After living in Australia for nine years, Ellen White, along with her son William and his family returned to the USA. They arrived in San Francisco in September 1900 not having any idea where to settle down and live. She was 72 years of age and had several books in mind that she wanted to write, so she thought she would like to live in a quiet spot close to the Pacific Press which was located in Oakland.

After several days of fruitless search for an appropriate house, someone encouraged her to go to the Rural Health Retreat in St. Helena to rest and visit with old acquaintances. While she was there she shared her dilemma with her friend, Mrs. Ings. Mrs. Ings told her that a gentleman named Robert Pratt was selling his home. Ellen White decided to go and look at it. It was a seven-room home on a knoll near the middle of a 60 acre property. The land stretched from rich river-bottom land on the west to the mountains on the east and part way up the steep hillside. The land, the completely furnished house and the farm buildings were all on sale for $5,000.

Ellen White thanked God for providing her a property that was so well adapted to her needs, and she quickly signed papers and was able to move in almost immediately. With her staff, she moved in on October 16, just 25 days after arriving in San Francisco.

“This is a most beautiful location,” she wrote to a friend. “The surroundings are lovely.” She described ornamental trees from various parts of the world, flowers, shrubs, extensive orchards, etc. Behind the house to the east was the farmer’s cottage, which, with a little adaptation, could be turned into an office building. Beyond this was a barn and a stable, completely stocked with livestock and equipment. Several springs at the foot of Howell Mountain would supply water. There were also several good building sites that could be used for homes for her staff.

Overjoyed, Ellen White wrote to friends: “It is like stepping out of our [“Sunnyside”] home in Cooranbong [Australia] into one already prepared for use, without any care on our part.” –Letter 146, 1900 

Sister White needed a new name for the property to put on her letters and documents that she published. Since there was a row of elm trees in front of the house, she decided to call the place Elmshaven.

There was plenty of land for orchards, vineyards, gardens, berry patches, hay fields, and cow pastures. There were 2,000 plum trees in the orchards when she bought the place. The vineyard of wine grapes was soon replaced with table grapes.

Elmshaven was largely self-contained, providing not only housing and office space, but a large and diverse food supply.

It was here that Ellen G. White spent the final years of her life.  It was here that she wrote, the last three volumes of The Testimonies for the Church, The Ministry of Healing, Education, The Acts of the Apostles, Prophets and Kings (which was published after her death), Gospel Workers, and Counsels to Parents, Teachers and Students.

Sister White was a homemaker at heart, always  an advocate of the importance of “Domestic Science.” “Exercise in  household labor is of the greatest advantage to young girls.” –Christian Education, p. 17. “Let girls be taught that the art of dressing well includes the ability to make their own clothing.

This is an ambition that every girl should cherish. It will be a means of usefulness and independence that she cannot afford to miss. “ –Education, p. 248–249. “Young girls should have been taught how to cut, make, and mend garments, and thus become educated for the practical duties of life.” –Ibid, p. 289.  She is quoted as saying “I prize my seamstress.” –Child Guidance, p. 375

The following quotes are a few excerpts from her diary while she was living in Elmshaven.

“St. Helena, Feb. 3, 1902. I thank the Lord I am in my own home. I am still suffering with throat and lungs and heart difficulty. I have an urgent invitation to occupy rooms in the house I built and sold to the sanitarium on the hillside. The rooms I occupied as my own are now to be used by me if I will accept them and take treatment at the sanitarium. But this is not an easy thing to do. Here are my workers in the office I have built to accommodate them. Should I leave, the work could not be carried on successfully. I appreciate the favor so kindly presented to me. I shall make every effort that I think in my weak condition I can bear. I have decided to remain in my own home if I can do so, until I am strong enough to ride in my carriage to the sanitarium and take treatment, which I cannot possibly do just now.

“I have at the present time an indistinct voice. I can talk but a few words, then no sound comes. This is singular for me, but my workers need me where they are at work that I can, even in my feebleness, prepare work for them. I have much written. I dare not give myself up to receive thorough treatment, for this could not be and I continue my writing.

“There is such a thing as overdoing the personal treatment given to sick persons. Quietude, rest, sleep, careful diet, cheerful surroundings, and plenty of sleep will be essential. Sleep I cannot obtain as I would. I carry far too intense an interest for souls that know the truth and are out of the way. I am deeply moved by the consideration that there are many cases who need words of counsel, reproof, exhortation; many are not growing up into Christ, seeking His favor and strength from His strength, and many need encouragement. Often I am unable to sleep past twelve o’clock. I retire between seven o’clock and eight. My heart is drawn out in deep, earnest desire to see and understand what is my lot and place for me to occupy. Next November 26 I shall be 75 years old. I praise God for my memory and my reason, even in my infirmities.” –Manuscript Releases, vol. 18, p. 211–212

