Beth Sarim is a house in San Diego that was built by the Jehovah’s Witnesses–for a really WEIRD purpose–during the days when "Judge" Rutherford was president of the Watchtower Society (quotation marks because he only served as a temporary substitute judge).
Rutherford actually lived here. The leader of the JWs walked through the front door you see to the left and looked out the windows of this house.
It was my first visit to the location. I’d known about it for years but had never discovered the street address until this week. (It’s 4440 Braeburn Rd, though don’t bug the current inhabitants if you visit there; they have nothing to do with the JWs.)
Turns out that I used to live within a couple of miles of the location (it’s on the south side of Mission Valley, and I used to live on the north side, near Qualcomm Stadium).
When I visited Friday I sent a mystery photo to the blog using my camera phone, but the quality of camera phones ain’t what I’m looking for yet, so I took along a better camera as well. Here’s some pictures from the visit. (click any of these pictures to enlarge them.)
The purpose for which Beth Sarim was built is a matter of at least a little dispute. If you check the Web, you’ll find anti-JW sites that mention a 1975 statement in which the Watchtower said that the house was built for the use of Rutherford.
That’s NOT what contemporary documents say, though.
According to things written the era in which the house was built (1929), it wasn’t meant for Rutherford at all but for various Old Testament figures who were expected to be resurrected any day then (e.g., Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David–basically anybody mentioned in Hebrews 11).
The idea was that they would be resurrected, show up (possibly in top hats and spats), and take possession of the property.
UNTIL THAT TIME Rutherford was allowed to live in and use the property.
One guy claiming to be King David actually did show up, but Rutherford didn’t believe him. According to the (now defunct newspaper) The San Diego Sun, "Judge" Rutherford reported:
One morning as I was going from the house to the garage, a queer looking creature approached me, tipped his dirty hat and cried ‘Howdy Judge, I’m David’ ‘Go and tell that to the winds’, I told him and he left without arguing the matter. I could see at a glance that he was not David. He didn’t look like I knew David would look.’
Asked how he expected David and his distinguished brethren to look, Rutherford, without hesitation, opened his huge Bible and pointed to a verse which said that the Princes of the Universe would be risen from the dead ‘as perfect men’.
‘I interpret that to mean’, the tall dignified Judge declared, ‘that David, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jepthae, Joseph and Samuel will be sent here to wrench the world from Satan’s grasp, clothed in modern garb as we are, and able, with little effort, to speak our tongue.’
Rutherford pictured the arrival of the biblical delegation perhaps in frock coats, high hats, canes and spats [SOURCE].
The idea that Beth Sarim was meant to be a house for resurrected Old Testament figures is confirmed by the DEED TO THE PROPERTY, which spells this out in detail. The name given to the house–Beth Sarim ("House of Princes" in Hebrew)–also speaks to the idea that it was built for the Old Testament figures.
There is a third interpretation of why the house was built, though. According to some sources who were JWs at the time, Rutherford was unable to serve as an effective leader of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society (based in Brooklyn, New York)–in part due to difficulties he was having with alcohol abuse. According to these sources, Beth Sarim was built to get him out of Brooklyn and allow others to take over routine operations of the Watchtower.
This at least would be consistent with the later, 1975 statement that the house was built for Rutherford’s use, but it is totally at variance with the documents dating from when the house was built. The deed Rutherford crafted for the structure makes explicit that it was for the use of the resurrected patriarchs, including the adjoining garage for motor cars (pictured below), which at the time was stocked with a couple of Cadillacs for the patriarchs to use.
Rutherford’s dreams of OT patriarchs are long gone, of course, though a modern one seems to live there.
If you look closely at this picture, you will see that there is a basketball goal in the drive now. There is also (much smaller) a child’s Big Wheel-type toy, revealing that a normal family with children now inhabits the structure.
I’ve seen the house described several times as a "mansion" and even claims that it has 20 rooms. But as the picture below shows, it is much too short and thin for that. The claim that it has 10 rooms (also on the net) is much more reasonable.
It may be a nice house, but it doesn’t really meet the standards of what I imagine as a "mansion." Stately Wayne Manor, it ain’t–though I can imagine Zorro living here.
(Incidentally, notice the cross that tops the central round room at the top of the houes–these days JWs are about as fond of crosses as vampires are, though in the past they had no problems with them.)
To one side of the house there is an unpaved walkway that leads to an overview of the canyon above which the house sits. When I saw it, I didn’t think that this path was part of the Beth Sarim property (and still don’t know if it was), so I walked down it in order to get a photo of the canyon below. Here are a couple of pictures I took, revealing the rear view of Beth Sarim.
