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                  Remembering When
                  Little red brick schoolhouse grew up to be big inn
                  by David Mason

                  "One cannot meet the Ojai people without feeling sure
                  that in the contest with the conditions which may
                  arise they will be able to take care of themselves,
                  and in this respect again the Ojai is typical of the
                  more progressive regions of the state."
                  - Pacific Rural Press, Oakland, Calif. -
                  April 29, 1893

                  Once upon a time, so many years ago, there was a
                  pretty little red brick schoolhouse in the center of
                  the town of Nordhoff (now Ojai). The schoolhouse was
                  on two acres, and for natural beauty, the spot could
                  not have been better. The yard was covered with
                  towering oak trees and a small creek ran alongside.
                  It was a perfect playground.
                  [Image] But wait - perhaps we should begin our story
                          earlier. Education for the children living in
                  the Ojai Valley came soon after the arrival of the
                  first pioneers. The Sage Brush Academy was built at
                  the foot of the grade road (now Dennison Grade), and
                  the first teacher was Mr. Dennison, a pioneer with
                  some education. The furnishings consisted of handmade
                  desks and benches. Inkwells were unheard of in this
                  part of the country. The school served the upper
                  valley, as well as the lower valley.
                  In 1874, a petition was circulated around the valley
                  to close the Sage Brush Academy and create two school
                  districts - one district in the Upper Ojai and the
                  other in the town situated in the lower Ojai. The
                  petition passed, and the Sage Brush Academy was
                  closed.
                  The new schoolhouse, in town, was to be made  [Image]
                  of red brick, which was the popular style of
                  the day. But, in the meantime, a temporary building
                  was erected until red bricks could be made.
                  The temporary building was not the kind of
                  schoolhouse that anyone could appreciate. Boards were
                  tacked up on the top just to keep out the sun, and
                  there were no desks. The children sat facing the
                  walls on benches without backs. Oh, how they must
                  have longed for the day when A.W. Blumberg, who owned
                  the property on the south side of the main street
                  (now Libbey Park) would finish making the bricks. It
                  had been found that the clay in the back section of
                  his property (where Libbey Bowl is today), behind the
                  Blumberg Hotel, was just right for making bricks.
                  A kiln was built and molds were made especially to
                  make the bricks for this particular building. It did
                  not take very long before the construction of the
                  permanent building began.
                  Captain Sheridan, grandfather of the prominent
                  Sheridan brothers from Ventura, who was living in the
                  Blumberg Hotel, agreed to do the bricklaying, and the
                  work began in 1875, an exciting year for the children
                  of the Ojai Valley.
                  The schoolhouse, when finished, was a rectangular
                  building with one large main room and two anterooms.
                  A door was placed on each end of the building and
                  each side had four windows. The ceiling was 16 feet
                  high. A fireplace was built at one end, but seldom
                  used, for a large stove in the center of the room was
                  used for heat.
                  The desks had double seats, and the teacher's desk
                  was on a raised platform. The blackboards were made
                  of wood and painted black. There was a chart, a
                  globe, some maps and a pump organ, which was also
                  seldom used (in most cases, there was neither a
                  teacher nor student who knew how to play it).
                  The school library was actually a large cupboard
                  containing an assortment of books that the children
                  could check out on Friday for reading over the
                  weekend.
                  The water for drinking was carried from a nearby
                  house. A pail was kept standing on the floor in each
                  anteroom. The children could take a drink from the
                  community dipper during intermissions and as often
                  during school hours as the teacher would allow.
                  The older students were responsible for building the
                  fire during the winter months and keeping the floor
                  swept. Everything in the little red brick school
                  seemed to be under control.
                  As the population of the valley grew, so did the
                  little school. Soon, the attendance was up to 60
                  students, and it served all grades through the eighth
                  grade. It was overcrowded, to say the least. A new
                  room was added and the exterior of the red brick was
                  plastered and "modernized" in February 1882.
                  The younger students held most of their classes in
                  the anterooms; the older students recited their
                  lessons during lunch hour, recess or after school.
                  Something had to be done, but what?
                  Finally, a small bungalow was added to the back of
                  the property for additional classrooms. It would
                  serve the needs of the primary children very well.
                  The schoolhouse continued to serve the community
                  until 1895.