“Elmshaven, Nov. 26, 1902. This day I am 75 years old. I thank my heavenly Father that I have the use of all my faculties. I can occupy the room fitted up for me and ascend and descend the stairs with quickness and ease, requiring no assistance. I have every reason to praise the Lord that my right hand has not lost its cunning. I can trace the writings upon paper with ease; for this I am thankful. My mind in regard to the Scriptures is clear, and the comfort I receive from writing on Scriptural subjects is a source of continual gratitude. For one month I am awakened at twelve o’clock, and matters have been opened before me and deeply impressed upon my mind in regard to the cause and work of God to be carried forward at this important period of time when all the signs Christ has foretold should come are taking place as He predicted.” –Manuscript Releases, vol. 18, p. 218–219

“Elmshaven, St. Helena, California, July 22, 1907 . This morning I praise the Lord that I have not suffered as I did last night. The left limb has troubled me for many long years. The ligaments were torn from the ankle. The word was, You will never be able to use your foot, for it has been so long without close investigation that nothing can relieve the difficulty and unite the ligaments torn from the ankle bone. The limb was injured from my being thrown from my pony. I was riding in a journey to Middle Park [Colorado]. [SEPTEMBER 4, 1872.] The hip was injured and the whole limb was shrunken, and now this new difficulty. But all this was relieved by the best kind of treatment.

“I use my limb carefully, but last night the pain in the ankle seemed unendurable. I could not sleep but I could pray, and the Lord, who has relieved me so many times, helped me. Our Saviour has told us to call upon Him. I have felt so thankful for that prayer Christ taught His disciples. It embraces everything for the inhabitants of the earth. Toward morning I slept, and when I awoke the pain was gone. I realize now the Lord was merciful, and I will praise Him in whom is my dependence and my trust. The Lord be praised.

“I had reason to be thankful the pain was not in my heart, for I have suffered with my heart, but the Lord is very gracious to me. I shall be eighty years old next November 26. I can go up and down stairs as readily as my young women workers, and the Lord has wonderfully blessed me with voice to reach the thousands upon our campground. I will praise the Lord and glorify His name.” –Manuscript Releases, vol. 16, p. 126–127

“Elmshaven, St. Helena, California, August 12 [11], 1907.  Sunday morning, half past two o’clock. I have had a precious night’s rest. I lay awake giving praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for this past night’s rest. I am so thankful to my God for the blessing of freedom from pain.

“I took a bath in cold water and rubbed myself thoroughly and felt no chill. I am seated on the cot lounge writing by lamplight. I have not had freedom from pain in many months before this morning, and my heart is thankful to God. Everyone in the house is sleeping.

“I have been praying most earnestly for wisdom to place in print the very things that, should I not live, will be a help and strength to those who will be pleased to use them. My heart is filled with thanksgiving and praise. Heaven is full of richest blessings to bestow upon all who need these precious blessings, if they ask the Lord with heart and soul, and have a strong desire to receive to impart. The Lord Jesus has passed through every temptation that human beings have had. We read that He ‘knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations,’ for He hath been ‘in all points tempted like as we are’–tempted in His human nature that He might know how to succor those who shall be tempted.” –Manuscript Releases, vol. 16, p. 129–130

On Sabbath, February 13, 1915, Sister Ellen White fell as she entered her writing room. She fractured her hip. This was her final illness.

“One Sabbath day, only a few short weeks before she breathed her last, she said to her son:

“‘I am very weak. I am sure that this is my last sickness. I am not worried at the thought of dying. I feel comforted all the time, that the Lord is near me. I am not anxious. The preciousness of the  Saviour has been so plain to me. He has been a friend. He has kept me in sickness and in health.

“‘I do not worry about the work I have done. I have done the best I could. I do not think that I shall be lingering long. I do not expect much suffering. I am thankful that we have the comforts of life in time of sickness. Do not worry. I go only a little before the others.”  –Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, p. 444–445

“The end came on Friday, July 16, 1915, at 3:40 P. M., in the sunny upper chamber of her ‘Elmshaven’ home where she had spent so much of her time during the last happy, fruitful years of her busy life. She fell asleep in Jesus as quietly and peacefully as a weary child goes to rest. . . .

“For several days prior to her death, she had been unconscious much of the time, and toward the end she seemed to have lost the faculty of speech and that of hearing. The last words she spoke to her son were, ‘I know in whom I have believed.’

“‘God is love.’ ‘He giveth His beloved sleep.’ To them the long night of waiting until the morning of the resurrection is but a moment; and even to those who remain the time of waiting will not be long, for Jesus is coming soon to gather His loved ones home. As our beloved sister herself declared to those about her one Sabbath day during her sickness, ‘We shall all be home very soon now.’” –Ibid., p. 449

Timo Martin