Rutherford is reported to have planted the property with palm and olive trees so that the resurrected patriarchs would feel at home. It seems (as illustrated in the picture below) that he also planted it with pomegranate trees (you don’t see those that often!).
Beth Sarim is a little bigger than the other houses in the neighborhood, but they are also nice.
There are lots of nice gardens in the area. Below is a bird of paradise plant (no theological point here; I just think these are cool).
The neighborhood is a bit past its glory days, but it’s still quite impressive. From the movies I was always impressed with those California neighborhoods whose streets were lined with tall palm trees. It was something to move out here and actually see them. (And in color, yet!)
I suspect that many of the local inhabitants don’t know the significance of Beth Sarim or the bizarre beliefs that led to its construction.
They certainly wouldn’t know the even darker secrets of the place that I haven’t mentioned here.
More on those later.
I’m intrigued Jimmy by all those trash cans in the first pic! Don’t tell me Rutherford left behind a lot of junk and the new owners are still trying to get rid of a mountain of books that have that “we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob” howler in them.
I thought the same thing. What’s with all the garbage cans?
California has recycling requirements. That means that most municipality garbage collection services provide multiple cans. One is almost always recycling (in most I’ve been to these are blue). Garbage tends to be black or grey. Sometimes there is also a can (usually green) that contains grass clippings and such.
In our neck of the woods, the color scheme is:
black – regular waste
green – recylcable
brown – “green waste” (grass clippings, etc.)
Other cities in the area provide smaller specific containers for glass, plastic, and paper.
What do houses go for in that neighborhood?
Jimmy, with all due respect, you get me all wound up time and time again with posts like this only to get deflated. Ok, I know where the place is now. But “mystery” prescribes much more to the situation other than “just knowing where it is”. It makes me wonder why JIMMY AKIN is there, and of course story HAS to be good!
All right, you visited Beth Sarim. Why didn’t you just say so.
Respectfully Yours…….
My Mom has a pomegranate tree in her back yard. I help her make pomegranate jelly every Autumn. Well, not this year ‘cos she had the thing pruned after last season & it only produces fruit on second-year growth. (SIGH) I love that jelly!
Darker secrets?
Yep.
Two of ’em.
Is this one of the houses some future prophet was supposed to live in? Like Moses? How would Moses handle recycling, I wonder.
Do you think they bought cable TV too? Y’know, so Moses could catch up on the CNN (maybe watch a little EWTN…)
In all honesty that’s the wrong way to attack the problem. I don’t think in principle Moses would object to recycling, and since he is granted the same reason as us all, he would not be incapable of learning how to recycle. The problem is that they didn’t come and this was preached by Rutherford as fact for which you could be expelled for not believing.
In all honesty that’s the wrong way to attack the problem. I don’t think in principle Moses would object to recycling, and since he is granted the same reason as us all, he would not be incapable of learning how to recycle. The problem is that they didn’t come and this was preached by Rutherford as fact for which you could be expelled for not believing.
In all honesty that’s the wrong way to attack the problem. I don’t think in principle Moses would object to recycling, and since he is granted the same reason as us all, he would not be incapable of learning how to recycle. The problem is that they didn’t come and this was preached by Rutherford as fact for which you could be expelled for not believing.
In all honesty that’s the wrong way to attack the problem. I don’t think in principle Moses would object to recycling, and since he is granted the same reason as us all, he would not be incapable of learning how to recycle. The problem is that they didn’t come and this was preached by Rutherford as fact for which you could be expelled for not believing.
+J.M.J+
(Incidentally, notice the cross that tops the central round room at the top of the houes–these days JWs are about as fond of crosses as vampires are, though in the past they had no problems with them.)
Yup. I have a copy of an old book written by Judge Rutherford, and one of the color illustrations shows Christ nailed to a cross! Guess they came up with their “the cross is pagan” argument after the days of Rutherford.
In Jesu et Maria,
Rosemarie, could you please email me a copy of of that illustration that shows the cross as this would help comunicate to jws the truth about Jesus and what he did for all mankind in dieing on that cross thanks
Alan
ENGLAND UK
great pic of this liar and maniplators house of cards, i wish all jw would come to this site
Don’t get yourselves all hot and bothered by this reality. It makes absolutely no difference to JWs what was in their past. The reality is that this church reshapes its history much as big brother did in Orwell’s 1984. The individual witness reinterprets their own beliefs about the church without even being instructed by the church as well so don’t ever expect them to come around and wake up to some reality that we on the outside possess. This church is simply going to mainstream more and more as time passes and they will be here long after you the reader and I are long gone. This is the workings of organized religion afterall. I could talk for hours as I spent far too many years in this church and only got free after the death of my wife due to their no blood doctrine. Jimmy, they say that the bomb shelters still exist. Is that true? I would love to see a picture of that and what I love about it is that they claimed to be under the direction and protection of a theocracy and yet they still had the human need to protect themselves rather then putting their faith in their God to protect them in their time of need. So they built a bomb shelter. Fascinating how we humans can justify and deny so easily.
