14. Glendale, California's Rockhaven Sanitorium

Location: Glendale, California's Crescenta Valley
Calendar year: 1923
Cost: *$8.25 million, the sale price in 2008
Psychiatric nurse Agnes Richards founded Rockhaven Sanitarium in 1923 as a facility for women with minor mental illnesses and moderate nervous diseases. It was one of the most well-known women-only facilities of its kind and one of the rare examples of a woman-owned private sanitarium in California.


Glendale, California's Rockhaven Sanitorium (@atlasobscura/Pinterest)
As a sanitorium nurse, Agnes Richards observed the horrendous treatment of women in state-run mental health institutions. Her goal was to establish a tranquil residential facility where female patients could get therapy for their illnesses. Among the most well-known inhabitants of Rockhaven were Gladys Pearl Baker, Marion Eleanor Statler Rose, Billie Burke, Peggy Fears, and Josephine Dillon. The plant was sold to the city in 2008 for $8.25 million after it was permanently shuttered in 2006.
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