Now, If Only They Could Get <i> His</i> House in Order
As I have for the past several years, I had lunch the other day at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design in advance of its opening to the public (April 17).
It has become the most delightful social event of my season. My luncheon companions are all attractive young Pasadena matrons, members of the Junior Philharmonic Committee. (Since she is obliged to drive me where I go, my wife went with me this year for the first time. She loved it.)
The luncheon is served with champagne and always produces bright conversation and laughter. I like to go a week or two before the opening, because at that point the house is in a state of chaotic disorder. Canvas drops cover most of the floors. Painters and carpenters are at work in every room, and landscapers are working outdoors. The whine of saws is pervasive. One is likely to bump into a painter at work on a delicate fresco or stumble over a bucket of paint.
If you have ever remodeled your own house, you know the muddle that prevails. I am not going to predict again that the house will not be ready for its opening date. I have done so every year and every year been wrong. Just let me say that it will take the usual miracle for the house to be ready.
The women of the committee must have a way with men (especially their husbands, who are abandoned during the annual event). If you have ever remodeled, you know the maddening delays that can interrupt the work. My wife and I are remodeling for the fourth time, and we have not seen a worker for a week. Meanwhile, her bathroom and closet are unusable.
The Showcase house this year is a stately Georgian Colonial mansion on a large estate known as Pegfair, in the Linda Vista heights of Pasadena. It was also the committee’s 12th Showcase House in 1976.
In 1883, John and Hannah Yocum came to Pasadena from Iowa with their son, Nathan, and his wife, Lynda, and built the first house on the hill, a large farmhouse called Hillcrest. It is said that Nathan, looking out over the neighborhood one day, named it Linda Vista, Spanish for “pretty view.” (If you can believe a Spanish-speaking Iowan.)
In 1907, Marshal D. Fiscus bought the land, restored the Yocum house. In 1929, Robert J. Richards, known as the Lettuce King, and his wife, Arabella, tore down the Hillcrest house and built the present residence for $33,000. They called it Fairview.
Wesley I. Dumm, a founder of Voice of America, bought Fairview in 1939 andj renamed it Pegfair, in honor of his wife, Margaret, and Mary Pickford, who with her husband, Douglas Fairbanks, had built the famous Pickfair.
The present owners acquired the estate in 1990. Obviously, they have taken up temporary residence elsewhere. Meanwhile, do the owners have anything to say about the remodeling? No, except for major changes, such as floor coverings, on which the owner may not only be heard but may also pay some of the cost.
The house has everything a modern gentleman like me could want. Its windows afford spectacular views of the San Gabriel Mountains. It has a tennis court, a swimming pool--of course--and a guest house large enough for a family of four. The committee wisely has chosen to preserve such original touches as ceiling frescoes and mahogany woodwork. Some original tile is preserved, but the new tile work in the kitchen and the several baths is rich and dazzling.
In its 29 years, the Showcase Committee has raised more than $5 million for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Committee, plus financing various youth music programs.
The Showcase opens with a gala on Sunday, beginning at 6 p.m., including a performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and will remain open to the public through May 15. (Closed Mondays. No parking except at Pasadena Rose Bowl Lot No. 1, for the shuttle bus. For tickets and information call (818) 792-4661.)
When you tour the house, be sure to look in on my favorite room, the library. It’s Victorian in style, with walnut paneling, an antique secretary and an English bachelor chest, plus a shelf of leather-bound antique books.
If I had to, I could live in the pool house, as long as I had access to the library and the kitchen. For that matter, I could probably be content in the children’s playhouse.
Enjoy the tour but, sorry, I can’t help it. No matter what the Junior Phils say, be careful you don’t step in a bucket of paint. I see no way that the house can be finished and the workers all cleared out by Sunday, if the speed with which our house is being remodeled is any gauge.