On arriving in California, Ellen White was eager to get to her work. In just nine weeks she would celebrate her seventy-third birthday, and there was a great deal she felt she must do, especially in getting her books out. She hoped that she could quickly find a home, move in, establish herself, and get on with the many tasks awaiting her attention. Not wanting to have to undertake the building of a house, she hoped to find a place she could rent.
At her age it seemed to her that the climate of California would be preferable to that of Michigan, with its long, cold winters. Then, too, she did not wish to place herself so close to the headquarters of the work that she would become deeply involved in helping to solve the everyday problems.
The Pacific Press was located in Oakland; considering the many books she would want published, some place within the vicinity of that city would seem to be ideal.
On the Sabbath after their Friday-evening arrival, W. C. White spoke in San Francisco to a good-sized congregation comprised of several nationalities. On Sabbath afternoon Ellen White addressed the believers in the Oakland church. General Conference president G. A. Irwin was the morning speaker. Sunday was spent in resting, in interviews with some leading workers, and visiting with friends. But on Monday morning, September 24, house hunting began. She and Willie discovered that Oakland had grown considerably in the nine years they had been away. Census for the city in 1890 was 66,619 persons. Now, just a decade later, it was a bustling 150,000,
and property values had kept pace with the city's growth.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were exhausting days, spent driving from place to place as they searched for suitable housing. They soon decided that they would have to purchase, for rents were just too high. Rent on a house large enough to accommodate Ellen White and her assistants would come to $25 or $30 a month. At that time the monthly salary of her most trusted and faithful helpers was $30, and she herself received $50 a month. To pay from one half to two thirds of her total salary income for the rental of a home was out of the question.
They did find a house in Fruitvale, now a part of Oakland, that could be bought for $6,000. It was located on a two-and-one-half-acre tract of land. But Oakland seemed cold and foggy, and Ellen White declared that she would just stop looking. She said, "The Lord knows what our work is and where we should be located; and we shall wait the Lord's time."--Letter 132, 1900.
At this point Willie suggested that she and some of her helpers go up to the health retreat at St. Helena, some sixty miles to the north. This institution had just changed its name to St. Helena Sanitarium, or simply the San. There she could rest a bit and also attend some of the meetings to be held in connection with the nearby Napa camp meeting. He agreed that he would continue to look for a house--or houses, for, of course, he had his own family of seven to care for.
He found he could rent a little house owned by Dr. E. J. Waggoner, who for a number of years had been an associate editor of the Signs of the Times but who was now working in England. In rather amusing terms W. C. White wrote to his close friend Arthur Daniells:
For several days we have been trying to fit a number seven family into a number five house, with a number three purse to purchase furnishings.--15 WCW, p. 871.
He would have to pay $15 a month rent out of the "number three purse."
On Thursday morning, September 27, following her son's counsel, Ellen White, with Sara McEnterfer and some of her other helpers, started for St. Helena. They would cross the Bay by ferry, then complete the journey by steam train. The ferry was the little steamer El Capitan. One of the first things Ellen White observed was that no smoking was allowed on the deck of the boat. Delighted, she said, "What a privilege to be able to breathe freely, inhaling full inspirations of the pure, free air, unpoisoned."--Manuscript 96, 1900.
At a junction near Vallejo the women boarded a steam train for the thirty-five mile trip to St. Helena. What memories came back to Ellen White's mind as she journeyed up through the Napa Valley, making stops at Napa, Yountville, Rutherford, and Oakville. She thought of the meetings held twenty-five years earlier in Napa and the challenge of Miles Grant so successfully met by Elder Canright. At Yountville her mind turned back to the camp meetings held a mile east of the station, under the oaks by Napa Creek, for three summers in the mid-1870s. The railroad tracks ran between the main graveled road on one side and prune orchards and vineyards on the other. Both the prune trees and the grapevines were heavy with fruit, for it was harvesttime.
Two vehicles were waiting for them at the St. Helena station: A comfortable two-seated phaeton, [A light, four-wheeled, horse-drawn carriage, with or without a top.] and the regular horse-drawn stage from the Sanitarium, used to transport guests the three miles from the railway station to the institution. As the horses slowed to a walk at the foot of the long, half-mile climb to the Sanitarium, more memories crowded the mind of Ellen White. She was journeying over the same road she and her husband had traveled in 1878, just after the institution was begun by Dr. M. G. Kellogg. She had been there in the years following her husband's death. She had purchased eight and one-half acres from William Pratt to preserve the land for the future use of the Sanitarium. On the property she had erected a home, Eliel, which easily could be turned into an expanded facility for the care of guests of the institution.--DF 14.
