Your Support of the Queen Anne Cottage

By backing this Kickstarter campaign, hundreds of thousands of visitors of all ages and backgrounds will be able to engage in the Arboretum’s rich heritage for years to come. We hope you will join this restoration effort so you can return to the cottage veranda to immerse yourself in early California history and enjoy the splendid views of Baldwin Lake.

The Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation

The Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden was created in 1947 as a  botanic garden, environmental institution and historic museum dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in Southern California. The Arboretum encompasses 127 acres of open space, wooded areas, gardens and wetlands. It is renowned for its impressive collection of more than 10,000 species of plants and respected for its dedication to environmental conservation, botanical education, historic preservation, and celebration of the arts. The Arboretum is co-managed by the nonprofit Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation and the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation.

Capital Projects at the Arboretum

The Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation continues to enhance the Arboretum landscape with the addition of the Crescent Farm water optimization garden and the Garden for All Seasons as well as the remodel of the Arboretum Library, the only fully public botanic library in the region. Most recently, the Learning Patio was funded with generous community support and construction completed in 2019. The Learning Patio will host over 2,000 additional students from Title I schools as they engage in active science activities aligned with the California’s new science standards. The 1840s Reid-Baldwin Adobe is also currently being restored. A completely new garden, the Garden of Quiet Reflection, is undergoing construction now, and is slated for opening in 2021.

When the Arboretum earned the prestigious 2017 Preservation Award from the Los Angeles Conservancy, the Conservancy highlighted the Arboretum’s proactive approach to preserve and restore its historic resources. In 2015, the Arboretum worked with preservation architects and historians to produce a Cultural Landscape Report and Treatment Plan that identified the significance and preservation needs of the landscape features and four pre-1900 historic structures, including the Queen Anne Cottage. This project is using the Cultural Landscape Report and Treatment Plan as a roadmap to celebrate and restore the Arboretum’s historic structures for future generations of visitors.

The Queen Anne Cottage Preservation Project to Date

The cottage was last restored in the 1950s and the Arboretum identified several needed repairs to preserve it for the enjoyment of future visitors. The scope of the project includes the marble stair and landing restoration, repointing of the brick in the porch surround, and repairs to the porch framing. Private donations were raised from 2017 through 2019 and Los Angeles County funds were allocated to begin the project. Preservation work on historic structures often requires careful investigation to determine best approaches and ensure optimal outcomes. We have retained some of the best expertise in the region and are confident that the end results will set a standard that will guide our future work. Although a great deal has been accomplished so far, additional funds are needed to complete this project and reopen the cottage for future generations.

In addition to the structural work, the Baldwin family paintings that are displayed in the cottage have been cleaned and restored due to a generous gift from the Arcadia Historical Society. Eight of the paintings have already returned to the cottage after months of restoration work and we look forward to the rest of the work being completed in the coming months.

Help the Queen Anne Cottage Reign Again

Your support of this Kickstarter will be instrumental in completing this restoration project. The critical funding from this campaign will support the refinishing and repainting of the veranda flooring, allowing the Queen Anne Cottage to be accessible again to all Arboretum visitors in late 2021.

The Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation is the 501(c)3 nonprofit partner that co-manages the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden with the LA County Department of Parks and Recreation.  Contributions to this campaign are tax deductible to fullest extent of the law.