Pasadena’s Inside Design Showcase Goes On, Regardless of Epic Rain Throughout The Rush To Get Prepared
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A seemingly endless series of storms devastated preparations for the Pasadena Showcase House of Design, which opened this week.
Each year, volunteer designers transform a large house in a matter of months to raise money for music programs like concerts at Disney Hall for fourth graders, instrumental competitions, and grants for other nonprofit organizations. For this year’s edition, real estate agent Matt McIntyre became the first man to serve as charity chair in the organization’s 75-year history. He notes that among their many challenges was painting the massive colonial-style mansion.
Supply chain delays and difficult weather
“[For] the cover of the show,” he recalls, “the shutters were removed on the day the picture was taken, just in time because it was the only day that week that it didn’t rain. So navigating through all the storms was quite a challenge, but we managed it.”
While the rain slowed preparations indoors, the volunteer designers also struggled with the same supply chain issues that have angered home renovators across the country. McIntyre advises people working on a kitchen or bathroom renovation to order their appliances and plumbing fixtures right away, as their arrival will be further away than they might expect.
About the property and its Indiana Jones type owner.
The 1933 property was designed by Marston & Maybury, one of the most celebrated architectural partnerships in Pasadena at the time.
The original owners were Ruth Stewart and her husband Arthur, a Union Oil executive. Designer Christopher Ward of Rosemary Home Design captures Ruth’s spirit in the artist’s retreat, which he calls the “Wunderkammer” or cabinet of curiosities.
“My research in newspaper archives shows that she was an artist,” says Ward.
“She loved nature, she loved science. She was kind of an Indiana Jones character who loved to learn all his life,” he says. “This room is a tribute to her [and] It also tells the story of part of the history of Pasadena and specifically about a woman who has contributed much through the Women’s League and through her own life, whose story deserves to be told. And so I think a big part of interior design when you’re working with historic homes is being able to articulate that to the public.
The spirit of original resident Ruth Stewart is evoked in this Christopher Ward-designed art and curiosity-filled upstairs room. His centerpiece is a custom-made table designed in the shape of a dragonfly, which he describes as the “Totem of Free Speech”.
(Susanne Welley
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LAist)
In the center of a blue-walled room, surrounded by displays of California art, geodes, fossils and instruments, is a custom-made table designed in the shape of a dragonfly, which Ward calls a “free speech totem.” On the table is a framed photo of a smiling Mrs. Stewart with garlands of flowers, taken on a cruise to Hawaii.
“When she came back from her travels, she started throwing Tahitian-themed parties here at the house,” says Ward. “Pasadena is so full of history, I just couldn’t help but focus on that and make that a part of the story.”
Original resident Ruth Stewart, who died in 1965, is seen in this photo with garlands of flowers during a Hawaiian cruise. She and her oilman husband Arthur raised two daughters in the home.
(Susanne Welley
/
LAist)
A room designed by students
At the back of the two-acre Stewart estate is a guest house, the bedroom of which is the showpiece for five interior design students. These include Michelle Halabaso from UCLA and Missa Kato from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Halabaso learned of the opportunity through the Pasadena chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers and invited other students she had met at events via email. As Kato notes, they were “essentially total strangers.”
Interior design students Michelle Halabaso (left) and Missa Kato joined three other students who were “essentially strangers” to tackle the guest house bedroom, most of which was furnished via Zoom.
(Susanne Welley
/
LAist)
“What was exciting was that we could take our learning outside of the classroom,” says Halabaso. “Normally, the tasks at school are very individual. You can choose the furniture you want. Here we work with real world constraints, a student budget, no supplier partner relationships and sometimes begging for someone to donate or think things that were beautiful but we couldn’t afford to put them in a room.”
Homeowner approval and ever-present time pressures also presented challenges for the students, as did the need to meet via Zoom and rely solely on images on a computer screen to choose what they like. The result is a tranquil retreat in neutral tones and accented by a mobile by artist Monica Wyatt, who uses found objects in her work. It’s made of rusty nails in star patterns and paired mesh screens that resemble tiny Saturns, casting delicate shadows on the white walls.
The guest house bedroom features a mobile by artist Monica Wyatt composed of rusty nails and mesh shower drain covers.
(Susanne Welley
/
LAist)
Kato admits there were many difficulties to overcome, “but I think at the end of the day we are very happy with the result. At the same time, we have to keep reminding ourselves that this is our first project… to find out what was possible and how we can make the best of it.”
Rachel Duarte Design Studio’s dining room has nature scenes painted on the walls that originally belonged to the house. They’ve been refreshed with color that makes the birds stand out and hides other, less appetizing, woodland creatures like squirrels.
(Susanne Welley
/
LAist)
How to continue
The Pasadena Showcase House of Design is open for public tours through May 21st. Visitors park at the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia and take a shuttle bus to the house on a quiet Pasadena street on the San Marino border. Tickets are required for the house tour but not for the shops and restaurant.
The organization whose volunteers organize the annual event is the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts. It has supported local music and arts programs since 1948 when it was formed as the Pasadena Junior Philharmonic Committee. His support of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra continues to this day.
Tocco Finale’s living room mixes animal prints with classic art. The 11,000-square-foot mansion was built in 1933 for $13,000, which was quite a sum during the Great Depression. The land was a wedding present from Arthur Stewart’s father.
(Susanne Welley
/
LAist)
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