Pasadena

Welcome to the Southern California Virtual House Tour ñ the next best thing to being there! Take an armchair stroll through the Pasadena neighborhood built by famed architects Greene & Greene. Visit some spectacular examples of California-style Craftman homes. And take some time to smell the flowers by some very pretty California bungalows.

In this trip, we take you to Greene & Greene's Gamble House ñ one of the most famous and certainly one of most stunning Arts & Crafts homes ever built ñ and their equally impressive (if less famous) Blacker House*. Following the Gamble House's self-guided neighborhood house tour, you can wander through the Arroyo Terrace and Hillcrest/Wentworth areas of Pasadena, where you can stop and admire dozens of inspiring homes.

The thumbnails below are arranged in the same order that you would find them on the Gamble House Neighborhood Walking Tour. I only took photographs of about one-third of the houses on the tour as many of the homes are obscured by trees, tall shrubs or walls. All wonderful houses, but the camera just couldn't do them justice.

This section also contains comments and descriptions gleaned from Greene & Greene: Architecture as a Fine Art by Randall L. Makinson, Peregrine Smith Books, and the Walking Tour Guide of the Gamble House Area compiled by Gamble House docents. I apologize for the mediocre quality of some of these photos -- I'd planned for typical Southern California sunny skies and bought 100-speed film but, as fate would have it, a rare Pacific hurricane (Linda) brought rain and clouds. It must be one of Murphy's Laws. Regardless, I hope you enjoy the photos. And be sure to visit Pasadena next time you happen to be in L.A.

*Blacker House: tragically, in the mid-1990's the house was purchased by a dealer removed all the original furniture, lighting and art glass, and who basically sold everything he could to cash in on the popularity of the style. Then he sold the house. Fortunately, the new owners have restored the home. Read their story!

For more information, check out these great site:
The Gamble House Official Site (This site is a MUST-SEE!)
2000 Pasadena House Tour
Blacker House

Other West Coast Architecture Pages:
Anaheim, California
Riordan Mansion, Flagstaff, Arizona

Thumbnails for Pasadena, CA

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