CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL RESOURCES INVENTORY DATABASE
City of Pasadena
 
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Resource Summary
100 N Garfield
Resource Summary
Address: 100 N Garfield APN: 5723-018-903 [print]

This property is in a historic district listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
This property is designated by the city as an individual historic resource (see "designation type" field for the specific city designation type). *
 
RESOURCE OVERVIEW
Address: 100 N Garfield
City: Pasadena State: CA
Zip Code: 91103-1801 County: Los Angeles
County Code: 37
Historic Name: Pasadena City Hall Common Name: Pasadena City Hall
APN: 5723-018-903 Zoning: CD2
Building Sq. Ft: 170 Site Size (Acres): 2.780
Year Built: 1927 Documented District: PASADENA CIVIC CENTER
District: PASADENA CIVIC CENTER (designated)
 Property Status: Designated
Contributing Status: C    
Resource Description:
Pasadena City Hall is an Italian Renaissance building in a U shape, fronted with a prominent, 6-story dome and an extravagant 'lion's head' cartouche. The lavish decoration from the very large scaled cornice, to the swags, garlands, urns, pylons and other ornaments, to the characteristic and beautiful lighting fixtures, is reminiscent of Brown's work in San Francisco and Washington D.C. Befitting its status as the seat of the City leadership, the overall effect is the sophistication and grandeur of a European capitol city with a nod to California's popular Mediterranean style, a style compatible with the state's Spanish past.

The outsize copper-alloy "lantern" at the top of the dome is a viewing gallery which overlooks the whole city. The east side is a one-story arcade. The other three sides are three stories high with four smaller copper-alloy domed turrets on the four corners of the two rear segments' red tiled roofs. The main dome, which is circular, stepped, and pierced with many arches, stands over the west entrance. The color scheme of warm plaster over the reinforced concrete walls and a slightly lighter color for the cast concrete ornament, complimented by the very deep quiet blue-grey of the custom made metal sash, the subtle variegated red-browns of the roof and paving, and the natural lean of the lanterns has been carefully preserved. The central courtyard with its cast-stone fountain and mature landscaping is always accessible through the pierced archways under the main dome on west side and through the colonnade on the east side, and offers both mature landscaping and plantings that change with the season. The open arcades there give the building indoor-outdoor corridors so that office doors open directly onto the courtyard in the old Spanish manner.
Legal Description:
RESOURCE DETAILS
Primary Architectural Style: Italian Renaissance Revival
Secondary Architectural Style: Mediterranean Revival
Architect: John Bakewell and Arthur Brown
Builder: Ornsdorff Construction
Contractor:
Context: Period Revival Architecture 
Original Owner: City of Pasadena
Original Use: City Hall
Original Location:
Demolished: no
Notes:
Moved: no
Date Moved: n/a
Designation Date: n/a

* This is a simplified statement of the property's status. Please review the NRHP Status Code field on the search screen for official, adopted status language.