Surprisingly appealing, this self-satisfied city is so sure of its essential worth that it sees little need to primp and pimp for the almighty tourist dollar. Pasadena is low-key about its attractions, which are legion. Southern California boosterism played its part in Pasadena’s past, sure, but these days heavy-handed hype is notably absent. Pasadena simply allows guests to enjoy its fairly civilized pleasures. And what a pleasure that is.
For a contemporary yet traditional introduction, start with Old Pasadena,the astonishingly successful shopping, entertainment, and restaurant district, the result of Pasadena’s very careful restoration of its 1880s old-brick downtown.
Garage door detail, Pasadena craftsman home near the Gamble House (photo by Rictor Norton & David Allen)
Next, tour at least some of the attractions in and near Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco, the deep ravine on Pasadena’s west side. Here you’ll find Cal Tech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Rose Bowl stadium, and the fabled Gamble House and other Greene and Greene craftsman-era accomplishments, concentrated in Little Switzerland and Prospect Park.
If there’s time for nothing else while in Pasadena, do visit the Gamble Houseat 4 Westmoreland Place (three blocks north of Colorado Blvd.), open for docent-led tours Thurs-Sun. starting from noon to 3 p.m. (buy tickets online). Pasadena’s premier architectural showpiece, often praised as a “symphony in wood,” this is one of the finest examples of the finest moment in American domestic design—justifiably designated both a state and national historic landmark. Architects Charles and Henry Greene designed this Japanese-influenced craftsman as a winter home for David and Mary Gamble of Cincinnati, heirs to the Procter & Gamble fortune. No expense was spared in constructing this richly detailed early 1900s ode to simplicity. At a time when $5,000 would buy a very spacious house on a view lot, the Gambles spent $50,000 for this shingle-sided home graced with exotic hand-rubbed woods and inlays, leaded-glass windows, and the home’s trademark oak-motif Louis Tiffany stained-glass door. Most of the handmade furnishings were made in Pasadena.
Kitchen detail from a Greene & Greene craftsman home (photo by JLT)
After a stop at the nearby headquarters of the Pasadena Historical Society, a continuing architectural tour leads down South Orange Grove Boulevard, though only the restored mansions at the old Ambassador College campus and the Wrigley Mansion (now office space for the Tournament of Roses) are open for events or tours.
Other particularly striking neighborhoods, architecturally speaking, include the Oak Knoll area, with the historic Huntington Hotel as centerpiece, nearby Lombardy Road, and, north of downtown, Bungalow Heaven, Pasadena’s largest neighborhood of craftsman bungalows.
Take a good walk in Pasadena’s Bungalow Heaven, located north of the Foothill Freeway (I-210) between Lake and Hill Avenues, bordered on the north by Washington Boulevard and on the south by Orange Grove. Here you’ll find block after block of middle-class takes on the craftsman theme. True bungalow aficionados, come back on the last Sunday in April for the annual neighborhood home tour, the best way to appreciate the impressive interior workmanship (now is not too soon to get your tickets). Pasadena Heritage celebrates bungalows in mid-October or November each year with its Craftsman Weekend.
At home in the arroyo near the Colorado Street Bridge: the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a building that was once the Vista del Arroyo Hotel (photo by Mark)
If you’re heading back downtown from Cal Tech, don’t miss the Pasadena Civic Center. Inspired by the City Beautiful movement, Pasadena’s regal 1920s beaux arts civic center is an intentionally striking symbol of civic pride. Most striking is Pasadena City Hall, 100 N. Garfield, with its crownlike dome and Italian Renaissance courtyard design, by John Bakewell Jr. and Arthur Brown Jr., who also created San Francisco’s City Hall. The formal Italian/Spanish vernacular 1927 Pasadena Central Library, 285 E. Walnut, was designed by Pasadena architect Myron Hunt, more famous for the Huntington estate in San Marino. Now effectively cut off from the rest of the Civic Center by the Plaza Pasadena, the revered Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St., is an Italian Renaissance palace, known for its Pompeian revival interiors by artist Giovanni Smeraldi. Heading toward Lake Avenue is the Spanish revival Pasadena Playhouse, on S. El Molino between Colorado and Green, the State Theater of California since 1938.
