Mojave's Miracle Manor

I found a brochure in my mother Marion Deaver's files from the 1950s promoting a new housing tract planned for West Mojave.

I called my brother Bill Deaver to jog my memory about where that tract was located. He laughed and explained to me how the development got its name.

Its promoters, Mojave Development, Inc. held a contest to name the tract. A Navy wife stationed with her husband at the Mojave Marine Base told her husband about the development and the contest.

He remarked, "If they ever build it, it will be a miracle." She submitted that name and won the contest!

Developing the west side of Mojave began earlier with Western Village, located across the Railroad tracks and south of Oak Creek Road.

Next were Miracle Manor and then Country Modern. I owned a home in the 1990s in the Country Modern area. I remember when those homes were built and they all had carports – no enclosed garages - which my mother thought was ridiculous.

By the time I purchased the home on Douglas Avenue previous owners had enclosed the carport and made it into a den with a wood burning stove. They had built a shed out back for things that would normally go in a garage, like a lawnmower, etc.

Miracle Manor is located adjacent to the railroad tracks in Northwest Mojave. The brochure proclaimed it as having a FHA financing program under Section 809, available for "certified employees of Edwards AFB."

It was lauded as a subdivision by Tri-City Builders, Mojave Development, Inc. Mojave Development, Inc. was owned by Richard Poole, a realtor-broker in Mojave.

The tri-fold brochure hailed the development as having, "the finest homes at the fairest prices."

"The beautiful individual homes offer the craftsmanship of a master builder in every feature of each home." Homes were designed to be as "functional as a modern hotel" but with relaxing, casual and carefree "atmosphere that meant home life at its best."

The home plans were advertised for three or four bedrooms. My brother and his wife Billye owned one of the homes in the 1960s and theirs was a three bedroom. I don't remember being in any homes that were four bedrooms, but I was not in every one of them.

Like any modern realty brochure Miracle Manor promised that purchasing a home there would place a family just minutes from schools, shopping centers and near accessible highways, just minutes to your job, "wherever it might be." Edwards was and is 25-miles east of Mojave.

The homes were touted as making "truly country squire living possible." Quality construction and workmanship, but also having an atmosphere designed for each family's needs was emphasized. Of course V.A. Financing was available also.

Large wardrobe closets, double car garages, patios and many "little things" distinguished these homes as having quality and true beauty to add "years of pleasure and comfort to a family's living."

The kicker was on the last page with a headline proclaiming, "For the Men."

The writers of the brochure explained that this was the "first development of its kind – which was actually planned for both men and women."

The author explained that usually the interior design and colors were chosen with the woman in mind and the man of the house was left with the chore of developing the outside.

However, a licensed landscape development plan for each home was to be furnished to the husband so he could pick fencing, patio, windscreens and children's play areas.

The plan also included a "complete manual" on the care of plants, and how to water them. The brochure ensured that if the plans for the inside and outside of the home were followed, their investments would continue to grow "compatible with the growth of this community."

What else could you ask for?