Diversions : Wrigley Mansion: The Past Is on Parade : Tours: Grand old home, now the hub for the Tournament of Roses activities, offers a glimpse of Pasadena in early 1900s.
The Wrigley Mansion in Pasadena is hard to miss. The three-story Italian Renaissance building stands out on Orange Grove Boulevard like a perfect rose in bloom.
Admittedly, the place is a bit intimidating. It sits back on 4 1/2 acres, surrounded by manicured lawns and gardens of award-winning roses. Not the kind of place you’d drop in unannounced just because you’re in the neighborhood.
But you can.
And it’s OK to spread a blanket on the grass, have a little picnic under the shade trees or take wedding pictures in the rose garden.
Or you can take an up-close look at the place where the Wrigley family--who made a mint in chewing gum--spent their winters and take a glance at Pasadena back when there were actually orange groves on Orange Grove Boulevard. (Free guided tours are offered on Wednesdays through Aug. 28 from 2 to 4 p.m.)
The city-owned property is the last of the majestic homes that once lined the boulevard and inspired the nickname “Millionaires Row.” Today, it’s more like an exclusive “Condo Country.”
From their living room, the Wrigleys used to watch as horse-drawn carriages draped in flowers lined up for the start of the Rose Parade (already a quarter-century old by the time the house was completed in 1914). William Wrigley Jr. died in 1932, and when his wife died in 1958, the family gave the property to the Tournament of Roses.
The tour starts with a short video, giving visitors an overview of the house and the Tournament of Roses. The tour takes in most of the downstairs, five upstairs rooms and the lush grounds, where hundreds of All-American roses are in bloom.
The guide explains that the Tournament House is a working house, which means many of the social and business activities of the annual Rose Bowl and Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day take place here. With 875 volunteer members and a staff of 12, space is put to good use--especially during “crunch time,” from September to January.
The first tour stop is the living room, a large front room with long couches and comfortable furnishings to accommodate social gatherings and meetings. Signs of the past remain--dark edges along the wallpaper, Stimson ceilings and elegant Circassian walnut walls. For an idea of how the Wrigleys decorated the house, there are photographs in most of the rooms that show the layout with the original furnishings.
In the handsome library--at one time Wrigley’s office--the built-in bookshelves are filled. One might get the impression Wrigley had an eclectic taste in reading material until the guide mentions that a book drive by Tournament members filled the shelves.
The dining room is the only room that has the original furniture. The hand-carved wood table and chairs were ordered from Italy and intended for the Wrigley home on Catalina Island. But the ocean air was too harsh for the wood, and the Wrigleys shipped the set back to Pasadena. An inspection of the chairs shows the wear from their Catalina stay.
Possibly the most notorious room on the ground floor is the Eisenhower Bathroom, named for Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was the grand marshal of the 1964 Rose Parade. The former President was accidentally locked in the room for about half an hour during a noisy cocktail party. Even the Secret Service didn’t know where he was.
A marble staircase leads to the second floor, where each room is dedicated to a different aspect of the Tournament of Roses. Sports fans might spend most of their time in the Rose Bowl Room, where photos and memorabilia date to the first Rose Bowl game, played in 1902. (Michigan 49, Stanford 0.)
Each team, its coach and a player are pictured, along with tickets (admission was $1), programs and other mementos, all in chronological order.
Game balls, helmets and other souvenirs are in glass cases, including a chunk of a wooden goal post from the 1969 game between Ohio State and USC. The Rose Bowl Hall of Fame (formed three years ago) is also here. Inductees include players Jim Plunkett and Archie Griffin and the late Ohio State coach Woody Hayes.
Next door is the Directors Room--the Wrigleys’ master bedroom. A portrait of William Wrigley hangs over the fireplace. A sleeping porch is nearby. The original bathroom fixtures are still in the master bath, including the marble shower--a trendy fixture for its day--and a 300-pound porcelain tub. A little planning before the house was completed would have been valuable here, as a window had to be broken and the tub lifted into the house with a crane.
The Grand Marshals Room is another meeting room; it honors past grand marshals with portraits and other photographs.
Next door is the Queens Room, a cheery corner room where Rose Court members dress, study or rest between official appearances. The room’s combination of pinks, greens and white makes it the brightest in the house. On display here is a case full of tiaras and crowns, along with a pendant given to Joan Woodbury, the 1907 Rose Queen.
Another room full of history is the Presidents Room. Each president (so far, they’ve only been men) keeps a scrapbook of his one-year term filled with photographs, news clippings and other mementos, and many have been donated to the tournament.
Recently, Tournament House has become a complete resource for Rose Parade/Bowl history, with a newly created Archives Room.
“We kept saying we need to do this,” says Bill Flinn, assistant executive director of communications and marketing.
“This” was to collect all the reel-to-reel films and tapes of every game since 1916, programs, original still photographs and glass negatives and to organize them in a sterile, temperature-controlled room behind a fireproof door in the basement.
Prodded by the tournament’s approaching centennial in 1989, the staff went through boxes and boxes of artifacts that were gathering dust in the Wrigley Mansion attic. What they discovered were 16-millimeter films and highlights of games and parades, old acid films that were starting to fade. Goal Productions in neighboring Altadena was hired to find out what was on the film and to transfer it to tape. The Tournament is in the process of organizing the information on computer.
“Now,” says Flinn, “if somebody calls and wants to see the third quarter of the 1939 Rose Bowl game, we can get it for them.”
One misconception about the Wrigley Mansion--and the Rose Parade, for that matter--says Frosty Foster, assistant executive director of administration and membership, is that taxpayers foot the bill.
“People don’t realize the Tournament of Roses does not cost the taxpayers a penny,” Foster says. “We pay for police, cleanup after the parade and the upkeep (on the Wrigley Mansion).”
After the tour of the interior, visitors are supplied with a detailed list of plants for a self-guided garden tour. Also on the grounds is the Aides Annex, a building constructed with showers and dressing rooms for those dedicated tournament volunteers who will “see the sun set New Year’s Eve and watch the sun rise New Year’s Day,” Foster says.
The Wrigley Mansion was actually a modest home compared to most others on the street during its heyday, but today it is a city landmark. If it hadn’t been for the Wrigley family donating it, Foster adds, “it most certainly would have been torn down like the rest of them.”
Wrigley Mansion, 391 Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena. Free tours: 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Aug. 28. Grounds open every day except New Year’s Eve day and New Year’s Day. Call (818) 449-4100 or (213) 681-3724.
