Our House at Arnold Heights

Life in southern California was very different than England.  One of the biggest differences was the weather.  It seems like we always had nice weather.  It was hardly ever cold, and not near as much fog and rain as England.  Of course, we were back in the United States, so the move wasn’t such a culture shock.  We had a nice big yard because our house was on the corner.  My dad took good care of the yard.  I remember him sitting in the grass while he pulled out weeds.  That’s where I learned to pull dandelions with the roots intact so that they would not come back.

We lived in a duplex with a carport between the two houses.  Behind the carport, there was an enclosed area with the clothes line inside. The clothes line was four sided with several strands of line on each of the sides and it revolved on a pole that was in the middle. The enclosure was not solid and had three sides. It hid the clothes line.  There was a place for the washing machine, but I can't remember where it was.  We had three bedrooms and one bathroom.  There was a living room, dining room, and kitchen.  It was a small house for a family of five.

 Here is a photo of our house.  I took it in 1984 when my husband and kids and I visited the area.  Of course, it looks a little different.  The storage sheds at the back of the carport are gone.  My dad would be disappointed with the condition of the yard.  Click on photo to see a larger version.

Note:  I did a search on the Internet for Arnold Heights.  I found an article saying that the housing area will be demolished!  The demolition starts next month.  Arnold Heights housing area was built during the 1950s and consisted of 510 single-family homes and duplexes for up to 586 military families of junior officers and noncommissioned officers.  The concrete and masonry buildings were 900 to 1,000 square feet.  (I was right.  Our house was small!)  More recently, the houses served as an urban warfare training center for U.S. Marines, providing a realistic environment for soldiers preparing to patrol Iraqi cities and villages.  Part of the demolition will be safely removing the lead paint and asbestos.  After demolition, a business and industrial park and Metrolink station will be built.