CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL RESOURCES INVENTORY DATABASE
City of Pasadena
 
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Resource Summary
401 S LAKE Ave
Resource Summary
Address: 401 S LAKE Ave APN: 5734-032-004 [print]

This property is listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places. *
 
RESOURCE OVERVIEW
Address: 401 S LAKE Ave
City: Pasadena State: CA
Zip Code: 91101 County: Los Angeles
County Code: 37
Historic Name: BULLOCK'S PASADENA Common Name: BULLOCK'S PASADENA
APN: 5734-032-004 Zoning: PD24
Building Sq. Ft: 134 Site Size (Acres): 8.200
Year Built: 1947 Documented District:
District: Property Status: Designated
Resource Description:
Bullock’s Pasadena is a landmark suburban department store built with post-war technology. The original site consisted of eight acres, six of which were devoted to parking and two to the building itself. The design was created by architects Walter Wurdeman and Welton Becket, and the contractor was P.J. Walker. Construction began in 1946 and was completed the following year.
This structure was one of the first modern buildings in Pasadena, designed not to the strict, more avant-garde earlier phase of modernism, but in the later and less strident period when it became more regional, comfortable and more adapted to popular taste. The emphasis was on open planning, indoor/outdoor living, convenience, informality and horizontality. Bullock’s Pasadena also borrowed features from the Streamline Moderne style of the 1930s: architectural elements reminiscent of a ship, such as curved walls and corners, portholes in piers and the canopy over the Lake Avenue entrance. Not possessing any real “backside” to the building, the totality of the design is stunning.
Legal Description:
Lake Ave syndicate tract Exc por in St. of Lots 1 to 11; all of lots 12-22 incl. Miller & Axford's sub lots 1 to 10 exc por in St.
RESOURCE DETAILS
Primary Architectural Style: International /Modern Style
Secondary Architectural Style: Streamline Moderne
Architect: Walter Wurdeman & Welton Beckett
Builder:
Contractor: P. J. Walker
Context: Recent Past 
Original Owner: Bullock's Department Store
Original Use: Department Store
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.