Town Is in a Time Warp, and That’s Just Fine : Sierra Madre: Foothill village provides sense of community, historical homes and retreat from concrete and congestion.

While Sierra Madre was once dubbed “Nature’s Sanitarium” by easterners who came there in the late 1800s believing the climate could help speed their recovery from respiratory diseases, the city has taken on another kind of curative power in recent years.

A hamlet (population: 10,800) in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, Sierra Madre is an antidote for strip mall and hip-weary Southern Californians looking for a wholesome, small-town atmosphere in which Beaver Cleaver would have felt at home.

“It’s funny, people come into my office and ask, ‘Where am I? This looks like the 1950s,’ ” said Judy Webb-Martin, owner of Webb-Martin Realty in Sierra Madre. “This town hasn’t moved much beyond that and people just love it.”

That time-warp atmosphere attracted John and Marlene Borger when they got re-routed during Rose Parade traffic a few years ago and found themselves in Sierra Madre.

“I wondered where we were,” Marlene Borger said. “I felt like we were in a little alcove away from everything.” Six months later, when the couple, who lived in Santa Clarita, decided to look for something closer to their jobs in Pasadena and Chino, they remembered Sierra Madre.

Not long into their househunting the Borgers found “a cute little dream house” for $215,500. Built in 1947, the two-bedroom, one-bath house had 950 square feet. The couple added 400 square feet and spruced up things with new paint, landscaping and French doors. “It was kind of a little box when we bought it,” said Marlene Borger, “But it’s no Plain Jane now.”

Sierra Madre lies northeast of Pasadena, north of Arcadia and west of Monrovia. It is bounded by Michillinda Avenue on the west, Orange Grove Avenue on the south and Santa Anita Avenue on the east.

The northeastern part of the city--known as “The Canyon”--provides access to the Mt. Wilson hiking trail and offers residents seclusion from noise and traffic. The canyon has long been known as a haven for creative types.

Sierra Madre’s housing prices range from $200,000 to $1 million with the average price at $310,000 for a three-bedroom, two-bath home with 1,600 square feet.

Most of the city’s 4,000 homes are custom built, Webb-Martin said, and modest bungalows and stately mini-mansions may share the same street.

In an advertisement from 1887 luring easterners to Sierra Madre, the city was said to have a view of neighboring cities below, “...while vessels can be counted on the Pacific Ocean, 30 miles away.”

When newlyweds Phyllis and Edward Chapman left a bad winter in upstate New York to visit relatives in Pasadena in the early 1950s, they decided to set roots. “I stood on Baldwin Avenue, looked up at the mountains and thought, ‘My goodness, if we lived here, we’d be on vacation all year round,’ ” recalled Phyllis Chapman, who is the town historian.

The Champmans bought a three-bedroom, two-bath ranch-style house for about $13,000. They have since added on, and Chapman estimates the house is worth about $320,000.

Residents like Chapman take pride in the preservation of the city’s landmarks and older homes, which date back as far as 1881.

Two groups, the Cultural Heritage Commission and the Historic Preservation Society, perpetuate the city’s history and traditions, including an annual entry in the Tournament of Roses Parade and its wisteria vine, listed in the 1990 “Guinness Book of World Records” as the world’s largest blossoming plant. The vine attracts visitors during its blossoming season every March and recently celebrated its centennial.

Founded and developed by Massachusetts native Nathanial Carter in 1874, Sierra Madre was an agricultural community until the Pacific Electric Railway made it possible for workers to commute to Los Angeles. Carter, who made his fortune in the garment and travel industries, came to Sierra Madre for his health and later brought his family with him.

In 1881, he purchased the 1,103-acre Sierra Madre Tract of Rancho Santa Anita, 845 of those acres from his friend Elias J. (Lucky) Baldwin, and subdivided the land. His own estate, Carterhia, was on a view lot of 103 acres.

Although the city experienced somewhat of a boom in 1886-88 and many of those old gems remain, there is no predominant period when houses were built, said realtor Webb-Martin. So too do architectural styles vary.

Besides historic Victorians and big, old farm houses, there are a mishmash of Craftsman, cabin-like hideaways, Spanish and ranch-style houses, along with some multi-family units.

Notable architects plied their trade in Sierra Madre, including Greene and Greene, Samuel and Joseph Cather Newsom, Richard Neutra, Irving Gill and Wallace Neff. More than 75 structures are historical landmarks, such as the Victorian-style Sierra Vista Hotel built by Joseph Newsom in 1887 and the Barlow Villa, a replica of the Michelangelo-designed Villa Collazzi, built by Neff in 1927.

Interesting historical architecture may be a draw, but what residents say they love about Sierra Madre is its sense of community. “When we first moved here we got involved in some Chamber of Commerce activities and met lots of people,” said Marlene Borger. “It’s great--people wave to us when we’re in town. They even know our dog--Max--by name.”

Sierra Madre has its own volunteer fire department, there’s a welcome lady to greet new residents with maps and coupons from local businesses, an annual Fourth of July Parade, a Huck Finn fishing derby every March and summer concerts in the park.

That community spirit proved solid during two recent natural disasters: the earthquake in 1991, in which many structures were damaged and last fall’s firestorms. Television viewers may remember the image of volunteer firefighters at the Mt. Oliva Passionist Fathers Home in the Sierra Madre foothills, poised to battle the blaze for the protection of their own.

“We had no loss of life and no homes were destroyed,” Chapman said. “We can never thank them enough for the kind of effort they put forth to save this town.”

Ross Tyree, 76, has lived in Sierra Madre all of his life and has memories of helping his grandfather in his grocery store, raising chickens and eating oranges at the family’s ranch. While Tyree went on to become a vice president at Lockheed, he chose to remain in his hometown, serving on the planning commission and acting as a commentator for parades.

In 1970 he built a 3,000-square-foot house for $30,000 on a lot he owned. He estimates the house, which has three bedrooms, three baths and a pool, is worth about $750,000.

For others, like Bay Area transplants Casey and Ellen Smiley, safety was a factor. They rented in Sierra Madre for nine months before buying a three-bedroom, two-bath home for $325,000. The 1,800 square-foot house was built in the mid-1960s, has a hot tub and was in move-in condition, said Casey Smiley.

While proximity to their jobs in Glendale and Duarte was a consideration, the Smileys felt it was also a good place to raise their son, Michael, 3.

“When you drive through town at dusk, you see kids riding bikes and people walking,” said Casey Smiley. “Even where we came from in Redwood City, people spent a lot of time in their homes. I got the feeling that this is a safe little community.”

Added realtor Webb-Martin: “I was a single mother here for 13 years and never locked my doors.”

Some residents, like Tyree, are so attached to the community that they intend to hang around in the afterlife.

“A few years ago, I decided that I wasn’t going to leave town, so I bought a plot in our cemetery,” he said. “I told several of my friends and immediately the place was sold out.”

Hallett is an Orange County free-lance writer.

At a Glance Population 1994 estimate: 11,081 1990-94 change: +3.0% Annual income Per capita: 29,224 Median household: 51,694 Household distribution Less than $30,000: 18.1% $30,000 - $60,000: 29.5% $60,000 - $100,000: 27.0% $100,000 - $150,000: 18.5% $150,000 +: 7.1%

Sierra Madre Home Sale Data Sample Size (for 10-year period): 1,240 Ave. home size (square feet): 1,678 Ave. Year Built: 1946 Ave. No. Bedrms: 2.73 Ave. No. Baths: 1.84 Pool: 20% View homes: 6% Central air: 22% Floodzone: 48% Price Range (1993-94): $115,000-$867,500 Predominant Value: $361,000 Age Range: 2-92 years Predominant Age: 50 years Average Sales Data

Year Total $ per Median Sales sq. ft. price 1994* 45 $173.75 $301,022 1993 63 $182.64 $313,497 1992 110 $191.99 $289,750 1991 108 $205.87 $329,351 1990 94 $210.52 $355,691 1989 115 $213.53 $364,830 1988 165 $174.87 $292,660 1987 194 $133.73 $206,953 1986 187 $118.40 $178,310 1985 159 $108.90 $151,075

*1994 data current through June.

Source: TRW Redi Property Data, Riverside