Museum-Quality Pasadena
About those art museums: The Norton Simon Museum near the Colorado Street Bridge, founded by charismatic corporate leader and one-time candidate for U.S. Senate Norton Simon, honors this “art collector of genius,” whose personal collection represented 2,000 years of Western and Asian art. Tough times for the Pasadena Museum of Modern Art coincided with Simon’s desperate need to find a home for his burgeoning collection.
Sculpture garden at the Norton Simon Museum (photo by Jim Sneddon)
The Pacific Asia Museum at Los Robles and Colorado, now affiliated with USC, was designed in 1924 by architects Mayberry, Marston, and Van Pelt as both gallery and home for Grace Nicholson, aficionada of Asian art. Pasadena’s own northern Chinese Imperial Palace—included on the National Register of Historic Places—features a green tile roof, ceramic guard dogs to ward off evil spirits, and a peaceful central courtyard complete with bubbling brook and koi. (The garden is one of just a few authentic Chinese gardens in the United States.) Though the Pacific Asia Museum is the only Southern California museum specializing in the arts and crafts of Asia and the Pacific, most exhibits here are on loan from other museums or private collections.
Next door to the Pacific Asia Museum is the marvelous Pasadena Museum of California Art,the only California museum devoted exclusively to exhibiting and exploring California art, architecture, and design from 1850 to the present. Except when summer smog prevails, views of the city from the third-story terrace are spectacular.
Cruising Around Craftsman Town
Exploring the Pasadena Idea
Surprisingly appealing, this self-satisfied city is so sure of its essential worth that it sees little need to primp and pimp for the almighty tourist dollar. Pasadena is low-key about its attractions, which are legion. Southern California boosterism played its part in Pasadena’s past, sure, but these days heavy-handed hype is notably absent. Pasadena simply allows guests to enjoy its fairly civilized pleasures. And what a pleasure that is.
For a contemporary yet traditional introduction, start with Old Pasadena, the astonishingly successful shopping, entertainment, and restaurant district, the result of Pasadena’s very careful restoration of its 1880s old-brick downtown.
Garage door detail, Pasadena craftsman home near the Gamble House (photo by Rictor Norton & David Allen)
Next, tour at least some of the attractions in and near Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco, the deep ravine on Pasadena’s west side. Here you’ll find Cal Tech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Rose Bowl stadium, and the fabled Gamble House and other Greene and Greene craftsman-era accomplishments, concentrated in Little Switzerland and Prospect Park.
If there’s time for nothing else while in Pasadena, do visit the Gamble House at 4 Westmoreland Place (three blocks north of Colorado Blvd.), open for docent-led tours Thurs-Sun. starting from noon to 3 p.m. (buy tickets online). Pasadena’s premier architectural showpiece, often praised as a “symphony in wood,” this is one of the finest examples of the finest moment in American domestic design—justifiably designated both a state and national historic landmark. Architects Charles and Henry Greene designed this Japanese-influenced craftsman as a winter home for David and Mary Gamble of Cincinnati, heirs to the Procter & Gamble fortune. No expense was spared in constructing this richly detailed early 1900s ode to simplicity. At a time when $5,000 would buy a very spacious house on a view lot, the Gambles spent $50,000 for this shingle-sided home graced with exotic hand-rubbed woods and inlays, leaded-glass windows, and the home’s trademark oak-motif Louis Tiffany stained-glass door. Most of the handmade furnishings were made in Pasadena.
Kitchen detail from a Greene & Greene craftsman home (photo by JLT)
After a stop at the nearby headquarters of the Pasadena Historical Society, a continuing architectural tour leads down South Orange Grove Boulevard, though only the restored mansions at the old Ambassador College campus and the Wrigley Mansion (now office space for the Tournament of Roses) are open for events or tours.
