What to Know
- 2024 Pasadena Showcase House of Design
- April 21 through May 19
- $35 and up; the springtime event, which features shops and dining options around the grounds of the house, raises money for the arts
It isn't often that you get the chance to meet and spend time with a movie star, especially a stately celebrity that has held handsome court above the Arroyo Seco for more than a century.
That's changing over a few dazzling spring weeks at the Potters Daniel Manor, an English Tudor Revival Style abode that is serving as the 2024 Pasadena Showcase House of Design.
The annual showcase, billed as "one of the oldest, largest, and most successful house and garden tours in the nation," raises money for several arts programs and efforts, including "musical theater, orchestra, jazz ensembles, marching bands and choral groups at local schools."
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As with past Pasadena Showcase Houses, different rooms boast different designs, with an imaginative line-up of designers giving each nook, cranny, corner, and space a distinctive flair; top-notch materials, handmade furniture, eye-catching artwork, and other delightful details add to the flavor of each of the sizable structure's rooms.
But the flavor isn't always formal, which is what you might expect when first encountering the grand house, nicknamed "El Roble," through its ornate gates; golden birds "fly" around the home's airy entrance, a fairy-tale-ish spot that includes several fanciful odes to nature, and the sumptuously realized dining room, which features a traditional table as well as a plush burgundy couch and intimate tables for two.
A veranda adorned with numerous birdcages, a Library Lounge and Curiosity Room brimming with games, books, and chess board filled with offbeat pieces (think doorknobs and drawer pulls), and the Romantic Chambers, a nature-lush bedroom festooned with plants and butterflies, up the tour's ethereal atmosphere.
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It's an atmosphere that suits the manor well; El Roble has, after all, starred in films like "Foul Play" and small-screen treats like "Hitchcock," further enhancing its fantasy-like character.
The house's real-world story also has plenty of panache: Susanna Bransford Emery Holmes, dubbed "The Silver Queen" (her husband found riches in the Silver King Mines of Utah), gave the manor its top-to-bottom Tudor-esque appearance after she purchased it in 1905.
After strolling through the house's vibrantly realized rooms, and the guest house, too, be sure to make time to stop by the shops dotting the grounds, as well as the dining spots, too; the high-spirited scene that takes place outside of each Pasadena Showcase House is a major draw for returning fans.
The 2024 Pasadena Showcase House of Design is open daily from April 21 through May 19; tickets are timed and start at $35.
