CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL RESOURCES INVENTORY DATABASE
City of Pasadena
 
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Resource Summary
491 SUMMIT Ave
Resource Summary
Address: 491 SUMMIT Ave APN: 5725-007-021 [print]

This property is in a historic district listed in the National Register of Historic Places. *
 
RESOURCE OVERVIEW
Address: 491 SUMMIT Ave
City: Pasadena State: CA
Zip Code: 91103 County: Los Angeles
County Code: 37
Historic Name: Common Name:
APN: 5725-007-021 Zoning: RM12
Building Sq. Ft: 2644 Site Size (Acres): 0.230
Year Built: 1901 Documented District: Raymond-Summit Historic District
District: Raymond-Summit Historic District (designated)
Property Status: Designated
Contributing Status: C    
Resource Description:
This house is an example of the oversized American Foursquare subtype with influences of the Two-Story Arts and Crafts Period House subtype described in the Multiple Property Documentation Form, “Residential Architecture of Pasadena, CA 1895-1918: Influence of the Arts and Crafts Movement.”. It has a primary hipped roof with flared eaves and multiple large dormers, all of which have exposed curving rafter tails with rounded ends. The full-width front porch also has a flared hipped roof, which is truncated due to the presence of a balcony above. The porch roof is supported by square wooden posts with classical capitals; the balcony has a simple wooden railing. A portion of the second story on the south elevation extends beyond the first floor and has curving consoles. The base of the second floor flares outward directly above a simple wooden molding. The house has a composition shingle roof; walls clad in rectangular wood shingles on the second floor and wood lap siding with mitered corners on the first floor and solid porch walls; a concrete foundation; wood doublehung, casement, transom and fixed windows, some with diamond-patterned muntins; and a front door obscured from view by a metal security screen in an original wood-framed opening. One window on the south elevation has a shallow arch. The influence of the emerging Arts and Crafts movement is expressed in the complexity of the massing, the width of the eaves and the exposed rafters.

To the rear of the property, visible from E. Villa Street is a carriage house with both one and two-story elements, flared low-hipped roofs with a central gable on the two-story portion, metal finials, an upperstory hayloft door with a hoist, replacement solid wood doors in original wood-framed openings, and walls clad in wood lap siding matching the house. The third building on the property, a small accessory building, was built after 1910 and is non-contributing. The property is elevated from the street by an Arroyo stone retaining wall topped by a chain link fence. Two mature Canary Island date palms flank the entry gate in the front yard. The house and carriage house are in excellent condition, retain most of their original character, with the exception of replaced doors on the carriage house, and are contributing to the district. The carriage house is an exceptional feature in the district because of the scarcity of this property type, because of its size and relatively elaborate massing, and because of its relatively intact condition.

Style: American Foursquare 
Legal Description:
RESOURCE DETAILS
Primary Architectural Style: American Foursquare
Secondary Architectural Style:
Architect: William B. Edwards
Builder: McCarty
Contractor:
Context: Residential Architecture 1883-1904 
Original Owner: George E. Brown
Original Use: Single Family Residence
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.