327 Fillmore Street, photographed 1938.
Inez hired several assistants to help her — nurses, a janitor, and a blood technician. She outfitted multiple rooms with beds for recovering patients; another was transformed into an operating room, replete with surgical instruments, bowls, and basins. She had trap doors installed, mindful that the illegal operation might someday necessitate a quick getaway. In the backyard, she installed large concrete incinerators for disposing of fetal remains. Inez ran the business cleanly and efficiently, and it quickly flourished. Her patients included wealthy socialites, politicians' wives, prostitutes and nuns. She would perform up to 30 abortions a day, at a cost of between $75 and $200 per abortion. At her peak, she was making $50,000 per month - about $625,000 in today's dollars. Over the next decade, she would rake in millions, becoming one of the wealthiest women in California. It was also a decade of personal growth for Inez. In 1924, with money already pouring in, Inez was able to build herself this house at 274 Guerrero Street, constructed to her unique specifications: