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.
