Casa Verdugo tour steps back into city’s early years
In 1905, when Pacific Electric extended its Red Car line from Los Angeles deep into Glendale, the company opened a restaurant near the end of the line at the top of Brand Boulevard, one that would become a tourist destination and popular with the social set in Los Angeles.
The Casa Verdugo restaurant would operate in an 1860s adobe-style building for nearly five years before the proprietors moved around the corner to a Mission Revival house.
The restaurant would continue to operate on the corner of Louise and Randolph streets in that 1907 house for roughly a decade. After the restaurant closed, the building was converted back into a residence that is still lived in today.
On Sunday, attendees of the Glendale Historical Society 2013 home tour, titled “Classic Casa Verdugo,” will get a peek inside the historic building and four other pre-1920s houses in the neighborhood. The tour will include three Craftsman-style homes and a property known as the Wedding Cake house, which mixes several architectural styles.
“For many people, the first experience they had with Glendale was through the Casa Verdugo restaurant,” said Sean Bersell, executive director of the historical society.
Event-goers will also get a map for a self-guided tour of the neighborhood pointing out other historically significant details.
In an attempt to mimic the menu of Casa Verdugo Restaurant, which featured enchiladas and tamales, Bersell said, the Border Grill food truck will serve a $12 taco lunch.
“We wanted to recreate the ambience,” he said, adding that live Spanish music will be playing at Casa Verdugo.
The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased Sunday at the Alex Theatre box office. They can also be bought online at https://www.glendalehistorical.org and at the Americana at Brand concierge through Saturday. Tickets are $27 for historical society members and $37 for nonmembers.
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