Thursday, June 24, 2010

"The Artists' Guild Building" - 1432-1456 N. Foothill Blvd.












The Artists' Guild Building contained the Winfield Art Pottery School of Clay Working and the El Padre Inn, which was a popular location for dining and dancing from the 1920's through at least 1936 (when the Angeles Crest Highway was opened and the Mount Wilson Toll Road was closed to traffic), as the Spanish mission style building was a destination for locals and tourist alike with its beautiful siting on Eaton Creek and the Eaton Arroyo along with being located on North Foothill (also called Santa Anita Drive), now Altadena Drive, on the only roadway to Mount Wilson, with the Mount Wilson Toll Road entrance being up what is now Altadena Drive above the Eaton Canyon Nature Center and where is still the beginning of the Mount Wilson Toll Road Path which winds up the mountain to Henniger Flats and beyond.


The Pasadena Jewish Temple bought the property in 1942 and converted the Mission-style building into a Jewish Synagogue, although much of the old Artists' Guild Building still remains, the curving front driveway and planted open space in the front has been converted to an asphalt parking lot.

We hope the Pasadena Jewish Temple congregation will continue to preserve this historic building associated with Pasadena and Altadena history for future generations to visit and admire, our own local "Mission of the Padres" and another local architectural gem.




10 comments:

  1. No! The only thing I ever noticed on the corner of Alt/Wash was a parking lot for some kind of clinic. This will be fun to investigate.

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  2. I used to go up around that area all the time when I was in Troop 4.

    Speaking of which, I've got a whole bunch of info you could use for this blog, some of which I've mentioned before. You interested?

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  3. I hope everyone will visit our "Old Mission of the Padres", it truly is remarkable.

    Robert, yes I'm very interested. What do you have? Email me please at lakewashingtonvillage@yahoo.com
    Thanks!

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  4. I was thinking what the Hiker said. I know exactly what you're talking about, but I didn't realize it was historical. I must take a closer look.

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  5. As usual, great post. What was the Altadena Crest Hwy?

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  6. Michael, thanks for proofreading. Angeles Crest Highway was meant.

    I hope everyone will take a look at the building and imagine the historic setting. Can you imagine sitting on the patio on the Eaton Arroyo side and having a cool drink on a warm evening, with paper lanterns illuminating the terrace, a dance orchestra playing, and couples dancing the night away, with the moon rising over the mountains? Must have been magnificent when it was all undeveloped natural scenery on the Eaton Arroyo.

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  7. Wow, this is really superb collection given here. This type of old things makes us known about the old potraits. Great historic setting.
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  8. Hi Thal. I discovered your blog today through Petrea. I love the history of old buildings. I would never have known anything about that middle wing of the PJT. I'm guessing that few, if any, congregants do either.

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  9. Hi Thal,

    I followed Earl in here. You and your blog are full of fascinating mystery and romance. Flustered!

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  10. Thank you all for coming to this site. I wish I had more time to devote to placing more historical footnotes here, to be able to share information which otherwise is just moldering away in file cabinets. Please keep checking back, as my intention is to soon post more forgotten history about the area. I hope we can all use this information on the past to help shape what kind of future we want to live in.

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