At the Sanitarium she met old friends--Mrs. J. L. Ings, Mary Thorpe, and others. The first topic of conversation was the frustration of house hunting in Oakland, and Sister Ings volunteered: "'Well, below the hill there is a place that is just the thing for you. It is Robert Pratt's place.'"--Letter 158, 1900. Ellen White was definitely interested.
At the Sanitarium there were about forty guests. That night she spoke in the chapel. Writing of it, she said, "The room was well filled, and there were some standing at the entrance." She reported freedom in speaking and she hoped, as she said, that "the Lord will give me a hold upon the people" (Letter 132, 1900). The significance of the phrase is understood by the fact that Ellen White in vision was often given insights into situations that others did not grasp. The institution was in rather precarious days, and its welfare was to become one of her concerns for several years.
Was This the Promised Refuge?
The next morning, Friday, September 28, she went down to see the "place under the hill" (Letter 132, 1900). To her surprise, it was not the William Pratt place that she had envisioned (a home in which she and James White had stayed), but a large Victorian home built by his brother Robert. She had often admired it in driving by.
Robert Pratt, a railroad executive, was a member of a family of three who had come to California in search of gold. William had purchased the entire little valley and mountainside where the Sanitarium was now nestled. Later Robert purchased a strip of some seventy-four acres, which stretched through rich farmland up onto the hillside.
William Pratt, with his wife and family, had responded to the preaching of J. N. Loughborough and I. D. Van Horn at St. Helena in 1873 and had become charter members of the St. Helena church. Three years later he gave land on the side of the mountain near Crystal Spring for a medical institution, the Rural Health Retreat. The spring, which yielded a bountiful supply of pure, soft water, was shared with his brother Robert and was just above and to the east of the institution. William Pratt's gift of land had also included his half share of the spring. At the time the Sanitarium was opened, this seemed an adequate water supply.
Robert, not a Seventh-day Adventist, owned the land to the south and held the other half interest in the spring. He and his wife, facing advancing age, with their children grown and gone, accepted the invitation of their youngest daughter to make their home with her in the Bay Area (Letter 146, 1900). So the Robert Pratt property was up for sale.
Elder J. A. Burden, manager of the St. Helena Sanitarium, knew that growing demands for water would soon embarrass the institution. This would be true particularly if the spring were shared by a family not friendly to it. He knew, too, that they must have land for a food factory and also for sewage disposal. What could fill these needs better than a few acres of valley land at the foot of the hill? But the institution was in no financial position to buy the Pratt property. Burden, a man of deep faith and some daring, had personally contracted for the Robert Pratt property, making the initial payment of $1,000. He expected to dispose of the home and the farm, retaining what was necessary for the institution and its growth (Letter 158, 1900).
Delighted with what she found, Ellen White with difficulty restrained her excitement. She wrote:
This is a most beautiful location. The surroundings are lovely. Ornamental trees from various parts of the world, flowers, mostly roses of a large variety, an orchard containing a thousand prune trees which are bearing, another orchard nearer the house, and still another orchard of olive trees, are growing on the place.-- (Letter 158, 1900)
The home was situated on a knoll in the center of thirty-five acres of level or nearly level land. The family orchard of about three acres lay to the north, with trees bearing peaches, apples, nectarines, figs, cherries, apricots, and pears. Back of this was about a half acre of olive trees. On the south side of the home was a vineyard of more than five acres of table and wine grapes, mostly the latter. The land to the west was divided between prune orchards--which they soon discovered had two thousand trees in prime bearing condition--a garden, and hayfield. The house itself was a well-constructed, seven-room, two-story frame building, completely furnished, including carpets, drapes, linens, and dishes. Ellen White continued her description:
Well, to go back to my story, the Lord planned for me, and I found that I could buy this place here for less than I received for my house in Cooranbong and all its belongings. This includes two horses, one rather old, four carriages and a platform wagon, much better than the one I gave away, and a house furnished throughout. It was like stepping out of my home in Cooranbong into a beautiful roomy one here. It has surprised me much that we should be thus favored.--Letter 132, 1900.
As for the fruit crops, there was little left except some grapes in the vineyard, which had already been sold, and the olives in the olive orchard. There were a ton of these, which they soon sold on the trees for $50.
Back of the house to the east was "the farmer's cottage," which with a little adaptation could be turned into an office building. Beyond this was a barn and stable with four horse stalls and room for storing four carriages. The hayloft could store twenty or thirty tons of hay. The cow barn had space for twenty-two cows; to the one cow now occupying it, it must have seemed a bit lonely. A few chickens completed the farm population. Ellen White was delighted with the carriages and wagons that were included with the place: two farm wagons, one two-seated express wagon, one double-seated covered buggy, two phaetons, an old road cart, and one hand cart. In addition, there were plows, harrows, and other farm tools (15 WCW, p. 903).
