Open House Obsession: Living The Old School Life In Pasadena, $3.6M

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Where: 601 S. Orange Grove Boulevard, Pasadena
When: Saturday and Sunday May 12 and 13 from 2:00pm-5:00pm both days
Asking: $3,599,000
What: A grand 7-bed, 6-bath mansion in one of Pasadena’s grandest neighborhoods, dubbed “The Mrs. Harriet Gray Estate” after its original owner, the wealthy Los Angeles widow who built it in 1924 soon after her husband’s demise. Little is known about her, but we can easily believe this was her dream house.

Principally designed by architect Reginald D. Johnson (of Johnson, Kaufmann and Coate) in a restrained Italian Renaissance Revival style, it possesses simple, beautifully proportioned interior spaces that stand on their own. The youngest partner in the firm, Roland Coate would go on to become one of Pasadena’s most sought after Mid-Century traditionalists.



With walled gardens and an elegant loggia, the property still retains much of the original garden design, statuary and plantings by pioneering landscape architect Katherine Bashford.

Insert Pool Here: Specializing in a less formal but still classical style, and deeply influenced by gardens tours she took in Europe before and after WWI, Bashford was among the first landscape designers to introduce California native plants into her projects.

Provenance: The general contractors were Peter and John Hall, brothers who built many of Pasadena’s grandest houses, including Greene + Greene’s unforgettable Gamble House.


What We Love: This is a lovely, gracious house in original condition, so you won’t be cleaning up anyone else’s renovation/restoration blunders. Plus as a signifigant Pasadena property, it will probably also qualify for Mills Act tax benefits. Below, the master suite.


The back stairs lead to a quartet of suprisingly comfortable staff bedrooms. There’s also a chauffer’s apartment next to the garage.

More: Go to the dedicated site for additional images and details. This exceptional property is represented by a team of architecture specialists– Sarah Myers, Scott Lander, Matthew Berkley and Barbara Lamprecht– at Deasy Penner + Partners.