CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL RESOURCES INVENTORY DATABASE
City of Pasadena
 
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Resource Summary
438 CYPRESS Ave
Resource Summary
Address: 438 CYPRESS Ave APN: 5726-012-085 [print]

This property is in a historic district listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
*
 
RESOURCE OVERVIEW
Address: 438 CYPRESS Ave
City: Pasadena State: CA
Zip Code: 91103 County: Los Angeles
County Code: 37
Historic Name: Common Name:
APN: 5726-012-085 Zoning: RM32
Building Sq. Ft: 1441 Site Size (Acres): 0.050
Year Built: 1900 Documented District: Bristol-Cypress Historic District
District: Bristol-Cypress Historic District (designated)
 Property Status: Designated
Contributing Status: C    
Resource Description:
Style: Vernacular Gabled CottageNotes: Relocated from 239 S. Catalina Ave. in 1993


Two contributing buildings (house and garage). This house was previously at 239 S. Catalina Avenue,
Pasadena and was relocated to 438 Cypress Avenue, the southeast corner of Cypress Avenue and W.
Villa Street, and restored in 1993. The house had previously been identified—incorrectly—as the
Charlotte Perkins Gilman House; however, records confirm that Gilman never owned or lived in the
house, although in years after her death in 1935 members of her family owned this house. It was
owned by her daughter Katharine Beecher Stetson Chamberlain (or son in law, Frank Tolles Chamberlain) during Charlotte’s lifetime. The house
is an example of the Vernacular Gabled Cottage subtype. It is roughly rectangular in plan, with a
cross-gabled roof form and a full width projecting front porch oriented toward Cypress Avenue. The
porch has a gableci roof with a cutout, arched balcony supported by tapered wood posts with classical
capitals. The north elevation, which faces W. Villa Street, has a second porch with a shed roof. Porch
and balcony railings are wood with an irregular pattern. The house has a composition shingle roof;
vertically oriented wood tongue-and-groove skirting; walls clad in wood drop channel siding with corner
boards; tall, narrow wood double-hung windows and paneled wood doors with rectangular lights. The
side (north) elevation has newer, compatible railings and secondary door. The one-car garage, which
faces Cypress Avenue, has a steeply-pitched gabled roof, a wood tongue-and-groove door with cross
panels, a rectangular louvered vent and wood drop channel siding to match the house. The house and
garage are in excellent condition and, although relocated from their original site, retain integrity due to
their significance under Criterion C
Legal Description:
RESOURCE DETAILS
Primary Architectural Style: Vernacular Gabled Cottage
Secondary Architectural Style:
Architect:
Builder:
Contractor:
Context: Residential Architecture 1883-1904 
Original Owner:
Original Use: Single Family Residence
Original Location:
Demolished: no
Notes:
Moved: yes
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.