Elks National Home

English Meadows Elks Home (formerly The Elks National Home) is a retirement home and national historic district located at Bedford, Virginia. It was built in 1916 by the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, who first started the home in 1903. The Elks National Home historic district includes twenty-three contributing buildings, three contributing sites, a contributing structure, and two contributing objects.[3]

Elks National Home
Location931 Ashland Ave., Bedford, Virginia
Coordinates37.34289°N 79.53498°W / 37.34289; -79.53498
Area100 acres (40 ha)
Built1916
ArchitectOttenheimer Stern & Reichert; Clinton & Russell; Clark & Crowe
Architectural styleColonial Revival, Mediterranean Revival
NRHP reference No.08000479[1]
VLR No.141-0060
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMay 29, 2008
Designated VLRMarch 20, 2008[2]

The Elks Home is popular locally for the large display of Christmas decorations it puts up each year. Visitors enter the driveway in their vehicles and slowly proceed through the displays, which line the driveway, free of charge.

The Elks Home was featured briefly in the 1991 film What About Bob?, where it stands in as a mental institution.[4]

Its 100-acre (40 ha) property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.[1]

In November 1923 the facility was the site of an accidental mass poisoning. Nine men were killed after drinking apple cider served in the dining room. A local farmer had produced the drink and stored it in a barrel that had been used to hold a pesticide.[5]

In 2013, the Elks National Home property was sold to New River Assisted Living for $4.5 million. The name of the property was changed to English Meadows Elks Home.[6]

Elks National Home and Retirement Center is the name of a nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) status that formerly owned the Elks National Home property.[7] The nonprofit organization has discontinued operations as of 2019, and its continuing source of revenue are the bequests of an orgoing trust, and the nonprofit organization intends to discontinue operations as soon as practical.[8]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  3. J. Daniel Pezzoni (December 2007). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Elks National Home" (PDF). and Accompanying four photos
  4. Causey, Anne Patterson; Blackwell, Mary Alice (2005). Virginia's Blue Ridge. Globe Pequot. ISBN 9780762734603.
  5. "VA Poisoned Cider Kills Nine at Elks Home". New York Times. 12 November 1923. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  6. "Sale of Elks National Home in Bedford announced". Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  7. "Elks National and Retirement Center". Tax Exempt Organization Search. Internal Revenue Service. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  8. "Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax". Elks National Home and Retirement Center. Internal Revenue Service. May 31, 2019.


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