We set off on this Sunday in December to one of our favorite cities, Pasadena via Glendale :)
We were so pleased with how well marked the sites were in Glendale-- a rare thing for the common CHL.
Our first stop was
Casa Adobe de San Rafael (CHL 235), it also happens to be the 100th site we have seen!!!!!! It is a lovely adobe inside a walled county park. They even decorated for Christmas with an evergreen spray and luminarias-- I'm sure it would look pretty at night.
Sadly, it wasn't open to the public today but we got lots of good outdoor shots....
Plus a few through the window. This is one of the few adobes we have seen that looked very lived in-- all the holiday decor really brought the house to life!
This adobe was built in 1865 by Tomás Sánchez, Sheriff of Los Angeles County. It was
restored in 1932. It will be fun to return here when we can go inside.
Next we went to the
Catalina Adobe (CHL 637). This is actually on private property, so we weren't sure we would be able to get close...
but they seem pleased to let the community check out this site. While we were there we saw bikers, hikers, and people walking dogs on the property.
The Catalina Adobe was built for the blind daughter of José MarÃa Verdugo, a large land-owner from the San Rafael land grant. Dona Catalina lived here from the 1830's to her death in 1861.
The abode is small, but in great condition.
The grounds were beautiful-- Libi especially loved the little footbridge over what used to be a creek.
They have little windows into the interior of the home so you can see the original adobe bricks below the plaster.
Libi is getting so that she has to have a photo next to any plaque she sees-- we are all on high alert for plaques and brown CHL signs (it's a side effect of a project like this!)
The grounds seem to be used for private events, which would be really fun...
they also have lots of interactive things around the site like this pull cart. Libi tried her hand at being a mule, but she found that she preferred Daddy's Mazda.
Next we drove up into the Angeles National Forest (CHL 717). The directions on the website told us this plaque was 8.3 miles north of the 210...
using the cards odometer we clocked it and sure enough, that was exactly correct!
We found ourselves at a turnout with a plaque... across from an amazing view of the Pacific Ocean.
The mountains behind the plaque weren't too bad looking today either!
I bet you didn't know that the Angeles National Forest was the first national forest in the State of California and second in the
United States! It was created by proclamation of
President Benjamin Harrison on December 20, 1892.
We had planned several more stops today, but when we arrived at the
Gamble House (CHL 871) we were so intrigued we decided to embark on the hour-long tour.
The house is now co-owned by USC and the city of Pasadena, poor Ron was quite conflicted but his curiosity won out and we paid for the tour.
They don't allow photos inside the house-- actually you are watched by docents at ever turn making sure you are following the many rules of the home! Since this is one of the most complete examples of craftsman architecture in the world they are VERY protective of it! They ask you to walk on the inside of the carpets, so you don't fray the edges, you can't touch anything except the bannister as you go upstairs, and there is absolutely NO photography-- flash or not! Of course in good USC fashion they have several books and postcards you can purchase of the interior of the home inside the gift shop.
We were very fortunate to get a fabulous tour-guide and a private tour! Tom was so good with Libi including her in the tour and encouraging her to find all of the items on the kids scavenger hunt.
Now for a little history of the home: This home was built for the Gambles, heirs of the Proctor and Gamble fortune by architects Greene and Greene. David and Mary Gamble enjoyed summering in Pasadena and once he retired from work they decided to move here permanently. They commissioned brothers Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene to build them a home in 1908.
The philosophy of the architects is to bring nature into the home and to make the home flow with nature so the exterior is very organic looking (while being expertly engineered to look so effortless!) You can see the sleeping porches in the above photo as well as some of the windows that opened to allow air flow through the home-- very important to help keep illness at bay!
The Gambles especially loved Japan and so there are many Japanese influences throughout the home. The Greene's designed the entire property-- outside, inside, furniture-- it is so impressive! They even designed rooms around a lamp or vase that Mrs. Gamble was fond of.
Here is Libi showing one of the items that was on her scavenger hunt.
The colors were very important to the Greene brothers as well. They wanted it to look organic so they choose very muted colors for the exterior as well as the interior.
Tom even told us a story of a rug that they had commissioned in Europe. When it arrived in Pasadena one of the colors was too bright so they hired the best craftsmen they could find near Pasadena to remove the offending color and replace it with something more palatable to the Greene's. They were quite hard-core!
Libi loved the little fish in the backyard pond.
At first we missed the plaque, but we made sure we got a photo before we left.
And one more thing for you movie buffs (and children of the 80s). Does this house seem familiar to you? If you enjoy time travel, DeLoreans, and saying "1.21 Gigawatts!" then it should. The Gamble House served as Doc Brown's home in 1955 in the 1985 film Back to the Future. There's Marty McFly (played by Michael J. Fox) running up to Doc's house shortly after his blast to the past.
At this point it was getting dark so made a quick stop at the
Pasadena Playhouse (CHL 887).
Ron and I used to have date nights here (before Libi) and were always impressed by this tiny theater. It has been the State Theater of California since 1937.
Our final stop for the day was one that we had to wait for the sun to go down to see it properly,
Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena (CHL 990).
This site is slightly hard to find-- as once you see the sign on the freeway there aren't any other signs to guide you.
The lights are strung on 135 Deodar Cedar trees that were planted in 1885 by the founding family of Altadena, the Woodbury Family.
The mile of trees was first created in 1920 and is the oldest large-scale Christmas lighting spectacle in Southern California, according to the CA parks website.
Volunteers continue this tradition every year-- and it is one of the most beautiful sites we have seen!
Be cautious when you go though-- they light the trees for the first time on the second Saturday in December through the 1st of January. They also light them once more on January 6th.
We will absolutely include this in our annual December traditions, it was well worth finding!
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