Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Free Time

Are you free this afternoon? Well how about that? So is the Pasadena Museum of History.

Pasadena family histories are highlighted at the PMH right now, and on Wednesdays until January 10, 2010 you can get in free if you live, work or go to school in our community. They're calling it Community Wednesdays. Click the link for times and requirements. You have to prove you live here, and the link tells you how.

I took this photo upstairs in the Fenyes Mansion, which is part of the museum. (Mansion tours may be separate; check the website for times. A $4 donation is suggested.) It's the bathroom. Just the bathroom.

As Pasadena's Public Information Officer says, "Don't cry to me that there's nothing to do in Pasadena this summer." (Check this post for a list of free activities for kids and teens.)

28 comments:

Cafe Pasadena said...

Free Time - What's that?
Only you & Ben W could tell me.

Good photo.

Dina said...

An unusual chair. Makes me want to see the whole museum.

Shell Sherree said...

Sorry I can't pop along but I have a difference in hemispheres as a reasonable excuse. {That could be the issue with my brain as well.} What a subtle and lovely shot, Petrea, and I'm a softie for the white on white look. Love the sunlight too. For a moment, I thought I was on a design blog ...

eamon@ewmphotography said...

What a beautiful chair Petrea, and so well framed. Even the towel is crispy clean. There must be a treasure-trove of good photo ops in the museum. Would love to see some more. Thanks.

Virginia said...

Oh you know I love this shot. RIght up my alley. Shadows, natural light AND a chair!! One of your best I think!
V

Katie said...

I'm with V - this is a stunner of a photo. I'd happily hang this photo in my bathroom!

Susan C said...

Stunning! One of my faves too.

HearkenCreative said...

Yes, the museums are great. I've been over to the Huntington already a few times this summer.

But what could be better than "free" and "outdoors" (except the heat)? Leavitt Pavilion's music series this summer.

The chair reminds me that I want to go to garage sales and find six old/unique/interesting chairs to put around my dining room table. Maybe they would let me have this one when they are done with it?

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks. And good idea, Katie, maybe I'll hang it in my bathroom. The Fenyes Mansion was opulent for its time and this is one of the simpler rooms, but with that light it was so pretty.

mg said...

Mrs. Fenyes refered to this home as a cottage. Heh! The real opulence burned in a fire up Orange Grove. Her original home was a place of art to the maxxxxxx.

Did you see the old telephone and message center off of the kitchen? The telephone has no dial becuase all one had to do is pick up the receiver and speak to Claude (the Pasadena operator circa 1911) According to the log they used the phone mostly to order the groceries delivered.

Jean Spitzer said...

Beautiful composition--serene and uncluttered. And fascinating history from mg.

Maria said...

this is a very "zen" shot. so calm, crisp and simple. very nice Mz. P.

Margaret said...

Spooky. I thought you were going to tell us a ghost story.

Amy said...

Beautiful photo. There are so many things to do in Pasadena. Now if I can just find things in my valley. ;)

Petrea Burchard said...

I had to check up on mg's comment, so I asked Jeannette Bovard, the media consultant over at the PMH. I just love her response (proving mg right):

"The Fenyes Mansion is, indeed, Eva and Adalbert Fenyes' second home in Pasadena, and their version of "downsizing." (!) The first Fenyes Mansion was a Moorish-inspired extravaganza farther down the block on Orange Grove. You might have seen a photo of it on display in the panels of the Raymond Hotel clock in the mansion foyer -- it is one of the first things we point out on a Mansion tour. The Fenyes' sold that home with all its furnishings after living there for only several years. Unfortunately, that residence was completely lost in a fire c. 1905. You must come and see the photos -- it was spectacularly opulent in a Castle Green kind of way."

I do remember that clock, must go back and take a second look.

pasadenapio said...

Thanks for the plug, Petrea! We offer scads of free and low-cost programs, events and activities for children and teens throughout the summer at libraries, parks, pools and community centers.

marley said...

That could have been a Zen photo. I really like it.

That is one of the good things the Labour government have done in the UK (there aren't that many!) We get free entrance to museums and art galleries all year round. Sometimes you do have to pay to go into certain exhibitions but we can't complain!

elizabeth said...

Petrea, did you know that the Finnish Folk Art Museum is the only one of its kind in the US? And that apparently it's lurking on the grounds of the PMH?

Neither did I, but I just read about it on the PMH website.

Wow!

elizabeth said...

(http://pasadenahistory.org/thingstosee/folkartmuseum.html)

Petrea Burchard said...

We ought to be picking your brains about health care, too, Marley.

I've been in the Finnish Folk Art museum, Elizabeth. It's right off the parking lot. Small, charming and a tad quirky. When you go over there, just poke a little farther into the grounds and see what they've got. There are secrets to uncover.

Ms M said...

Wonderful photo. Love how the light glows. Very well done!

Susan Manning said...

A beautiful photo of a beautiful room. Except for the towel on rack, one would never think of it as a bathroom. Simple lines, yet rich and beautiful.

Anonymous said...

No, that's not really a bathroom is it? Maybe they used to have towel racks in the living room, in case you spilled tea or champagne or something.

Lenora Regan - ShootingWithSlinky.blogspot.com said...

We all want some of that free time. Thanks for sharing!

John Sandel said...

"Finnish Folk Art Museum is the only one of its kind in the US" …

The Treaty of 1919 saw to that. Were it not for the great negotiator (& expert muskellunge fisher) Harold Todbald, most major cities in America would have a Finnish Folk Art Museum. But he steered the appropriations in to the International Sustenance Fund, which was ultimately responsible for the airlifts that assuaged the great Lingonberry Famine of '24.

And you thought the Finns were only good for harassing the Lapps!

Petrea Burchard said...

Sure, sure, listen to J+P, he knows all about the Finns.

Parisian Heart said...

I REALLY like this photo, Petrea. It looks like the cover of a book ... the beginning of a rich story ...

Petrea Burchard said...

Hi Parisian Heart, thank you!