The City of Alhambra is taking its first steps toward the development of a historic preservation program, and we need you to be there…from the comfort of your own home! We’ve counted on you in the past and you’ve been there for us, for our communities and for preserving our city’s collection of historic homes.
Please plan on attending the City of Alhambra City Council meeting at 7:00 p.m. on July 13, 2020 via either your computer (for video & audio) or phone (audio).
“We are pleased that the City of Alhambra is remaining true to its General Plan goals as they relate to historic preservation,” stated Oscar Amaro, President and Founder of Alhambra Preservation Group. “We are also grateful to this City Council for FINALLY making the development of a historic preservation program a priority after 17 years of advocacy on our part. We look forward to working with the City of Alhambra to adopt an ordinance that preserves and protects Alhambra’s many historic resources and sends the message that ‘This Place Matters.'”
At this meeting, City of Alhambra staff will present Item #2 “Historic Preservation Program” to City Council for their consideration. Per the July 13 agenda, major steps to be discussed will focus on (1) the preparation of a Historic Context Assessment, (2) an in-depth survey of potential significant properties, and (3) the development of a regulatory framework with an ordinance. Each step will encourage community outreach and participation. The recommended action is that City Council receive and file the presentation, discuss the 3-step Historic Preservation Program and initiate its implementation by authorizing the issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Step 1 of the Historic Preservation Program, which is the preparation of a Historic Context Assessment.
If you are interested in participating in the meeting via Zoom, please use the Zoom Webinar direct link at the top of the July 13 City Council agenda.
If you are interested in listening by phone, please dial 1-669-900-9128 or 1-346-248-7799 or 1-253-215-8782. When prompted, please enter Webinar ID: 895 8304 3401 and Password: 499020698.
All members of the public calling or logging into the meeting will be muted so that the meeting can proceed without interruption.
For those wishing to speak on an agenda item, please e-mail David Tran at dtran@cityofalhambra.org by 5:00 p.m. on July 13 with the item number you wish to speak on and the phone number you will use when calling or the name you will use when logging into the meeting. You should then call or log into the meeting at least 10 minutes prior to its start time of 7:00 p.m. on July 13, 2020. You will have five minutes to speak, subject to Mayor’s discretion.
Alternatively, you may e-mail your comments to the City Clerk at lmyles@cityofalhambra.org by no later than 5:00 p.m. on July 13, 2020. Comments will be read into the records, with a maximum allowance of five minutes per individual comment, subject to Mayor’s discretion.
Thank you for your ongoing support in joining with Alhambra Preservation Group to fight for the preservation and protection of Alhambra’s historic, architectural and cultural resources. Your willingness to stand alongside APG for the last 17 years has led us to this historic day.
If you should have any questions, please feel free to e-mail us at info@alhambrapreservation.org.
We need your help to save one of Alhambra’s few remaining Bungalow Courts and a Craftsman home.
With COVID-19 turning our world upside down, we’re all looking for ways to occupy our time while we stay safer at home. Why not take advantage of all the free virtual tours available online? 
As we enter a new decade, many of Alhambra’s homes and buildings will be celebrating their centennials in the 2020s. Here at 
United States. And, thanks, in part, to a clever marketing campaign by our Chamber of Commerce that promised a garden paradise, a “City of Homes,” where year-round sunshine offered a healthful climate capable of curing any ailment, thousands of these newcomers settled in Alhambra. Their energy and optimism not only fueled Alhambra’s own growth, but contributed to the development of the entire region.
Throughout the United States, cities both big and small have conducted historic resources inventories to better understand the properties within their communities that are historically, culturally and architecturally significant.
Alhambra is one of the most architecturally diverse cities in Los Angeles County. From elegant Victorian homes to classic Mid-Century Modern houses, from a hilltop castle built by a Frenchman to a rustic log cabin built by Boy Scouts, Alhambra boasts more than 25 different architectural genres and sub-genres in a mere eight square miles.
403 South Garfield – Easily Alhambra’s most recognizable Victorian home, this three-story Queen Anne Victorian home has stood at 403 South Garfield since the mid-1880s and was home to multiple families before it was even 50 years old. This house was home to the owner of a printing company, a teamster, a salesman and served as a boarding house called The Garfield during the 1920s. Listed in the 1984 Alhambra Historic Resources Survey, this home would qualify as local landmark status. A little known fact is that famed San Gabriel Mountains conservationist and hiker Will Thrall lived across the street from this home at 400 South Garfield during the early 20th century.
200, 204 and 208 Beacon Street – If you travel east on Beacon street from the Queen Anne Victorian home at 403 South Garfield, you’ll discover a trio of Victorian homes on the south side of the street. