CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL RESOURCES INVENTORY DATABASE
City of Pasadena
 
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District Summary
Bristol-Cypress Historic District
DPR523D - District Record [print]
State of California - The Resource Agency
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
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DISTRICT RECORD
*NRHP Status Code: 3D 
*Resource Name or #: Bristol-Cypress Historic District 
D1.
Historic Name: Bristol-Cypress Historic District 
D2.  Common Name: Bristol-Cypress Historic District 
*D3.
Detailed Description:
The Bristol-Cypress Historic District is one of three neighborhoods in Pasadena with a high concentration of adjoining, intact residential buildings from the late 19th/early 20th century. The buildings in this district reflect vernacular property subtypes of the Single Family Residence property type identified in the Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPD), “Late 19th and Early 20th Century Development and Architecture in Pasadena,” including Folk Victorian, Vernacular Hipped Cottage and Vernacular Gabled Cottage. Generally, properties in the district have a main house from the period of significance situated at the front behind a landscaped yard, a concrete driveway on one side of the house, and a newer detached garage or additional house at the rear. The positioning of each of these elements on the lots and their relationship to the street and to each other are relatively uniform. The streets are lined with mature oak trees and one property has a mature Canary Island date palm in its front yard. Although there is uniformity in the features of the public right-of-way in the district, they appear to date from a later period. As distinguished from the nearby New Fair Oaks Historic District, the properties in this grouping have larger front yards, a more heavily landscaped setting, a larger variety of subtypes of the single-family residence property type identified in the MPD, and a combination of one- and two-story buildings. This grouping also represents the earliest subdivision of the San Gabriel Orange Grove Association property by one of the city’s original founders, as will be described further in the significance statement.
*D4.
Boundary Description:
438 – 517 Cypress Avenue
*D5.
Boundary Justification:
The boundaries encompass the extant resources associated with the A.O. Bristol tract of 1886.
D6.
Significance: Theme:  
Area: City 
Period of Significance: 1874-1906 
Applicable Criteria:
The Bristol-Cypress Historic District is a contiguous grouping of single-family residences that represents the contexts of The Early Settlement of Pasadena: 1833-1885, The Boom of the 1880s and Its Impact on Pasadena: 1886-1895, and Residential Architecture in Pasadena: 1883–1904 as identified in the Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF) “Late 19th and Early 20th CenturyDevelopment and Architecture in Pasadena.” The district exhibits the distinguishing characteristics of the “Residential Neighborhoods” property type.
*D7.
References:
City of Pasadena & Historic Resources Group. Final Report: Northwest Survey Revision Project—Phase I Historic Resources Inventory. Pasadena, 1993. Permit research materials and assessor’s records in files, Planning Department, City of Pasadena (referenced in August 2010).
*D8.
Evaluator: Kevin Johnson  Date of Evaluation: 09/21/2010 
Affiliation and Address: City of Pasadena - 175 N. Garfield Avenue Pasadena, CA 91101  
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