Old Town Pasadena's lesser-known side

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Central Park at the corner of Green Street and South Raymond Avenue begins the walking route in Old Town Pasadena. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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The historic Castle Green apartments are nestled behind a wrought-iron fence constructed in 1903 by Col G.G. Green. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A sign for Italian violins sits in the window at the historic Castle Green apartments. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Pedestrians cross at the intersection of Colorado Boulevard and Raymond Avenue. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A plaque signifies the Exchange Block buildings erected in 1886 along East Colorado Boulevard. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Pedestrians are reflected in a storefront window at Raymond Avenue and East Holly Street. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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The historic Jensen’s Raymond Theatre is now condos. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Memorial Park comes alive at night as an overflow crowd stands on the edge of Levitt Pavilion to listen to Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Toure. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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During a spectacular summer sunset, concert-goers hear guitarist Vieux Farka Toure at the outdoor Levitt Pavilion in Memorial Park. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Memorial Park’s sweeping lawns and huge shade trees attract those looking for a peaceful setting during the day. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Pasadena’s stately City Hall was designed in the early 1920s by Blakewell and Brown. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Tourists walk throughout the archway inside Pasadena’s City Hall. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A pattern of light puts a natural spotlight on a visitor climbing one of two circular staircases inside City Hall. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A spraying fountain adds a cooling touch to the City Hall courtyard. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Light from the stained-glass windows dances on the floor inside All Saints Church on North Euclid. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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The Pacific Asian Museum on North Los Robles Avenue is an example of 1920s Revival architecture with Chinese ornamentation. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A couple walks hand-in-hand along the Pasadena route. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

By Charles Fleming

Aug. 16, 2013 12:31 PM PT

This walk is easy on the legs but full of wonders for the eyes and mind — beautiful buildings, weird history and more — through the lesser-known side of Old Town Pasadena.

1. Begin near the corner of East Green Street and South Raymond Avenue, along Pasadena’s Central Park. Walk north past the lovely Hotel Green and Castle Green Apartments — a 1903 construction financed by Col. G.G. Green, who made his fortune in patent medicines. Continue north across Colorado Boulevard.

2. Turn right on East Holly Street, pausing to look left at Jensen’s Raymond Theatre, which at the time of its 1921 debut was the West Coast’s premier vaudeville theater, containing 2,000 seats, sweeping spiral staircases and interior fountains. It was later a movie theater and a concert venue. Now it’s condos. Also check out Memorial Park, with its sweeping lawns and a historic band shell, where on weekends music is often performed.

PHOTOS: Old Town Pasadena’s lesser-known side

3. Continuing straight on East Holly Street, walk toward Pasadena’s stately City Hall. Plaques inside explain that the noble dome, designed in the early 1920s by the architectural firm of Bakewell and Brown, is meant to replicate the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute in Venice. It’s designed around a central courtyard containing rose bushes, old oak trees and a spraying fountain. Circular staircases rising to the right and left of the central arch present nice views of both yard and dome, and are worth the short climb.

FOR THE RECORD
Old Town Pasadena: The L.A. Walks column a in the Aug. 17 Saturday section bout walking Old Town Pasadena incorrectly identified the Pasadena Museum of California Art as the Pasadena Museum of Contemporary Art.

4. Continue east, through City Hall, across the street and past the square Norman tower of All Saints Church on North Euclid Avenue. Continue to North Los Robles Avenue and turn left.

5. After one block, turn right onto Ford Place, and enter what remains of Pasadena’s first “exclusive” subdivision, conceived in 1902 by W.J. Pierce as the city’s most upscale residential neighborhood. The road is lined with Craftsman, Prairie, Shingle, Tudor Revival and Mission Revival homes, and was a private street until 1951.

6. Turn right onto North Oakland Avenue, onto the campus of Fuller Theological Seminary, which since 1971 has owned all of the original Ford Place subdivision. It was founded in 1947 by evangelist Charles E. Fuller, creator of the “Old Famous Revival Hour” radio show.

7. After continuing down North Oakland Avenue, passing the fine Pasadena Museum of Contemporary Art and the back side of Pacific Asia Museum, turn right onto East Green Street. Enjoy a shady walk back to your starting point.

Charles Fleming is the author of “Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles” and “Secret Stairs East Bay: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Berkeley and Oakland.”

charles.fleming@latimes.com

The stats

Distance: 1.8 miles
Duration: 1 hour
Difficulty: 1 on a scale of 1 to 5
Details: Dogs on a leash are OK. Wheelchair accessible. Metro Gold Line, Del Mar Station; bus lines 20, 51, 52, 177, 256.

View LA Walks: Old Town Pasadena in a larger map

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