Kimberly Crest House and Gardens is a French château-style Victorian mansion located in Redlands, California. The property is a registered

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

History

The house was built in 1897 for Mrs Cornelia A. Hill, one of the pioneers of Redlands. In 1905, John Alfred Kimberly, a co-founder of the Kimberly-Clark paper company, purchased the home to escape the Wisconsin winters, giving the family name to the property. When the Kimberly family purchased the property in 1905, Mrs Kimberly had the Italian gardens installed on the property. The family celebrated the holidays at the property with a magnolia tree adorned with 6000 watts of light. The Kimberly family continued to live in the home until the death in 1979 of Mary Kimberly Shirk, the widowed daughter of John Alfred Kimberly. Before her death, Mrs Shirk challenged the city of Redlands to raise the funds to purchase of the property around the home and turn it into a botanical park. If the funds were raised, she promised to bequeath the mansion and the estate of immediately around it to the city. The city raised the funds, and the surrounding grounds became known as Prospect Park. At her death, Mrs Shirk left the home to "the people of Redlands" and, using the proceeds from the sale to the city of the Prospect Park property, established the Kimberly-Shirk Association, which continues to care for the home today. Prior to the conversion to a museum, the mansion served as one of the filming locations for the 1981 movie ''

Hell Night ''Hell Night'' is a 1981 American slasher film directed by Tom DeSimone, written by Randy Feldman, and starring Linda Blair. The film depicts a night of fraternity hazing set in an old manor, during which a deformed killer terrorizes and mur ...

'', starring

Linda Blair Linda Denise Blair (born January 22, 1959) is an American actress and activist. She played Regan MacNeil in the horror film ''The Exorcist'' (1973), for which she won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for an Academy Award. The fil ...

. In the film, tunnels were depicted, but the house and the estate have no such feature. Later, the grounds served as the setting of Fleetwood Mac's

Big Love ''Big Love'' is an American drama television series that aired on HBO from March 12, 2006 to March 20, 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne Tri ...

video. Shots depicting the inside of the home were filmed on a sound stage.

Architecture

The three-story Victorian mansion was designed in the Châteauesque style by Oliver Perry Dennis and Lyman Farwell, a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

-based partnership. The building contains over of floor space. A near replica, now known as

The Magic Castle The Magic Castle is a clubhouse for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts. It is in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California and it bills itself as "the most unusual private club in t ...

, was designed by the same architects and erected in Hollywood in 1909.

Gardens

The gardens that surround Kimberly Crest are exquisite examples of the Italian style favored by Victorian homeowners at the turn of the 20th century. Mr Kimberly had the current gardens created in 1909, complete with statuary and

koi pond Koi ponds are ponds used for holding koi carp, usually as part of a garden. Koi ponds can be designed specifically to promote health and growth of the Nishikigoi or Japanese Ornamental Carp. Koi ponds or lakes are a traditional feature of Jap ...

s. Today the gardens are honorary members of the Inland Koi Society, which now maintains the lily ponds.

The mansion today

The Kimberly-Shirk Association has maintained the property since 1981 and continues the legacy of Mrs Shirk's involvement in civic events. Kimberly Crest is open to the public for tours and can also be booked for weddings and private events. Tours are Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Tours are available every half hour with the last tour taking off at 3:30 pm.

Gallery

Image:Kimberly Crest 1.jpg, Châteauesque Kimberly Crest home viewed from road. Image:Kimberlycrestfront.jpg, Driveway to porte-cochere and principal entrance at the architectural rear of the house. Image:Kimberly Crest porch.jpg, View from the front porch showing the gardens and the San Bernardino Valley beyond. Image:Kimberly Crest carriage house.jpg, Kimberly Crest carriage house.

References

External links

Kimberly Crest House and Gardens
– ''Official website'' {{National Register of Historic Places in California Houses in San Bernardino County, California Historic house museums in California Museums in San Bernardino County, California Buildings and structures in Redlands, California California Historical Landmarks Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in San Bernardino County, California Houses completed in 1897 Châteauesque architecture in the United States Renaissance Revival architecture in California Victorian architecture in California History of Redlands, California