Home » Zorthian Ranch, ‘a deep labyrinth’ of art, is damaged in Eaton fire – Jobsmaa.com

Zorthian Ranch, ‘a deep labyrinth’ of art, is damaged in Eaton fire – Jobsmaa.com

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For years there have been rumors of a cult living on the secluded property at the end of Fair Oaks Avenue in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, bordering Altadena. There were stories of wild parties that included nudists at grand parties attended by the likes of Andy Warhol, jazz musician Charlie Parker, and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman.

Since 1946, the Jordan Farm has served as a haven for artists and creatives seeking to escape the confines of urban life and find their bliss in a pristine paradise. Sculptor who founded the farm, Jirair JordanTurned discarded objects into art. His family carried on that legacy after his death in 2004, and the property lives on as a sort of outdoor museum featuring artworks by established and emerging artists.

But last week, the Eaton Fire tore through the property, leaving mostly ash in its wake. Girayer's son, Alan Jorthian, who oversees the farm, joined others in fighting to save the 40-acre estate and its eclectic array of sculptures and artwork.

A trailer and bus are pictured on a farm at the base of a mountain range.

Taken in March 2019, Jordian Farm came to incorporate Altadena's whimsical, unruly pieces.

(Hannah Taylor)

The farm has survived wildfires in the past. Its security guards had fire extinguishers, hoses and standpipes ready to pump water into different parts of the property. But this firestorm, driven by hurricane-force winds, was much faster and more intense. The fire consumed every building on the property except for the main house where Allen was raised and a mid-century house known as the “Green House.”

But gone are Allen's one-bedroom cottage, his father's studio, various sheds and outbuildings that supported farming operations, and countless pieces of art.

“I don't know if I can duplicate 57 years of work,” Allen, 66, said this week, referring to the years his father devoted to establishing the farm. A steel container that stored some of his father's artwork survives, but he is afraid to open it; The outer shell shows signs of heat damage.

“I'm starting to feel bad about the cultural infrastructure we've lost,” Allen said. “But I look around and I see what others have lost. I mean, our whole region has lost everything.

A water pipe rises among the charred ruins.

As Alan Jorthian tried to fight the flames of the Eaton fire, a standpipe at the Jorthian farm ran dry.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

After breaking out on January 7, the Eaton Fire was devastating Large areas of AltadenaA community of 42,000 residents, it destroyed more than 4,600 structures and killed at least 16 people. In some areas entire blocks of houses collapsed. These include the Bunny Museum, the Pasadena Waldorf School, and the Jane Gray Estate. Historical landmarks destroyed.

The Jordanian Farm has come to connect the unruly pieces of Altadena: a brazenly bohemian scene, covered in woods, that has attracted many artists, scientists and musicians. Bears, coyotes and mountain lions were regular visitors. Beehives, pigsties and horses were together. On clear days, the ranch offered an almost panoramic view of downtown LA and Catalina Island.

Jan. 8 Alan vacated the property in the early hours of the morning, leaving behind important documents and almost all of his possessions. He was forced to abandon his jeep after the wooden bridge connecting the upper and lower parts of the farm was burnt. He crossed a deep chasm full of burning ashes to escape.

“It was a barn,” he noted, pointing to a pile of rubble. His office where he worked on architectural projects is gone. Near the ruins of what had once been his father's art studio, he bent down to pick up a broken white Masonite slab. After his acrimonious divorce with his first wife, only the painting by his father remained.

That painting,”divorce,” Jirayer's ex-mother-in-law was portrayed in a bleak light, and as part of the divorce settlement, Jirayer and his ex-wife could not be shown while alive. But after their deaths, the painting was hung in a multipurpose room that doubled as a gift shop.

“Nothing more,” Alan said defeatedly. He dropped the piece, which landed with a sharp crack. “All gone.”

A work of art created from a stone wall inlaid with objects

The Eaton fire survived the “Wall of Passion” created by Girard Jordiyan as a tribute to physicist Richard Feynman.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Jirair Jordian and his family fled the Armenian Genocide when Jirair was 11 years old. They ended up on the East Coast, and Girard eventually attended Yale University on a scholarship to study fine arts. He served in the army during World War II, and since his Turkish language skills were no longer needed, he worked on creating propaganda. He painted a 157-foot mural titled “Phantasmagoria of Military Intelligence Training.” Copies of the mural survived the fire.

[In1945AngieRayerandhisfirstwifeBettyWilliamsbought27acresatthebaseofAltadenaLydiacontinuedtoexpandontheidea[1945ஆம்ஆண்டில்ஜிரேயர்மற்றும்அவரதுமுதல்மனைவிபெட்டிவில்லியம்ஸ்அல்டடேனாவின்அடிவாரத்தில்27ஏக்கரைவாங்கினார்கள்அவர்கள்விவாகரத்துசெய்தபிறகுஜோர்தியன்நிலத்தைவைத்திருந்தார்மற்றும்கரடுமுரடானமலையடிவாரத்தில்தொடர்ந்துவிரிவாக்கினார்அவர்ஆலனின்தாயார்டாப்னியைமணந்தார்மேலும்தம்பதியினர்இருவரும்சேர்ந்து25ஆண்டுகளுக்கும்மேலாக”குழந்தைகளுக்கானஜோர்தியன்ஸ்ராஞ்ச்”கோடைக்காலமுகாமைநடத்தினர்

With friends and fellow artisans, Girayre would dress up in a toga as “Jor-Bacchus” and have naked women feed him grapes. They famously held trysts Do tha parade queenAn irreverent counter to Pasadena's Rose Parade.

A view of downtown Los Angeles from a fire-damaged terrace.

A view of downtown Los Angeles from a fire-damaged terrace at the Jordan Ranch.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

For Allen, growing up on a farm meant learning how to live off the land. He fed pigs and horses and helped at summer camp. Feynman also helped him with his algebra homework, he recalled. But when he turned 21, a trip to Europe exposed him to life beyond the farm, and he set off to study architecture in San Diego.

In 2006 he found himself back on the farm after both his parents died, with his sister Alice to help manage it. Over the years, their father, commenting on the wastefulness of Americans, collected discarded items and found ways to introduce them into his art. The property was littered with telephone poles, car doors, old trailers and broken concrete.

Allen said he was determined to create a “museum without walls” that would showcase art created on the farm. His daughters, Julia and Caroline, spent weekends and summers there, running around the property adorned with intricate sculptures and meeting people from all over the world.

“The place itself is a kind of magical, deep labyrinth, full of nooks and crannies of strange things, in the elements that anyone who wants to walk will enjoy,” said Julia, now 29.

A man keeps a bull and a cow as pets in their stable.

A bull and a cow survived by staying in their pen at a Georgian farm during the Eaton fire.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

He moved to the farm as a teenager, dropping out of college to help his father manage the farm when a critical period of financial instability hit. He said they needed to find a way to stay true to their roots while building a viable business.

In recent years, the family turned the property into a working farm. They maintained four gardens, grew pumpkins, potatoes, watermelons and oranges and sold their honey. A community of about 20 people lives on the farm as a doctor and conducts painting and yoga classes. Airbnb became a primary source of income, with artists renting structures on the property, including Girayer's former art studio.

The family has Launched GoFundMe To keep the farm afloat. So far, they've raised a little more than $100,000 through tips from people who remember their time there.

But already, Allen says, he's getting calls from real estate agents, competing to outbid area residents and develop their land. The family intends to keep the property and restore the farm to its original condition. As Allen sifted through the debris, he saw a piece of melted aluminum.

“I think we should make art out of this bad fire,” he said.

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