To the east there were about twenty acres of rolling hill land, covered with evergreen forests of yellow pine, fir, live oak, manzanita, and madrono. Some of it was on a hillside so steep that it couldn't even serve as pasture. Several springs at the foot of the mountain would supply water in place of the crystal spring that now was in possession of the Sanitarium.
Blackmon Canyon Creek ran through the full length of the property, first down the mountainside and then meandering through the very heart of the valley. It passed perhaps a hundred yards from the home, finally becoming the southern border of the property, along Glass Mountain Road. During winter the creek at times ran full to overflowing, draining the farm and adding to its attractiveness.
That Friday, with its discovery, seemed all too short. Ellen White confided in the black, leather-covered journal that was given to her as she left Australia:
Here was a house all furnished, and we could, as soon as the decision was made and terms accepted, go into this house, and find everything ready in excellent order to begin my home life without the perplexities of purchasing goods and furnishings for housekeeping. Here were horses, carriages, and nearly everything far superior to that which I had left, and the same price for which my home was sold will bring this beautiful, healthful residence, in good order for us to possess, and as soon as the settlement is accomplished [we will] come into possession and begin our work.
This manifestation in our behalf was so marked and the desirability of location so decided that I knew the Lord was granting me His rich blessing....I never anticipated so much in a home that meets my taste and my desires so perfectly. Next week we shall live in our new home, and we will seek to make it a home after the symbol of heaven.--Manuscript 96, 1900.
And all of this within a week from the time they had set foot on American soil!
But the Sabbath drew on and with it the challenges of public ministry. There was a meeting at the Sanitarium on Friday evening, and again Ellen White spoke to the institutional family and to the guests (Letter 132, 1900). At five-thirty Sabbath morning she and Sisters Gotzian and Ings were on their way to the railway station in St. Helena to take the train to Napa, where the district camp meeting was being held. Ellen White was the speaker at the worship hour that Sabbath morning.
She carried the service through well. The General Conference president, Elder Irwin, who had come to California to greet the party from Australia and to confer with Sister White, followed, leading the congregation into a revival service. Many came forward in new dedication of heart and life.
Returning to St. Helena and the Sanitarium late Sabbath afternoon, Ellen White was delighted to meet her older son, Edson, who also had come West to greet her and confer with her. It had been nine years since she had seen him. She felt he looked a little worn. Her son Willie had also come up from Oakland to be present for important council meetings to be held early in the next week.
Ellen White Purchases the Property
While some of these council meetings were being held, on Sunday morning Ellen White could not resist the temptation to slip away and take another look at what she felt would surely be her future home. And she pondered, as she wrote later:
This place was none of my seeking. It has come to me without a thought or purpose of mine. The Lord is so kind and gracious to me. I can trust my interests with Him who is too wise to err and too good to do me harm.-- Ibid.
The property represented an investment on the part of Robert Pratt of $12,000. It was sold to Elder Burden for $8,000, and in securing it Burden had arranged for long-term, easy payments. So Ellen White and Elder Burden sat down to work out a settlement that was finally consummated on Tuesday, October 16, when she and her family moved in.
Burden transferred to her the entire property--73.71 acres of land--and a half interest in the spring. Then, as agreed, the Sanitarium bought back 8.7 acres for a sewage-disposal area at the far west corner of the property, and 5.5 acres for a food factory across Blackmon Canyon Creek to the east and south. For these two pieces of land and for the half interest in the spring, $3,000 was subtracted from the $8,000. Ellen White paid Burden $1,000 in cash and assumed a $4,000 mortgage with interest at 6 1/4 percent. "It is like stepping out of our home in Cooranbong," she wrote to her old friends the Farnsworths, "into one already prepared for us, without any time or care on our part."--Letter 146, 1900.
On the day of the purchase they moved in, rather jubilantly, and she reported to Elder Irwin, "We are now located in our pleasant and much-appreciated home."--Letter 127, 1900. She outlined the living arrangements. They were crowded, and would be until other buildings could be erected, particularly a home for William White and his family, who were temporarily staying at a nearby cottage. Beds were even placed in the living room.
One piece of furniture, in addition to what they found in the home, was squeezed in. It was Ellen White's comfortable writing chair, equipped with a writing board that she could swing to one side for freedom of movement. This was the only piece of furniture she had brought with her from Australia.
The general location of the home was certainly ideal. It was two and one-half miles northwest of St. Helena, and about fifteen to twenty minutes' walk from the Sanitarium, depending upon whether one was going or coming. In addition to its beautiful location, with hills to the south and mountains to the north and east, she particularly appreciated the fact that the home was not far from the Sanitarium. Here she would have an opportunity to address a changing audience of non-Adventists often, which she enjoyed doing.
