Get up, get out & get going!
In a pre-parade funk? Check out Pasadena’s top year-round destinations
By Sara Cardine 12/24/2009
In most cities, the holiday season delivers its swan song not too long after the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Day.
In Pasadena, however, Jan. 1 is when the real fun begins. After the Rose Parade has passed and the football fever is finished, set your sights on a number of hot local destinations designed to get you off the couch and out on the town.
Architectural highlights:
Colorado Street Bridge
Built in 1913, this nationally recognized landmark of modern civil engineering offers scenic views of the steeply plunging Arroyo Seco Canyon. Standing 150 feet tall, the stately bridge has appeared in several movies and commercials, including Charlie Chaplin’s “The Kid” and Spike Jonze’s “Being John Malkovich.” It has also, sadly, provided the backdrop for many other final scenes, which garnered it the ominous nickname “Suicide Bridge.”
More Info: legendsofamerica.com/ca-suicidebridge.html
Visit: Colorado Boulevard, west of Orange Grove Boulevard
The Gamble House
Built a century ago by Henry and Charles Greene for David Gamble of the Procter and Gamble Co., the Gamble House is thought to epitomize the American Arts and Crafts movement. David and Mary Gamble lived there until their deaths in the 1920s, and family members briefly considered selling it until a prospective buyer talked about painting all the interior teak and mahogany work white! Today this national historic landmark, owned by the city of Pasadena, is open regularly for tours.
More info: (626) 793-3334; gamblehouse.org
Visit: 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena. / One-hour tours are noon to 3 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays (10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 31) and cost $7 to $10.
Tournament House (Wrigley Mansion)
This stately Renaissance-style mansion was built between 1906 and 1914 by chewing-gum pioneer William Wrigley Jr., who donated it for the Tournament of Roses Association’s executive offices. Tours, running February through August, feature views of the grounds and garden, which houses more than 1,500 varieties of roses, camellias and annuals, including the award-winning Tournament of Roses rose developed especially for the Tournament’s Centennial.
More info: (626) 449-4100; tournamentofroses.com/aboutus/house.asp
Visit: 391 S. Orange Grove Blvd. / Tours are from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursdays, February through August
Pasadena City Hall
Step into this beautiful California Mediterranean Style building, built in 1927, and for a moment you may forget where you are. Maybe it’s the Alaskan marble stairways with wrought iron balustrades, coupled with the 25-foot stone fountain anchoring a Spanish Colonial style courtyard, that create the aura of opulence. Only the rose garden hints that you haven’t strayed too far from home.
More info: (626) 744-4000;
cityofpasadena.net/cityhall/history.asp
Visit: 100 N. Garfield Ave.
Vista Del Arroyo
(9th US Circuit Court of Appeals)
One of the most visible landmarks in Pasadena is the old Arroyo Vista Hotel, now home to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The structure was designed by the architectural firm of Marston and Van Pelt in the 1920s and offered shelter to a number of wealthy East Coast visitors before being closed down and finally restored in 1985. Self-guided and group tours are available with a reservation.
More info: (626) 229-7250
Visit: 125 S. Grand Ave. / Tours by appointment only
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT