Preservation Pasadena Returns in Hybrid Style
by Kate Nixon
The annual event in Pasadena that includes historic house and neighborhood tours (both walking and shuttle tours), lectures, and talks with important authors will appeal to both the Californian locals and online supporters in a four-day celebration of Californian architecture. Tickets are now on sale for the newly-hybrid event Preservation Pasadena: Craftsman to Modern November 10th – 13th; the event will offer a limited amount of special presentations to both in-person supporters and a Zoom presentation to online supporters.
Pasadena Heritage, a non-profit organization and the second-largest preservation organization in the state, annually puts on Preservation Pasadena as their highlighted event of the year. 2022 marks Pasadena Heritage’s 45th anniversary and after the recent acquisition of the Blinn House, the organization continues in 2022 to hold steady to its mission of identifying, preserving, and protecting the historic, architectural, and cultural resources of the city of Pasadena, California. In 2021, Executive Director Sue Mossman said of the Blinn House: “We are excited and very grateful for the opportunities this historic place will provide for our organization. We look forward to the time when we can welcome our members and supporters, the greater community, and other organizations back into the house to experience and enjoy it.” The Blinn House will play a special role in the first day of Preservation Pasadena.
The schedule is made up of several events with individual prices for members and non-members. For prices, purchasing tickets, and for more information on Preservation Pasadena, please click here.
The schedule for the hybrid Preservation Pasadena is as follows:
The historic Blinn House designed by George Maher (seen here from a July 1907 issue of Inland Architect), has been acquired by Pasadena Heritage and will host the first of several presentations during Preservation Pasadena. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Thursday, November 10th
On Thursday, November 10th the tours of historic architecture kickoff with the shuttle tour of Pasadena’s historic churches ($45 members/$50 nonmembers) that include four local churches, each a study in design and the evolution of sacred spaces. Dinner will be provided in the form of a “California Citrus” boxed dinner that can be eaten in the Blinn House Garden Room. Afterwards, Pasadena Heritage invites you to a special lecture inside the historic Blinn House for a lecture on “California’s Citrus Heritage” by Ben Jenkins, Ph.D., author of the newly released book of the same name. Ben Jenkin’s lecture will be available to both in-person and online supporters via Zoom.
Friday, November 11th
The morning of November 11th starts with a morning home tour of the Ella Bartlett House, a Swiss-chalet style bungalow, designed in 1906 by Walter J. Saunders. Have a light breakfast provided by Pasadena Heritage as you can join a docent in taking a stroll down notable homes designed by Charles and Henry Greene, Sylvanus Marston, and Frank Lloyd Wright. The Friday fun continues with an author talk and discussion on the subject of Restoring a Craftsman Home with Constance Hood, author of the book Into Dark Corridors: A Tale of Hands, Heart and Home. The hybrid talk will be available on Zoom for online supporters.
The day continues after a boxed lunch, a walking tour of Hillcrest Neighborhood, that includes homes by Greene and Greene, Wallace Neff, George Washington Smith, and more – and a hard-hat interior tour of the Heineman and Heineman-designed Lydia C. Edmands House. The Edmands house preservation process is in progress, so this will be the first opportunity to view its progress. The evening ends with a wine, drinks, and hors d’oeuvres reception and the documentary showing of “Gustav Stickley: American Craftsman” along with filmmaker Herb Stratford.
One of several hybrid events that are offered during Presevation Pasadena are the author talks: Victoria Kastner, the author of Julia Morgan: An Intimate Biography of the Trailblazing Architect, will be among the authors speaking simultaneously to both in-person supporters and online via Zoom.
Saturday, November 12th
Saturday sees an exploration of Pasadena’s Revival Architecture, starting with a morning walking tour showing the works of Bertram Goodhue and the Caltech campus with Historic Architect William W. Ellinger III and developers Brian Baker and Dave Nufer. In the afternoon, a tour of The Pasadena Playhouse Historic District will be given; the district contains approximately 34 buildings, which represent the eastward growth of the City’s urban core during the 1920s and 1930s. Later on, the author talks will be offered –two different talks at two different times – both in person and via Zoom. The first, author Frances Anderton and guests John Ripley and Juan Dela Cruz, explores Anderton’s new book Common Ground: Multifamily Housing in Los Angeles, in which multiple-unit dwellings are examined as a vital element in the city’s history, identity, and establishes it as a key approach to addressing a housing-crisis decades in the making. The second talk shows explores architect Julia Morgan with Julia Morgan: a Trailblazing Architect author Victoria Kastner.
Sunday, November 13th
Preservation Pasadena wraps up with an exploration of Midcentury and Modern Architecture with guided tours of the 1947 Bullock’s Pasadena (a site listed on the National Register of Historic Places), the 1978 Hollis House, and the finale of Preservation Pasadena: a reception and tour of the Alex and Jaylene Moseley House which provides a view of the Rose Bowl and entire San Gabriel Valley, just in time for a glass of wine enjoying the Califonia sunset among a grand example of modern architecture.
For more information, please visit Pasadena Heritage online HERE
To purchase individual event tickets online, visit Pasadena Heritage’s Eventbrite page HERE.