While there are many “issues” in the JW organization today, stop with the slander and the irritating propaganda. You need to listen to the writings of Ray Franz, former governing body member and was ousted by the Society for his concerns. He speaks very intelligently without bashing. I have been an inactive JW since 1996 and I’m not condoning or codemning the organization, but I will not jump on the bandwagon of a bunch of angry message board posters like yourselves. Just have a decent debate or discussion. I became inactive because I too have concerns, but I maintain some contact with JW friends because many things do make sense and I can still do some research. I won’t be active again because of my concerns. So you guys before you post, I’m not not praising JWs just presenting a chance to have a decent discussion without slander.
les contacto desde huelva españa .sin conocer la mansion ni al tal rutheford soñe una noche con ella y me ha parecido curioso haceroslo saber
gracias
Wish I could afford that house.
As I looking around on web site of Real Estate in San Diego in 92116 zip code, for 10 room, est. $1.5 to $3 millions.
Is this house still there? The address doesn’t show up on Zillow.com. I will drive by there this week and see. Oh, and what about the bomb shelter?
Also Jimmy said “They certainly wouldn’t know the even darker secrets of the place that I haven’t mentioned here. More on those later.”
Did he ever follow up on that statement?
Are ‘Judge’ Rutherford’s sparkling eyes brown or gray? The color changes from the start of the article until near the end. They do remain all sparkly though. Is eye color subject to the concept of ‘current truth’?
Very interesting. I was raised and baptised a JW. Fortunately I was blessed with a father who read and researched and while he was a very active Witness he neither bought into or believed all the hype that so many get swept away with in the religion. His favorite saying was that all new JW’s should be locked in a closet for the first year until they can calm down and act like a normal person again(a thought that brought many a laugh among the older of his JW friends and many a frown from new members) At any rate, my point is that because my father usually shared his knowledge with me so I was familiar with the existence of this house and many of the other odd, out of character antics on the part of Judge Rutherford. For instance the fact that he insisted on being chauferred in a black car with body guards. I never have been able to discern what the body guards were for but I would guess it had little to do with the religion and more to do with his outside activities. It is possible that when the house was built it was deemed a mansion in the surrounding area, you said it is larger then other houses in the neighborhood, even now it looks like something Earl Flynn or Clark Gable would have lived in. You mention the cross being out of character for JW’s. How about the fact that the religion was founded by Pastor Russel. I assure you there are NO Pastors in the religion today, as a child I was shocked the first time I heard my father speak of Pastor Russell thinking for sure he had gone mad, surely we didn’t have Pastors in our religion. And have you checked out the grave sights of both Russell and Rutherford, heavy Masonic influence though the JW’s of today find Masons the worst offenders of Christianity. I’m only in my early forties but SO many things have changed since I was a kid in the orginaztion. Some bad, like when the organization decided it had a right to interfere in married couples private lives, but a lot of changes have been for the better. It seems as though a lot of JW’s have to come to realize that we are all human and have to reside on this earth together whether we all believe the same thing or not. When I was a child I was constantly taught that Armageddon was right around the corner and I would never even get to Kindergarten before God wiped out the strictures of the modern world as we know it today. As I stated, I’m in my early forties and Kindergarten is a dim memory at best. Now my children along with my nieces and nephews, while serving faithly, go to College, hold good jobs and look forward to their children doing the same. I know some will argue this, going back to the old chant that JW’s are a cult, but I would suspect the ones who argue are most likely recently involved with the witnesses and haven’t seen the changes I have or they are unfortunatly involved with a group of witnesses that still adhere to the old ways. I assure you, the religion seems to have stepped out of the dark ages as it were. I pray that those in the organization find love and happiness in their lives and with that love and happiness the way will be lit for them and all who belive. God bless you for your post and pictures, they are of import to all who hold an interest in the history of religion, be it ancient history or recent history. One of the post’s mention reading Brother Franz’s book (yes-in my mind he is still Brother) I had the wonderful opportunity of knowing Brother Franz when I was a child before he was disfellowshipped and I can attest to the fact that the man always, to my knowledge, held his faith in God close to his heart regardless of what was happening in his personal life. I strongly suggest anyone looking for another view point of the JW’s to read his well written and consice books, but please keep in mind he is one human man speaking simply of his experiences. Anyone interested in the religion needs to consider all sides available, not just one.
Ambien today.
Ambien today.