Pasadena City Hall Night shot

This is a Pasadena Photo Blog of a night shoot I did at Pasadena City Hall.  Please enjoy.

Love the detail

View from within the romantic courtyard, weddings and events are held here often.

This is my favorite shot

For Buying and/or Selling Real Estate, contact me:
Ramiro Rivas – Pasadena Realtor
626-497-4606
Ramiro@RivasEstates.com

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Like a fine aged wine, Pasadena is a mature city that keeps getting better with time. Pasadena has put constant efforts to preserve, yet update, it’s historic centers of commerce and has allowed for surrounding urban residential developments, therefore it’s becoming a more chic and trendy place to live.

Northeast Pasadena Neighborhood

Since Pasadena knows how to keep it fresh, without bulldozing the wonderful historic character of the city, it has drawn in a stylish crowd of people.An ever increasing amount of residents are purchasing the Craftsman bungalows that became rundown because of neglectful owners or long periods of vacancy due to foreclosure. There are several civic beautification campaigns in Pasadena, which encourages restoring the charming character homes that are hidden behind overgrown shrubs and displaced shingles. The result has led to a gentrifying of many of the neighborhoods that used to be impoverished.

Pasadena homeowners can buy a historic craftsman in the suburbs without feeling like they will live amongst streets that are lined with old Cadillacs and houses painted a marigold color that was popular in 1970. The city fought hard to crack down on gang problems that arose in the 1970’s, and since the 90’s it has not only recovered, but has become even better than the booming resort town that Pasadena was when it was founded.

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Within the Arts and Crafts Movement, the Craftsman style was a progressive architectural design that proliferated in the early part of the 20th century and to this day stands as a form of residential architecture most commonly associated with Pasadena Real Estate.

It can arguably be said that the two brothers, Greene and Greene, were the Pasadena architects that have made the Craftsman style so prevalent in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles. Initially most of the work of Greene and Greene was implemented into smaller Craftsman designed California Bungalows for residences that were built for the middle class communities in and around Pasadena. As the Greene & Greene Architectural firm became more renowned they began receiving commissions for much larger custom Craftsman homes that became termed as the ultimate bungalow. The most prime example of a Greene and Greene ultimate bungalow is one of Pasadena’s, The Gamble House, which has been deemed by enthusiasts as America’s Craftsman masterpiece.

At the beginning of the 20th century many people chose to make a move to Pasadena for its warm, arid climate and it was because of this that the Pasadena Craftsman Bungalow reached its full potential in California. The San Gabriel Valley lends well to Craftsman homes because of the broad front porches that is a common feature of the architectural style, which allows a homeowner to take full advantage of the year round sunny weather that is typical to the Pasadena area.

Craftsman lantern that is a common fixture on the porches of Craftsman homes in Pasadena

The Bungalow was part of a movement in the United States that provided housing that the working class could afford. Unlike today’s affordable housing, which many times uses the cheapest materials, Craftsman Bungalows were built with old-growth timber, real plaster, wooden windows and doors, and built-ins that are now mostly found in high-end homes. It is because these homes were built so well, in a city that finds importance in preserving culture, that many Craftsman Bungalows still stand today. The Pasadena Craftsman Bungalow, many which are now over a century old, continue to provide housing for residents that appreciate a flourishing city with such a colorful past.

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The Lanterman House in La Canada

Completed in 1915, “El Retiro”, as it was known, was built by the second generation of La Canada’s founding family, the Lantermans, and today is one of a very few surviving pre-1920 residences in the city of La Canada Flintridge.

Dr. Roy Lanterman commissioned architect A. L. Haley to design a fireproof craftsman bungalow of reinforced concrete for his family. The Lanterman House sits on 1.4 acres of restored lawns, gardens and oak groves, comprising 11,250 square feet. There are many arts and crafts elements to the Lanterman House, which was constructed with a U-shaped floor plan, including 32 pairs of French doors. The entire second floor is devoted to the ballroom, and the interior of the house retains its original furnishings and is elaborately decorated with plant and flower motifs that are characteristic patterns seen in the arts and crafts style of the early 20th century. Beautiful hand painted ornamentation, wallpapers and light fixtures are still remaining within the home.

Following the deaths of Roy and his wife Emily in 1948 and 1949, the house remained virtually unchanged, even though occupied by sons Frank and Lloyd until their deaths in 1981 and 1987. The house was left by Lloyd Lanterman to the City of La Canada Flintridge and has become one of La Canada’s few remaining historic landmarks, a veritable time capsule of early 20th-century Southern California life. It has been lovingly restored to its 1915 appearance by a grant from the California State Legislature and by efforts of community volunteers who have formed the Lanterman Historical Museum Foundation.

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The Castle Green Pasadena

Originally named the Hotel Green, just north of Central Park in Old Pasadena is the well known historical Castle Green. Built in 1898, this magnificent architectural masterpiece was named in honor of the business entrepreneur Col. George G. Green, who was responsible for having the Castle Green built. The architect, Frederick L. Roehrig, pulled Moorish(Islamic), Spanish, and Victorian architectural elements all together, creating a completely unique landmark.
Initially consisting of three large separate structures, a bridge crossing over Raymond Avenue connected the center building to the one lying on the east. The building on the east side had long been gone but the bridge that connectedthe two still exists and can be seen when you travel past the Castle Green on Raymond Avenue.

 Although it had been built to serve as a hotel, times and the economy changes. At the turn of the century Pasadena started switching from a resort city that easterners vacationed at, to a place to live and eventually in 1924 a group of guests that frequented and resided at the hotel purchased the hotel as investors and divided it up. No longer the Hotel Green, the central structure was divided into fifty separate units for purchase and became what is now the Castle Green. The condos in the Castle Green are still used as residential units and are owned by residents that have respect and admiration for Pasadena’s history. The owner of each unit pays a monthly homeowners association fee that goes towards the constant preservation and maintenance of the building.

 In addition to serving as a residence for condo owners, the Castle Green is available and is constantly in use for events, filming, and weddings. Events and weddings at the Castle Green include use of the Lobby, Main Salon, Moorish Room, Turkish Room, Sunroom, and Ballroom, as well as the Gardens. A classic wedding set up in the outdoor gardens has become a popular write up in the local magazines, including Pasadena magazine which covered a large editorial on outdoor wedding receptions at the Castle Green.

Occasionally condos come onto the market for purchase in the Castle Green, as well as owners looking to rent out their unit. A current listing that is available for purchase is a 700 square foot one bathroom studio for $365,000. Feel free to contact us for additional information on condos at The Castle Green.

ERICA SWANSON

RIVAS & ASSOCIATES

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