1992 HERITAGE AWARD RECIPIENT
The Redlands Area Historical Society, Inc.
Heritage Award 1992
Ezekiel M. Frost Home
160 Bellevue Avenue
1908
This 1 1/2 story shingled Victorian Cottage is surrounded on three sides by a well ¬maintained orange grove. The roof is a high bellcast hip with two similar gables facing east and west. These gables contain wood shingles and a large horizontal wood vent. The windows are of special interest. They are double hung, with slipsills and plain wood trim. A decorative molding runs only across the top of the plain trim. The lower portion of the window is a single glass pane while the upper portion is leaded with squares across the top and vertically rectangular panes below. An open wooden porch extends half way across the front, or east side, and around the south side. The balustrade is closed with wood shingles. Six slightly pyramidal shaped, wooden posts support the porch. The house is supported by a red brick foundation.
Ezekiel Marion Frost was a native of Delaware, Ohio and lived in Redlands for sixty-three years. He died January 1967 at the age of 94. Mr. Frost was a former field manager for Mutual Orange Growers and owned many orange groves around Redlands. After reviewing dates and legal documents it is a good assumption that the construction date was around 1908 and that Mr. Frost probably planted Ute grove that exists there today. The property was purchased in 1909 by Jean E. Allen. Under her ownership different families lived in the house and many cared for the grove. One such family was Ernest and Marian Scholton, the parents of the present owner Mrs. Mills. They lived in the home from 1917 to 1925, and cared for the grove. In 1928 the property switched ownership to Theodore D. Partridge. Like Jean Allen he did not live on the property. From 1927 to about 1956 the DeWitt family occupied the house, first William and then his brother Frank. Herbert and Dorotha Mills purchased the property around 1956.
We thank Mrs. Mills for her loving care, not only of the cottage, but also of the lovely grove.