Peek Inside Residential Royalty on Home Tour

What's it like inside one of those beautiful California estates -- homes lined with lush gardens, breezy verandas and rooms so large you could land a plane inside them? A do-it-yourself tour will give you a peek inside residential royalty.

Pasadena Heritage is hosting its 2009 Spring Home Tour. It will showcase six historic homes designed in the 1920s and '30s by three area architects: Reginald Johnson, Gordon Kaufmann and Roland Coate.

They created what became the quintessential California and Pasadena home design. They used Mediterranean influences of shady terraces, reflection pools, and expansive gardens to make the estates better suited to the climate.

You'll drive house-to-house and tour these celebrated homes. Included is a bonus stop at the Cal Tech campus were "The Athenaeum" will be open to visitors. There will be docents along the way to tell you the inside story on each of the estates.

The tour is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine. The tour can be as long or as short as you wish, but put aside five hours so you aren't rushed.

Tickets are on sale now. Advance tickets are $32 for Pasadena Heritage members and $36 to the general public. A day-of-tour ticket is $40. You can purchase them over the phone at 626-441-6333 or online at the Pasadena Heritage website.

Pasadena Heritage is a nonprofit group dedicated to historic preservation in Pasadena. It has more than 3,000 members. The Capital Group and Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau are tour sponsors.

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