Veterans Home of California Yountville
The Veterans Home of California is located in Yountville, California and was founded in 1884. The facility is the largest of its kind in the United States and has a population of 1200 aged and disabled veterans of World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, War in Afghanistan, and Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom. Several levels of care are offered to residents, including domicillary services, residential care for the elderly, intermediate nursing care, skilled nursing care, adult day health care, and outpatient clinic.
The grounds of the facility include the 1,214 seat Lincoln Theater (home of Symphony Napa Valley, Orchestra Institute Napa Valley as well as a robust education program), a 9-hole golf course, baseball stadium, bowling alley, swimming pool, U.S. Post Office, and a military base exchange branch store. All of these facilities are available for use by resident veterans at no additional cost. Additionally, the home offers services specifically for residents including a fitness center, a resident operated television station, auto hobby shop, a 35,000 volume library, creative arts center, and a multi-faith chapel. A cemetery on the grounds holds the graves of over 5,500 veterans and their spouses dating back to the Spanish- American War of 1898.
In 1877, the Grand Army of the Republic first secured land in San Francisco for a veterans home; however, the property was deemed not appropriate. After exploring several alternatives, on Oct. 24, 1882, a 910 acres (3.7 km2) site was purchased in Yountville for $17,500. By 1884, when the facility opened, funds raised to buy the property and erect the original buildings had all been spent, and the association established in San Francisco by the Society of Mexican War Veterans and the GAR was bankrupt. In the decade that followed, both the Veterans Home and the Napa Valley struggled through difficult financial times until private association was formed and was responsible for the home. It secured funding from both the State of California and the Federal Government, but in 1896 Washington determined that it could no longer fund a privately operated facility and withdrew its financial support. The association had no choice but to turn the Veterans Home over to the State of California in 1897. The state paid the association $20 and officially changed the name to the Veterans Home of California at Yountville. At the time the state took over the home, it had an estimated value of $320,000 and consisted of 55 steam heated buildings with electric lighting, running water and a sewer system. The grounds also had a successful dairy, hog farm, and chicken ranch and was the home for 800 veterans of the Mexican, Civil, and Indian wars.
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