The Prose of Preservation

An elegant Tudor-Revival home located in northern Alhambra was one of four residences honored with Alhambra Preservation Group’s 2011 Heritage Home Award at a November 2011 ceremony. “We are honored to present this award to the owners of this home in recognition of the time and care they have invested in the preservation of this historic home,” stated Christine Olson, President of the Alhambra Preservation Group in presenting the award.

This home is located in an area of Alhambra that was once known for its productive (and prosperous) commercial orange groves.  The 10-acre Orange Blossom Manor Tract was planted by the father-son business team of Nelson and Elmer Bailey.  The Baileys were experienced orchardists when, during the very early 1900s, they moved to Alhambra from Florida and established their Golden Pheasant brand. By the 1920s; however, the citrus industry was in decline in Southern California and the Bailey-owned orange groves were subdivided into housing tracts.

When this home was built in 1927 by Harold and Georgia Marriett, the total assessed value of the property was $5,740.  While the identity of the Marriett’s architect is a mystery, the builder was Arthur A. Tennyson of Alhambra. Originally from England, Tennyson immigrated to the United States in 1881 and was a master builder of both homes and ships. Tennyson was also responsible for building the bath house, pergolas and municipal buildings at Alhambra Park, Alhambra’s first public park, which was officially dedicated on July 4, 1921.

Harold Marriett was a purchasing agent for the Alhambra-based Standard Felt Company when he met his second wife, Georgia, a stenographer for the same company. They married in 1925 and purchased this site for their new home in 1927, presumably because it was just a few lots north of Georgia’s younger sister Madelyne’s residence. The Tudor-Revival home that they built was meant to impress. A very popular residential style in the post-World War I housing boom, the popularity of the Tudor-Revival style continued throughout the Great Depression. Elements generally incorporated into these homes included steeply pitched roofs, front-facing gables, ornamental half-timbering, prominent brick chimneys and tall mullioned casement windows—all of which are featured in this picture-perfect house. While they lived here, Harold Marriett owned a successful printing business in Los Angeles. The Marriett family continued to own this home until 1970.

The current owners purchased this home 10 years later in 1980. They fell in love with its character-defining features, which are rarely—if ever—found in new home construction.  Their many renovation projects have included the addition of central heating and air conditioning, replacement of the home’s original plumbing, seismic retrofitting and the addition of a bedroom and bathroom, all accomplished in a way that both respects the home’s historic character and enhances its value.