Ellen White had traveled widely through her life. She had crossed the Rocky Mountains many times. She had lived in Colorado and in Switzerland. She had crossed the Alps into Italy, and traveled extensively in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. But she was able to exclaim in 1905, perhaps with some bias, "Certainly no place I have ever seen equals the beauty of the scenery around here."--Letter 111, 1905. At another time she expressed herself, "This world is not our abiding place, but I feel very grateful for the comforts of a good home. I consider the country here to be one of the most beautiful I have ever seen."--Letter 117, 1905.
The Name Elmshaven
The conjecture has been that the property had received its name, Elmshaven, from its original owners, the Pratts. But careful research provides no evidence to support this. The place must have been nameless, or simply known as the Robert Pratt place. Now that the property was in Sister White's hands and multiplied hundreds of letters would go out from there, should these not carry a distinctive dateline? Sunnyside was what she had called her much-loved Australian residence. What name should this beautiful, well-situated home carry?
Finally, it must have been the trees in front of the home--elms--that gave them a lead. The first inkling we get is from the heading of a W. C. White letter with the dateline "Shady Elms, St. Helena, Cal., January 1, 1901." But this is one lone exhibit. Apparently Willie found no support, for there is not a second instance of its use. But a few days later Sara McEnterfer headed a business letter, "Elmshaven, St. Helena, Cal., January 6, 1901." Soon W. C. White and E. G. White letters were carrying the Elmshaven dateline.
One feature that made Elmshaven particularly attractive was the space its acreage provided for the erection of other buildings that could be occupied by members of Ellen White's staff. A most pressing need was that of providing a home for her son Willie and his family. Just across Blackmon Canyon Creek and next to the land on which a food factory was being built were seven acres that included a beautiful building site on a knoll. These were soon deeded to W. C. White. One and one-half of these seven acres were of level, rich garden and orchard land. The rest was rolling hill land. When this land was given to him, his mother declared, "You are not to sell any of this! This is to be the children's schoolroom and playground." It became just that.
Some of the land to the east went for a cottage for Iram James, who had been her farmer in Cooranbong and who had responded to her cable message inviting him to come to America and fill the same position at her new home place. Eventually some of the land was used as sites for cottages for three other families of her staff.
Just a little on the defensive on the matter of acquiring such a property, Ellen White pointed to the opening providences of God that had made the move so very clear. It was at a time when she was pressing hard for funds to help save the Scandinavian publishing house from bankruptcy. She wrote:
Some may ask, "Why, if there is such need of money in the work, did Sister White purchase a house and a farm?" This was not my planning. The Lord placed me here.... This home was provided for us by the Lord.... We could not possibly have found a place better fitted for our work. The Lord has certainly favored us, and I am greatly encouraged.... We greatly enjoy our quiet home in the valley, and we thank the Lord for all His great blessings.--Letter 10, 1901.
She confided to Dr. Kellogg that she could "now keep out of the din of the battle" (Letter 175, 1900). She wrote the officers of the General Conference, "The manifest working of the power of God in this matter is a cause of great thankfulness. Here I am retired from the strife of tongues."--Letter 139, 1900.
Some months after getting settled, Ellen White made an earnest appeal to the believers to establish a church school. She was particularly gratified that she could make available nearly an acre of land in a little triangle near the Sanitarium Road. This she set aside for the church school for as long as it should be operated there. On it a building was erected and eventually enlarged to accommodate a ten-grade school. She was pleased that her own grandchildren could attend this school. Part of her cow pasture just across the Sanitarium Road was soon serving as a baseball field.
A few things about Ellen White's new house may have puzzled some visitors who entertained a narrow image of her and regarded her as a severe, reserved person. An ornamental glass panel in the main front door, and an entire, tall window beside the stairway in the hall were made of numerous pieces of colored and patterned glass. Blues, reds, greens, yellows, purples--all were there to spice up the appearance of the entryway and the stairway.
Around the fireplace (a feature that was a strong attraction to Ellen White) the Pratts had installed imported tiles depicting the legend of King Arthur. Ellen White would not have selected such decorations, but she was not so straitlaced as to have them removed. And she would later conduct many a family worship in the room with King Arthur's knights.
The house and surroundings of Elmshaven today are not the same as they were in 1900. When she purchased the home, the three upstairs rooms and a low attic room over the kitchen served as bedrooms. Soon arrangements were made to replace the attic room with a spacious writing room over the kitchen and back entryway.
Of the trees around the house when she bought it, none were taller than the house. Only a couple even reached to the height of the eaves. This meant that in the early years the house was in the sun much more than it is today. Since there were no houses nearby, Elmshaven had a commanding view of all the flatland around it and the hills beyond.
On shipboard, when Ellen White was concerned as to where she should make her home, the angel of the Lord had appeared and assured her that there was "a refuge prepared" for her (Letter 163, 1900). Now this refuge--Elmshaven--was hers, and she was ready for the tasks she had returned to the United States to accomplish.