La Tuna Canyon’s Belmont Country Club – Part 2

Last week, I related that for many years I’ve been intrigued by some abandoned foundations, stairways and roadbeds on the north side of La Tuna Canyon just above the debris basin. I found that they were the remnants of the ritzy Belmont Country Club, opened in 1926. The opulent country club featured a huge two-story clubhouse. It had arched doorways and windows and a tiled roof, and was shaded by large sycamore and oak trees. Tennis courts, a swimming pool and miles of hiking trails were available to members. A top-notch golf course was a major feature. The long straight roadway, what we know today as La Tuna Canyon Road, was essentially built as the country club’s driveway.

It advertised itself as being “close to nature – close to home” and offered home sites available for club members. One member described ease of access: “I can leave my office in the city at 5 o’clock and be at home at 5:45… through the beautiful flowering groves of Orange Cove to the sheltered and yet elevated site of the club.” (Orange Cove is the old name for the agricultural community that then existed on La Tuna Canyon Road.)

“Lodges” of rustic construction were featured in advertisements: “…shakes, rough bark slabs, and native rock to harmonize with the natural beauty of the surroundings… .” A photo showed a party dining outdoors in front of their rock home. The Belmont Country Club became a favored site for events such as conventions and company picnics.

“The accessibility of the club and its naturally scenic surroundings, heavily wooded canyons, clubhouse nearly completed and the golf course now in play provided an ideal spot… .” An unusual event in 1928 was a 100-member choir assembled from local community singing groups. The massed choir would take advantage of the natural amphitheater of the canyon Belmont had been built in. It was to be a nighttime event with special lighting. The conductor would be Hollywood’s Hugo Kirchhofer, one of the musical founders of the Hollywood Bowl and the man who is credited with naming it.

But like so many things, the Great Depression apparently put an end to Belmont’s glory days. I have found few references to it after the crash of 1929. (Perhaps they should have gone the speakeasy route, like our local speakeasy Mountain Oaks. Prohibition allowed Mountain Oaks to continue its good business until the end of Prohibition in 1934.)

In July 1937 there was a huge fire on the Verdugo Mountains above the country club. In our classic Southern California scenario of “fire and flood,” rains the following winter created debris flows that wiped out the golf course. Apparently that was the final nail in the coffin of the Belmont Country Club.

But like a phoenix it rose from the ashes (and mud) as a religious retreat. Just like the Flintridge Hotel was purchased by the Catholic Church to become Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, the Belmont Country Club was purchased by the church to become the St. Elizabeth Retreat. St. Elizabeth was founded in 1947 by Archbishop McIntyre (soon to be the somewhat controversial Los Angeles Cardinal McIntyre). The retreat, the former clubhouse of the country club, had rooms for 41 guests. It was supported by a very active Glendale-based St. Elizabeth Guild. The members raised funds and assisted with accommodations for the retreat’s guests. But in an article from 1960 it’s referred to as the novitiate of the Sisters of the Company of Mary, so it appears to have changed its purpose.

Also in 1960, an article states that while the clubhouse itself was still owned by the church, the 45 acres of land around it had been acquired by the City of LA through tax foreclosures. The next year, 1961, the clubhouse itself was razed to make way for the flood control basin that is now there.

And that is all I know about the short-lived Belmont Country Club, save for the few chunks of concrete that still hang on the hillside. I hope that more will come out about this fascinating history.