                  Nordhoff was growing rapidly, the stores were being
                  built close to the little school, and soon it was
                  necessary to start looking around for more land to
                  build a larger school.
                  A campaign for a bond issue of $9,000 to purchase
                  land and erect a building was successful and, in
                  1894, the school district bought four acres on the
                  northeast corner of Ojai Avenue and Montgomery
                  Street. A new school building - a large two-story
                  building with a cupola housing the school bell - was
                  built and was accompanied by two outhouses behind it.
                  The school was named the Nordhoff Elementary School.
                  The assembly hall in the new school became the center
                  for many of the town's activities, including amateur
                  theatrical performances, lectures, dances and even
                  church services. The building served the people well.
                  The students were held over past their sixth-grade
                  graduation until there were enough students to start
                  a high school, for which there was a need in the
                  valley. Finally, a high school was started in 1909.
                  They used the second floor of the grammar school
                  building and even held classes in the assembly hall,
                  library and the storeroom.
                  In 1910, the high school employed three teachers and
                  expected about 110 pupils to attend. The building
                  would become more crowded than ever before. The
                  parents were very anxious that their children have a
                  good education so they would grow up to be
                  industrious, obedient and have high morals.
                  By 1926, the school building had lost its usefulness
                  and was moved to the rear of the school yard. A newer
                  and more modern Spanish-style building was built. The
                  architect for the new school was the well-known Santa
                  Paula designer Roy C. Wilson. The building was built
                  so that it could be enlarged without changing the
                  design.
                  In 1927, the Ventura Free Press commented, "The
                  Nordhoff School House is spoken of in very
                  complimentary terms by all alike, and will be a
                  credit to the valley."
                  The town continued to use the old building for
                  community activities until the new auditorium was
                  built in 1937 and the old school was demolished.
                  In 1953, the district changed the name to the Ojai
                  Elementary School. The original bell from the cupola
                  of the old building now has a final resting place,
                  sitting on the front lawn of the current school.
                  Today, this lovely downtown building is used for the
                  offices of the school superintendent and the Ojai
                  Unified School District. Special Education classes
                  are held there, and the Chaparral High School and the
                  Topa Topa Kindergarten both use the buildings on a
                  regular basis. The Ojai Valley Youth Foundation also
                  uses one of the rooms.
                  As for the "Red Brick Schoolhouse" - well, it
                  continues to have an exciting history.
                  In 1911, J.E. Freeman bought the property and removed
                  the roof and many of the walls. He added a second
                  story and created a large and respectable home for
                  his family.
                  It became the home of the G.L. Christman family in
                  1916, and in 1920, the A.L. Drown family purchased
                  the property.
                  The Drowns had come to the Ojai Valley in 1912 and
                  purchased 250 acres north of the town and planted
                  apricots, pears, almonds and prunes. Later, Mr. Drown
                  subdivided 11 acres that became known as the Drown
                  subdivision (Drown Street is part of that
                  subdivision). The Drown family used the old school
                  property until 1945.
                  The Cannon School, a private school for boys and
                  girls, would be the next occupant of the stately
                  building. It had 30 boarding students and appeared to
                  be a successful enterprise. But this was not to be,
                  for the school closed down when its first year ended.
                  The building was then converted to a small hotel and
                  named the Ojai Manor.
                  In 1954, Dr. and Mrs. James Nelson purchased the
                  property and leased the hotel out. It was by then a
                  boarding house and fell into disrepair until 1982,
                  when the Nelsons' daughter, Mary, took over the
                  property and went through two years of restoration
                  and preservation to the building and grounds.
                  Today, the schoolhouse is The Moon's Nest Inn. Rich
                  and Joan Assenberg bought the property from the
                  Nelson estate in June of 1997 and, after spending
                  months correcting some serious structural problems
                  and replacing sections of crumbling foundation, the
                  building is back in excellent condition.
                  The Assenbergs have done extensive remodeling, adding
                  another guest room and private baths instead of the
                  "bath down the hall" that had been used in the
                  previous days. It is, by all means, a building that
                  the community of Ojai can admire and enjoy.
                  May the attractive school buildings with all their
                  changes and beautification live happily ever after.

                  © 1999 The Ojai Valley News

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