Miss Laura Hoe & Mrs. Folks Home

1976 HERITAGE AWARD RECIPIENT

The Redlands Area Historical Society, Inc.
Heritage Award 1976

Miss Laura Hoe & Mrs. Folks Home
1725 Dwight Street

1901

Miss Laura Hoe arrived in Redlands in 1898 from New York State. Her father was the inventor of the Hoe rotary newspaper printing press. She began building her spacious fifteen room, two-story home in 1901. She named it “Eastover,” after the Hoe estate in New York. The Redlands Daily Facts and The Citrograph combined forces to record the stages of development from the purchase to final completion.

Miss Laura Hoe purchased a lot of H. H. Smith on the heights and has let to D. M. Donald to contract for a fine residence.

A new residence for Mrs. Folks (Miss Hoe’s companion) and Miss Hoe, on the heights, has been completed by contractor Donald at a cost of $9,000.

An additional $1,000 was spent on the barn. This home was the second most expensive built in Redlands for the year 1901. The Burrage cottage improvements were $55,000.

A Redlands Repast printed by the YWCA stated that the house itself is a type of resort home built by Easterners who wintered in the West. The wood shingle siding is a typical feature, and so is the broad continuous veranda where the weather can be enjoyed.

D. M. and Davis Donald built the home maintaining the high standards upon which their business has been built. The redwood structure was placed high on a knoll on Dwight Street. A view of Redlands Heights, the San Bernardino Mountains, and the San Bernardino Valley was placed without obstruction before Miss Hoe’s eyes.

Miss Hoe willed the estate to her niece, Laura, and husband, Ernest Carter. The cactus garden, redwoods that line Dwight Street, oaks and prolific greenery continued to increase under their care.

After the Carters’ death, the house was sold to the Van Ness family in 1945. The first floor was remodeled extensively. Ray G. Caruthers of the Universal Rundle Company owned the home in 1956. The property was owned by Dr. McKenzie until 1962, and presently owned by Dr. and Mrs. Derle Riordan.