E. J. Baldwin's Queen Anne Cottage

Elias Jackson Baldwin built this in 1885 and 1886, probably as a honeymoon present for his fourth wife, Lillie Bennett, who was sixteen and whose father drew the plans. The marriage lasted about a year. Left with a honeymoon house and nobody to honeymoon with, Baldwin turned it into a memorial to his third wife, Jennie Dexter, dead since 1881, and had her face set in stained glass for the front door and painted nearly life size for the parlor. Both are still there.

What the plaque says

Queen Anne Cottage Constructed by Elias Jackson ("Lucky") Baldwin in 1881. Designed by A. A. Bennett, and intended for entertaining. There being no kitchen, meals were served from the nearby adobe (built by Hugo Reid in 1839) where Baldwin actually lived. Restored and dedicated May 18, 1954, as part of Los Angeles State and County Arboretum. Historical Landmark No. 367 California State Park Commission

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mission San Gabriel Arcangel — 4.3 mi
  The fourth Alta California mission, built on Tongva land with Tongva labor, rebuilt after arson and now telling that story straight.
• Colorado Street Bridge — 6.2 mi
  Beaux-Arts concrete arches curving 150 feet above the Arroyo Seco, opened in 1913 and later a link in Route 66.
• Chavez Ravine — 12 mi
  Three Mexican American neighborhoods cleared for public housing that was never built, then traded to a ballclub.
• Campo de Cahuenga — 18 mi
  The treaty that ended the fighting in California was signed on this ground, and the building it was signed in is now under the boulevard.

More markers nearby

• Reid-Baldwin Adobe — steps away
• Temporary Detention Camp for Japanese Americans, Santa Anita — 0.5 mi
• Savannah Memorial Park — 4.2 mi
• Mission San Gabriel Arcángel — 4.3 mi