Crank House, also known as Fair Oaks Ranch, is an 1882 Victorian style residence in Altadena, Los Angeles County, California. The house was placed 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 ...

in 1997 for its association with the early settlement of Altadena. ''(site #97000751)''. The house has notably featured in films such as '' Hocus Pocus'' (Allison's house interior shots), '' Matilda'' (Trunchbull's house), ''

Scream 2 ''Scream 2'' is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O'Connell, Elise Neal, Tim ...

'' (Omega Beta Zeta sorority house) and ''

Catch Me If You Can ''Catch Me If You Can'' is a 2002 American Biographical film, biographical crime film, crime Comedy drama, comedy-drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks with Christopher Walken, Martin ...

'' (Roger Strong's house).

History

Eliza Griffin Johnston

The Crank House sits on land, the Fair Oaks Ranch, once owned by Eliza Griffin Johnston, the widow of Confederate General

Albert Sidney Johnston Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) served as a general in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army. He saw extensive combat during his 34-year military career, figh ...

. Following the death of her husband at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, Eliza and her children came to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

at the urging of her brother, John S. Griffin. Griffin had large land holdings in the Los Angeles area and was a business partner of Benjamin D. Wilson in

Rancho San Pascual Rancho San Pascual also known as Rancho el Rincón de San Pascual was a Mexican land grant in present-day Los Angeles County, California given to Juan Marine in 1834 by José Figueroa. Rancho San Pascual land now includes the cities of Pasaden ...

. Wilson was a local land speculator, politician, and also the maternal grandfather of General

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

. Griffin sold Eliza Griffin Johnston the property for $1,000. Eliza Griffin Johnston named her ranch "Fair Oaks", after her native city in Virginia and also for the stands of

Coast live oak ''Quercus agrifolia'', the California live oak, or coast live oak, is a highly variable, often evergreen oak tree, a type of live oak, native to the California Floristic Province. It may be shrubby, depending on age and growing location, but is ...

s—''Quercus agrifloia'' in the area. When Eliza's son, Albert II, was killed in a steamship boiler explosion at

Wilmington, California Wilmington is a neighborhood in the Harbor region of Los Angeles, California, covering . Featuring a heavy concentration of industry and the third-largest oil field in the continental United States, this neighborhood has a high percentage of La ...

in 1864, she left California and returned to Virginia. The ranch was taken over by Benjamin Eaton, father of

Frederick Eaton Frederick Eaton (1856 – March 11, 1934), known as Fred Eaton, was a major individual in the transformation and expansion of Los Angeles in the latter 19th century through early 20th century, in California. Eaton was the political mastermind ...

. Benjamin Eaton subdivided the ranch. The southern portion was bought by the Ellises.

James F. Crank

The northern portion was bought by James F. Crank in 1876. Crank came from New York and was impressed with the land, and soon planted

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...

s and

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineya ...

s. Eliza Johnston's simple wood-frame house was moved to another location on the property, and still stands at 2072 Oakwood Street, Altadena. Crank built a much larger, more palatial home in 1882. The house is a -story wood-frame Victorian mansion. In 1883, Crank invested in the

Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad The Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad was a railroad founded on Sept. 5, 1883, by James F. Crank with the goal of bringing a rail line to Pasadena from downtown Los Angeles. Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad was sold and cons ...

, becoming its president. The rail line ran from Pasadena to downtown Los Angeles. Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad was sold and consolidated on May 20, 1887, into the California Central Railway. In 1889, this was consolidated into

Southern California Railway Southern California Railway was formed on November 7, 1889. it was formed by consolidation of California Southern Railroad Company, the California Central Railway Company, and the Redondo Beach Railway Company. A second consolidation and reform ...

Company. On Jan. 17, 1906, Southern California Railway was sold to the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

and called the

Pasadena Subdivision The Pasadena Subdivision is the remnant branch line of the former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) Los Angeles Second District. The line currently branches off of Metrolink’s San Bernardino Line at CP Cambridge in Claremont. The li ...

. Even so, Crank suffered financially, and sold the ranch. It was subdivided in 1910. He donated land for the Raymond Hotel in Pasadena, that had his Pasadena rail station. When Mr. Crank and his family first came to Cal. they stayed at the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel.eastofallen, James F. Crank and the Sierra Madre Villa
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References

{{National Register of Historic Places in California Houses in Altadena, California Victorian architecture in California History of Los Angeles County, California Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California San Gabriel Valley Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles County, California 1882 establishments in California Houses completed in 1882