CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL RESOURCES INVENTORY DATABASE
City of Pasadena
 
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Resource Summary
1577 Old House Rd
DPR523A - Primary [print]
State of California - The Resource Agency
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
PRIMARY RECORD
 
 
Survey #:
DOE #:
Primary #:  
HRI #:  
Trinomial:  
NRHP Status Code: 5S1 
Other Listings:  
Review Code:    Reviewer:   
Date: -/-/-
 
 
*Resource Name or #:  
 
P1.  Other Identifier:  
 
*P2.  Location: not for publication   unrestricted
*a.  County Los Angeles 
and (P2c, P2e, and P2b or P2d. Attach a Location Map as Necessary)
b.  USGS 7.5' Quad:   YEAR:   T   ; R   ;   of   of Sec   ;   B.M.
c.  Address: 1577 Old House Rd City: Pasadena State: CA Zip Code: 91107
d.  UTM: (Give more than one for large and/or linear resources)   Zone:   ; -118.080185  mE/ 34.172672  mN
e.  Other Locational Data: (e.g., parcel #, directions to resource, elevation, etc., as appropriate)
 
*P3a.  Description:  (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries)
The 0.6 acre property is located on Old House Road, east of Sierra Madre Villa Avenue, in the northeastern corner of the city. Old House Road is a winding street that connects with Sierra Madre Villa Avenue; the house is the only one of its age nestled into the wooded hillside. Built in 1877, the one-and-a-half story house is rectangular in plan, with a large front yard and oriented with its primary elevation facing southwest. According to historical stereographs, the house was part of an original grouping of structures on the hillside related to the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel, including the hotel itself and the owner’s residence.

The 2,400 square-foot one-and-a-half story house at 1577 Old House Rd. exhibits many of the character-defining features of early settlement farmhouses including its symmetrical façade, its drop siding, and its covered front porch. The wood windows flanking the original wood front door have painted shutters and a six-over-six light pattern. The steeply pitched roof, covered with composition shingles, has boxed cornices. Twin dormers, built sometime after 1953 and set into the original roof, have wood windows that match the light pattern on the original first-story windows. A reconstructed front porch extends along the façade of the original structure, with spaced, detailed columns and a low wood-slatted balustrade with a gate.

The house has undergone several alterations and additions, most of which are non-contributing to the property. The landscaping, fencing, and stonework in the front yard were not part of the original design for the site, and the pool and auxiliary structure on the northwest portion of the property were built decades after the original house – none of these site features are considered contributing to the historic character of the property. There are additions to the side (northwest and southeast elevations), as well as a large addition to the rear (north elevation) of the house. These additions, as well as the dormers, are also non-contributing features because they were built well after the original construction and were not part of the plan for the house.

Both the original façade of the house and the reconstructed front porch have retained their architectural integrity, a required finding for historic designation.
 
*P3b.  Resource Attributes:  (List attributes and codes) HP02,HP04,HP05 
 
*P4.  Resources Present:
Building Structure Object Site District Element of a District Other
 
P5a.  Photograph or Drawing
additional photos (Photograph required for buildings, structures, and objects.)
P5b.
Description of Photo:
Front elevation
 
*P6.
Date Constructed/Age and Source:
Historic PreHistoric
Both Neither
Year Built: 1877 - Estimated
 
*P7.
Owner and Address:
Name:  
Address:  
,  
 
*P8.
Recorded By:
Jason Wasmund
Assistant Planner
City of Pasadena
175 N. Garfield Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101
 
*P9.
Date Recorded: 01/12/2009
 
*P10.
Survey Type: Other Activity
Survey Title:
 
*P11.  Report Citation: (Cite survey report and other sources, or enter "none.")
none
 
*Attachments:
NONE Location Map Sketch Map Continuation Sheet
Building, Structure, and Ojbect Record Archaeological Record District Record Linear Feature Record
Milling Station Record Rock Art Record Artifact Record Photograph Record
Other:
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