Living above it all in converted water tower
This Pasadena home was a water tower when it was built in 1891 to match the adjacent, still standing, Grace Mansion. They were designed for William Stanton, a cousin to Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of war, Edwin M. Stanton.
Stanton and his wife, Ellen, spotted the site for their mansion and its water tower in 1890 while gazing through a window of the Raymond Hotel, where they routinely stayed to escape winters in Ohio.
The mansion and tower were completed on a dome-shaped hill, and the Stantons lived there until their deaths in the 1920s. Their daughter Emily sold the property at auction, and soon afterward the water tower was turned into a residence.
About this house: The tower, with its wood-shingle exterior, originally was built to camouflage the 50,000-gallon steel water tank serving the adjacent mansion and surrounding land. Now it has a living room on the ground floor; a kitchen, dining area and full bathroom on the second floor; a bedroom being used as an office and meditation room on the third floor; and a bedroom plus bathroom and laundry facilities on the fourth floor.
The massive structural beams that once held tons of water now provide thick, insulating walls. The tower also has surrounding gardens, a patio and an adjacent, buildable lot.
Both the water tower and the mansion were designed by Frederick L. Roehrig, known for his work on the historic Green Hotel and its Castle Green annex in Pasadena.
Features: All levels are accessed by a narrow, winding stairway, but there are some rewards for the climb. The second and third floors have balconies. On the fourth floor, windows provide 360-degree views of the treetops.
Appliances and furniture can be moved to the upper floors by way of a system used for centuries in Amsterdam. Homeowners there open a window, extend a large beam outside and then power-winch large items such as refrigerators. A former owner of the water-tower home tried it, and he liked it as a moving mode. The beam used to hoist furnishings is housed in a niche in the floor of the fourth level, and it is said to be virtually invisible.
Asking price: $595,000
Size: The 1,100-square-foot tower is 22 feet in diameter, and it is topped with a conical, or witch’s cap, roof. The tower is 45 feet tall. The lot size is about 8,940 square feet.
Where: southwest Pasadena
Listing agent: Paula Walker of DBL Realtors, (626) 396-6843
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To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, please send color interior and exterior photos (copies only; we cannot return the pictures) and a brief description of the house, including what makes the property unusual, to Ruth Ryon, Real Estate Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; or e-mail homeoftheweek@latimes.com.
