock, California.