A symbol of hope in Altadena lit up a week after the Eaton Fire. It now needs your help

One week into the senseless destruction of the Eaton Fire, a beloved landmark came back to life high in the foothills of Altadena.

The "Star of Palawoo" was lighted for just half a night on Jan. 13. But for Altadena residents who looked up, its familiar and unexpected glow brought comfort and hope.

"You could see it from miles because that was the only light in that area," said Christopher Jude Miller-Chapin.

Miller-Chapin lived in a sprawling historical estate below the landmark and was one of the people who helped relight it that night.

The magician of light

F.B. Nightingale and his Star of Palawoo.

(

Courtesy of Bill Westphal

)

F.B. Nightingale (right) standing next to the Star of Palawoo.

(

Courtesy Bill Westphal

)

The story of the folksy stelliform sculpture begins with F.B. Nightingale, who was born in Upstate New York in 1885, became fascinated with magic and performed in Vaudeville shows. In the early 1910s, he joined General Electric in New York and was eventually sent to Los Angeles. He settled in the Altadena foothills and built an estate called "Palawoo" (which he said meant "bird's nest," though in what language isn't clear).

In the 1920s, he constructed the five-pointed star out of wood and 40-watt bulbs, according to a letter Nightingale wrote to the Altadena Chamber of Commerce.

" It was the first of its kind of technology," said Mary Landau, historian at the Christmas Tree Lane Association.

Once lit, the star was said to be in perfect alignment with Santa Rosa Avenue before it was obscured by the giant cedar trees that give the block its yuletide nickname. "He wanted to present it as a gift to Altadena and the world," Landau said.

By then, Nightingale was being referred to as the "father of garden lighting," Landau said. He would open his house for light demonstrations and decorated the gardens of Hollywood celebrities.

The Star of Palawoo shines above F.B. Nightingale's estate in Altadena.

(

Courtesy Bill Westphal

)

His "star of Palawoo" is said to have lit up for the very first time during Christmas of 1928.

" He decided to put his two loves together — magic and lighting," Landau said.

A ray of hope

Nightingale died in 1965. A new family moved into Palawoo in the 1990s. The star eventually fell into disrepair. Phil Elkins, the estate's owner, discovered it lying on its side and decided to revive it.

"My dad had run this really giant extension cord from the star all the way down to their house, it's at least a football field ... at least 300 feet," said Nate Elkins, one of three Elkins children.

Since then, the symbol didn't just shine bright during the winter holidays.

Phil Elkins “brought so much hope to all of us when he lit it all during COVID-19," Landau said. " It really is an inspiration to a lot of people."

A 'beautiful beacon'

Former Palawoo resident Daniela Dawson's photo of the Star of Palawoo. It's still standing after the Eaton Fire.

(

Daniela Dawson

)

The Elkins family kept Palawoo a sanctuary for not just the family, but for those who were lucky enough to have also called it home.

Daniela Dawson, a photographer, remembered seeing a rental ad on Craigslist for a room in an Altadena home last year.

"You could just tell the person who wrote it loved this property," Dawson said. "Of course it was written by the landlord. The way he wrote about it was just so poetic and with love and with care."

She went to see the place, knew nothing about Palawoo — and fell in love. Dawson remembered catching a glimpse of the star as she pulled up to her parking spot, sitting there right above the house.

"It was just glorious, so special," Dawson said. "Even when it wasn't lit in the daytime, it was just kind of this esoteric, really special, beautiful beacon to our home, to our place."

The fire took almost everything in that area — except for the 35-foot star that typically lights up at Christmastime.

Christmas Tree Lane historian Landau has temporarily relocated to another part of Altadena, after her own house was destroyed. To see the landmark she now needs to walk a couple of blocks.

 "Remember that Altadena was settled in 1887, and there were no tall trees at that time. So the view was incredible." Landau said. "And now since everything's burned down, I can't believe the view that I have."

A group of volunteers works on the star on Jan. 13.

(

Courtesy Christopher Jude Miller-Chapin

)

The Elkins brothers and other volunteers used solar panels to power the Star of Palawoo on Jan. 13.

(

Courtesy Christopher Jude Miller-Chapin

)

A cycle of rebirth

Fire and winds are a constant in the ecology of Altadena. High winds destroyed the first iteration of the star. Then in 1935, it was burned by wildfire. Nightingale rebuilt it with metal. In 2006, winds knocked it down once more, and it was once more put back together.

In 2019, a group of local volunteers, including Boy Scouts, completely reconstructed the star, using LED bulbs to mimic the original 40-watt lights.

Bill Westphal helped spearhead that effort.

"It's amazing the effect that the star has on people. It just gathers people together, gathers their hope and their love," said Westphal, who lost his home one street away from Palawoo during the fire.

Relighting the star

This year, the Star of Palawoo was supposed to be lighted, as usual for Christmastime, until Jan. 7 — the very night the Eaton Fire started. Six days later, Nate Elkins, his brother Todd and Palawoo resident Christopher Jude Miller-Chapin went up to the star above Palawoo on a wing and a prayer.

Todd and Nate Elkins in Altadena. Behind them, high above, is the Star of Palawoo.

(

Courtesy Nate Elkins

)

" We were kind of separately all thinking the same thing — that we wanted to get the star lit back up," Elkins said.

The three brought solar panels, a battery and other tools and scaled the burned terrain above the property.

It was the first time Nate, who lives in Texas, had seen his family home since the fire.

" I almost felt numb," he said, seeing the destruction. It's not the loss of the physical home or that the entire Palawoo estate is now gone, he said, but the loss of a co-existence with nature, where bears, foxes and deer roam. "We're on the edge of, you know, L.A. It's kind of like this refuge."

That day, the trio — with the help of firefighters from the Santa Cruz Fire Department they ran into at Palawoo — managed to rig up the star and juiced it for about half the night.

" We're using AI to try to figure out how do we get this to work," Elkins said. "So a little bit of a learning curve for us."

Call for action

The goal now is to get the Star of Palawoo lit up regularly — though they need the assistance of an electrical or solar expert — even for an hour at a set time each night. Elkins said it's something his parents have said they'd want to see.

"The whole community lost so much," Elkins said.

"Going back to the star, we all need a little something... that had been there for a long time and it's still there," he said.