Pasadena : Plea to Keep Octagon House

Pasadena Heritage, a private preservation group, has made a last-minute request that the historic Octagon House not be moved to Los Angeles.

The appeal came during fund-raising efforts to move the 93-year-old, eight-sided house to Heritage Square, an enclave of historic homes visible from the Pasadena Freeway in Highland Park. On May 13, Pasadena Heritage sent a letter to Heritage Square requesting that the home be left in Pasadena because it is “a historical treasure.”

Previously, both the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission and Pasadena Heritage had agreed that moving the home was a more acceptable option than arguing over the house’s fate with the Cultural Heritage Foundation of Southern California, which runs Heritage Square, officials said. The Octagon House was recently given to the foundation by its owner, Walter Hastings. Claire Bogaard, executive director of Pasadena Heritage, said the preservation group has come under increasing pressure to block the move as word of the impending relocation spread through the community.

The Cultural Heritage Foundation, however, has not yet responded to her group’s request, Bogaard said. Foundation officials were not available for comment.