Home of the Week: a Tudor Revival in San Marino
In a nutshell, this San Marino house is cozy and English.
Known as the Bodman House, the home was built in 1929 for Edward Bodman, a retired doctor from Illinois who moved to Southern California in the 1920s, and his wife, Julia. The Bodmans were Anglophiles who traveled extensively in England and were said to have asked the architect to design the home in the spirit of early English architecture.
Architect John Atchison — best known for designing dozens of neoclassical public buildings in Winnipeg, Canada, in the first half of the 20th century — designed the house in the Tudor Revival style, an aesthetic modeled after the medieval cottage and characterized by thatched roofs, half-timbering and oriel (a type of bay) windows. The cost to build the house was $25,000, according to research by Pasadena building biographer Tim Gregory.
The interior of the home is accented with medieval touches: gargoyles carved into exposed wooden beams, leaded glass windows and a baronial fireplace. The two-story living room is reminiscent of a church, with high cathedral ceilings and leaded bay windows. Years ago, one of the home’s current owners held a wedding ceremony there.
John and Patsy Austin bought the property in 1974. The Austin family is the home’s second owner in its 82-year history. Patsy Austin was an interior designer and Anglophile whose eye for detail can be seen throughout the home.
Much of the house is in its original state, but the Austins did update the kitchen in 1978, adding a center island, a fireplace, a window seat, appliances and other modern amenities. They also added a family room, a downstairs bathroom and, in the backyard, a swimming pool.
Upstairs, a music loft overlooks the living room and leads to a library in one direction and the bedrooms in the other. Each of the three upstairs bedrooms has its own bath. The master bedroom opens to a balcony overlooking the backyard.
The house is set back from the road in a quiet neighborhood not far from Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, send high-resolution, un-retouched color photos on a CD, written permission from the photographer to publish the images and a description of the house to Lauren Beale, Business, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Send questions to homeoftheweek@latimes.com.
