Hill Avenue Branch Library

Confession: although the Hill Avenue Branch of the Pasadena library is my favorite, I've never been inside. I've judged this book by its cover.

The building, designed by Marston, Van Pelt & Maybury, is the oldest in the Pasadena Public Library system. It opened May 6, 1925, thirteen days before construction began on the Central Library, which opened nearly two years later.

I don't know if Sylvanus Marston was a star architect at the time but he's the one from the partnership we remember most now. He designed the Fenyes Mansion and the Curtin House (and many other fine buildings I haven't taken pictures of yet).

From the website:
"Located directly across the street from Pasadena City College, Hill Avenue Branch library is home to the system's Asian language collection. The collection features Chinese books, newspapers and magazines, as well as a fiction and non-fiction collection for adults and children in Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese. The Hill Avenue Branch serves three elementary schools and eight preschools in the area. Hill Avenue Branch is also used by students and faculty from Pasadena City College and Caltech."

They've got a lot more going on that I don't have room for here, so I promise if you'll check out the website I'll actually go inside the library next time I'm over there nosing around with my camera.

I hope you're enjoying Banned Books Week. Maybe we'll visit one more branch library tomorrow, what do you say?

Update: Thanks go to Diana for sending me this gentle correction: [Sylvanus Marston] "didn't design the Fenyes Mansion...; that honor goes to Robert D. Farquhar. He did quite a few amazing buildings around Los Angeles, as well; nice survey of them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_D._Farquhar"

Que?

It's been a couple of years since I took this photo of the Curtin House on the grounds of the Pasadena Museum of History. The Curtin House was designed in 1915 by Sylvanus Marston, one of those early architects Pasadena is grateful for.

Today's a good day to post this because I want to wet your whistle for June 11th. The Pasadena Museum of History will be hosting Pasadena's birthday party, like it did last year and like it has many other years except not exactly, because this year is Pasadena's Quasquicentennial. If you want to be precise, Pasadena was incorporated on June 10th, 1886. But we don't need to be precise. We need to have our party on the weekend.

So mark your calendar. There will be cake.

Eliot School: Polished

I'm not going to show you every picture I took at Eliot School. I took a lot. We'll take a Zen Monday break tomorrow then I'll show you a couple more favorites. But first I have to show you the cafeteria.

Lake Avenue historian Dale Trader tells me the architect of Eliot School was the one and only Sylvanus Marston. Although the Pacific Coast Architect Database lists every other project of his I can think of, it doesn't list Eliot School. Then again, PCAD is missing out--it doesn't list Eliot at all.

This cafeteria is polished to a shine. And kind of Dickensian, don't you think? I love it.

I love the institutional look, the basement-ness of it, the dim. It reminds me of the cafeteria in my junior high school, which made me feel like I was having my macaroni and cheese at the bottom of an empty swimming pool. I wonder how the current Eliot students feel about this room.

Principal Peter Pannell told us more than one movie has filmed in the cafeteria. (Eliot's often used for movies--a film crew was nosing about the premises that day.)

It was also in the cafeteria that Pannell told us he was an Eliot alum. His family had just moved to Altadena; he knew no one and the school "felt huge" to him. He had come from Detroit where he'd been going to a small, neighborhood school across the street from his home. Suddenly he was thrust into an institution that took up a whole city block and where all 1300 students were strangers. "I can tell you," he said, "the personal touch makes a difference."

Peter Pannell is a polished man, but that speech came unpolished, from the heart.


Loren of Hearken Creative tells us "most PUSD schools have tours similar to Elliot's; for instance, McKinley's is the first Wednesday of every month." Call the main office of the school that interests you to see if they offer a tour, or check with the Pasadena Education Network.