Other particularly striking neighborhoods, architecturally speaking, include the Oak Knoll area, with the historic Huntington Hotel as centerpiece, nearby Lombardy Road, and, north of downtown, Bungalow Heaven, Pasadena’s largest neighborhood of craftsman bungalows.
Take a good walk in Pasadena’s Bungalow Heaven, located north of the Foothill Freeway (I-210) between Lake and Hill Avenues, bordered on the north by Washington Boulevard and on the south by Orange Grove. Here you’ll find block after block of middle-class takes on the craftsman theme. True bungalow aficionados, come back on the last Sunday in April for the annual neighborhood home tour, the best way to appreciate the impressive interior workmanship (now is not too soon to get your tickets). Pasadena Heritage celebrates bungalows in mid-October or November each year with its Craftsman Weekend.
This introductory exploration comes full circle downtown at the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech), home of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and a look at still more architectural and cultural gems, including noteworthy nearby art museums.
At home in the arroyo near the Colorado Street Bridge: the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a building that was once the Vista del Arroyo Hotel (photo by Mark)
For further appreciation of both the aristocratic and democratic ideals woven into the Pasadena idea, mandatory side trips include the nearby Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino and, back toward Los Angeles in Highland Park, the Charles Fletcher Lummis home El Alisal (open Friday through Sunday only). Worth time nearby but open only on Saturdays is the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, now part of the (Gene) Autry National Center of the American West. If there’s time, take in Descanso Gardens, with the world’s largest camellia collection, the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, and maybe even a thoroughbred race at Santa Anita Park (live racing starts after Christmas).
Pasadena City Hall (photo by Michael Chen)
If you’re heading back downtown from Cal Tech, don’t miss the Pasadena Civic Center. Inspired by the City Beautiful movement, Pasadena’s regal 1920s beaux arts civic center is an intentionally striking symbol of civic pride. Most striking is Pasadena City Hall, 100 N. Garfield, with its crownlike dome and Italian Renaissance courtyard design, by John Bakewell Jr. and Arthur Brown Jr., who also created San Francisco’s City Hall. The formal Italian/Spanish vernacular 1927 Pasadena Central Library, 285 E. Walnut, was designed by Pasadena architect Myron Hunt, more famous for the Huntington estate in San Marino. Now effectively cut off from the rest of the Civic Center by the Plaza Pasadena, the revered Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St., is an Italian Renaissance palace, known for its Pompeian revival interiors by artist Giovanni Smeraldi. Heading toward Lake Avenue is the Spanish revival Pasadena Playhouse, on S. El Molino between Colorado and Green, the State Theater of California since 1938.
Museum-Quality Pasadena
About those art museums: The Norton Simon Museum near the Colorado Street Bridge, founded by charismatic corporate leader and one-time candidate for U.S. Senate Norton Simon, honors this “art collector of genius,” whose personal collection represented 2,000 years of Western and Asian art. Tough times for the Pasadena Museum of Modern Art coincided with Simon’s desperate need to find a home for his burgeoning collection.
Sculpture garden at the Norton Simon Museum (photo by Jim Sneddon)
The Pacific Asia Museum at Los Robles and Colorado, now affiliated with USC, was designed in 1924 by architects Mayberry, Marston, and Van Pelt as both gallery and home for Grace Nicholson, aficionada of Asian art. Pasadena’s own northern Chinese Imperial Palace—included on the National Register of Historic Places—features a green tile roof, ceramic guard dogs to ward off evil spirits, and a peaceful central courtyard complete with bubbling brook and koi. (The garden is one of just a few authentic Chinese gardens in the United States.) Though the Pacific Asia Museum is the only Southern California museum specializing in the arts and crafts of Asia and the Pacific, most exhibits here are on loan from other museums or private collections.
Next door to the Pacific Asia Museum is the marvelous Pasadena Museum of California Art, the only California museum devoted exclusively to exhibiting and exploring California art, architecture, and design from 1850 to the present. Except when summer smog prevails, views of the city from the third-story terrace are spectacular.
For information about other museums in and around Pasadena and other visitor info, contact the Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau.