REAWAKENING

Originally THE residence of Southern Pacific Railroad heir Henry E. Huntington and his second wife, Arabella, the Huntington Art Gallery, that most genteel Beaux-Arts structure with a Mediterranean twist, first rose up on the Pasadena landscape in 1911. It was an early Southern California foray into domestic grandeur of Rockefellerian proportions.

By the 1930s, both Huntingtons had passed on, leaving permanent residents such as Diana the Huntress and the works of Thomas Gainsborough, Gilbert Stuart and John Constable in their stead, turning their personal abode into one of the city’s biggest tourist sites. That is, until January 2006, when the powers that be shuttered the gallery for renovation. Thirty months and $20 million later, the gallery reopened Wednesday, expanded, rehabbed, redecorated and reshuffled.

From its grand white marble hall through its wholesale importation of the Arabella D. Huntington Memorial Collection (including numerous 18th century French treats) to its “Blue Boy”-infused portrait gallery, it’s entirely possible to fashion a most becoming day out of these newly renovated nooks and crannies. And unlike all that Getty Villa hoopla, you can pretty much run right over, unannounced.

GETTING THERE

This may seem like a no-brainer, with the Huntington ensconced firmly in car-friendly San Marino. But with gas stations proffering their wares at prices only an oil baron could love, why not consider paying homage to the Huntington’s railroad tycoon founder by riding up on the Gold Line? Exit at the Allen Street stop, and it’s a 1.5-mile walk, bike ride or bus-bike-walk combination down to Henry’s front door.

EXPLORING THE NEW ART GALLERY

Thanks to donors, free, in-depth audio tours are available at reception (er, free after you’ve coughed up the $15 to $20 to get through the gates). But it’s why you came, so here are a few more tips for maximizing the experience from those responsible for creating it.

THE FIRST FLOOR

To better visualize quotidian life among the extraordinarily wealthy, the Huntington reconstituted its ground floor’s floor plan. Transforming its “gallery” layout back into discrete rooms, with doors reaffixed to hinges and a few personal artifacts scattered about, it puts the emphasis back on its time as a family home -- or rather, a magnate’s majestic estate of the Gilded Age.

In truth, not even the Huntingtons lived this large. “Take the dining room,” says art collections director John Murdoch. “The Huntington dining table was a modern department store one. But we now have a fantastic English mahogany table from the 18th century.” Add to that glittering crystal chandeliers, staircases with brass inlay, and Parisian window latches, and the term “railroad baron” takes on a tangible meaning.

Frequent visitors will also notice that the collection as a whole was remixed to foster fresh perspectives. Poke your head into the Small Drawing Room for an example of the gallery’s new themes. Here, Murdoch has lined the walls with an assortment of women in wide-brimmed hats, the assembled creating a commentary on contemporary conceptions of female beauty.

THE SECOND FLOOR

Actually, if you’re not careful, you’ll first come into contact with a two-story, 15-plus-panel stained-glass window fashioned by William Morris’ company before you even get off the ground. Removed from a British Unitarian Church and purchased by the Huntington in the mid-’90s, “Humility, Mercy, Generosity, Charity, Justice, Liberty, Truth, Love, Faith, Courage” now sits in a converted boiler room in the back corner. A handcrafted, neo-Gothic example of Morris’ pooh-poohing of the Industrial Revolution, it’s never before been displayed here in its entirety. But resist the urge to look at it; scamper upstairs as quickly as you can. To properly assess this work, you have to “start at the top and walk down,” says Bert England, the architect responsible for designing its showcase. “That’s how you get the wow factor.”

Keep snooping around and your next thought might be “wow, that’s easy.” Whereas before the confined configuration of these former bedrooms, bathrooms and offices had an almost labyrinthine quality, the doors and dead ends have disappeared to create a freer flow. Rather than making visitors waste energy mentally GPSing their every move, this design allows casual concentration on the materials at hand, England says. “The upstairs is arranged by chronological order as well as collection,” he notes. Cruising from Medieval Madonnas through 1700s Wedgwoods on to early 20th century William Morris, “you’re getting an education without even trying.”

OUTSIDE

When it’s time to saunter out, don’t shortchange your exit. Save a little time to savor the Loggia, which, after decades of serving as the gallery’s main entrance, has now returned to its intended purpose -- a period-appropriate, breezy outdoor drawing room.

You can’t smoke a cigar over an antique tome inside Henry’s biblioteca, but at least you can bring a book out here -- Murdoch suggests “French Art of the Eighteenth Century at the Huntington” -- and ease into a rattan chair amid orchids, ferns, big leafy greenery and heroic busts, relaxing much in the way a Huntington guest of yore might have. An exemplar of the indoor-outdoor lifestyle Angelenos pioneered, the garden-like setting of the Loggia might remind you that you’re surrounded by 120 acres of themed botanical gardens.

AND BEYOND

There are still the two traditional dining options on campus -- the reservations-only tea room, serving a proper English meal, and the more casual Rose Garden Cafe. However, for those who want to shift cultural gears, the Huntington’s new Chinese garden, a.k.a. the Garden of Flowing Fragrance, has opened a dim sum teahouse.

But with the grounds closing at 4:30 p.m., perhaps your trip to a more civilized era has ended too soon. Here’s one suggestion for taking baby steps back to the 21st century -- dinner reservations at the Raymond, a 1901 Craftsman bungalow turned intimate restaurant (1250 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena; [626] 441-3136). Arabella might have turned up her Frenchified nose at something so merely American, but with a cozy fireplace for freakish cold snaps, a garden patio for balmy nights, and a paired tasting menu including pearl lavender vodka and duck confit, the Raymond wraps modern flavors in timeless sophistication.

--

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Summer events

Upcoming activities related to the reopening of the Huntington Art Gallery:

The Art of the Miniature

9 a.m.-noon June 7, 14, 21. $215; $195, members. (626) 405-2128.

Historically accurate right down to her materials (pardon me, is that ground-up bug in my pigment?), artist Sylvana Barrett conducts this three-session workshop on miniature painting, many examples of which are on display among the British collection. Not recommended for total beginners.

Arabella Huntington: Her Passion for Collecting and the Burgeoning of an International Art Network

6:30 p.m. June 19. Free.

(626) 405-2100.

Senior research associate Shelley M. Bennett presents the fourth and final lecture in the French art series, this one focusing on not just Arabella Huntington’s own art obsessions as well as analogous insights into contemporary mega-collectors and the international market but also on “juicy” new details unearthed about the missus.

Curator Tour: The Huntington Art Gallery

4:30-5:30 p.m. June 26. $20; $15, members. (Sold out.)

(626) 405-2128.

Melinda McCurdy, associate curator of European art, walks visitors through it.

Southwest Chamber Music Summer Festival

July 11-12, 25-26, Aug. 8-9, 22-23. For details, visit www.swmusic.org or call

(800) 726-7147.

Southwest Chamber Music sets up shop on the newly appointed loggia for another round of summer concerts. With reservations, ticket-holders can indulge in a pre-concert dinner in the Rose Garden Tea Room.

--

THE HUNTINGTON LIBRARY, ART COLLECTIONS AND BOTANICAL GARDENS

WHERE: 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino

WHEN: Noon -4:30 p.m. Mon., Wed., Thu., Fri.; 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

PRICE: $15-$20, general admission. Free on first Thursdays (advance tickets required).

INFO: (626) 405-2100, www.huntington.org