On Saturday, November 3, 2018 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, the DD Johnston-Hargitt House Museum will be open and free to the public for docent-led tours. A nationally-registered landmark, the Hargitt House Museum provides the community with a look back into Norwalk’s early history. Built in 1891 by the D.D. Johnston family, the home was once part of a 200-acre ranch where grapes, prunes, avocados and citrus fruits were cultivated.
Originally owned by Darius David Johnston, one of Norwalk’s leading pioneer families and the organizer of the Norwalk School District, the house contains family heirlooms and Victorian-era artifacts. The stately Victorian manor located on Mapledale Street in Norwalk was constructed in 1891 for $2,800.00. The house is built of solid redwood, shipped from Northern California to Anaheim Landing.
Charles Frederick Hargitt moved to Norwalk in 1887, married Johnston’s daughter Cora in 1893 and moved into an upstairs apartment renovated just for the newly married couple. The two had one son, Chun who lived in the house until his death in 1975.
The house and all its furnishings were left to the city of Norwalk to be used as museum. The house originally had gas lighting on the lower floor; the hanging fixture in the music room is one of the original gas lights, which was later converted to an electric lamp.
On the grounds is an original ‘out house’, a gasoline pump used to supply farm tractors and cars with fuel, several hand tools used in the gardens and a 1939 Ford tractor, there is also a 1928 Ford flatbed truck which is on display at the Gilbert Sproul Barn Museum.
The Hargitt House Museum is located at 12426 Mapledale Street, and is open for viewing during the first and third Saturday of every month from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. Tours are free, but donations are always welcomed.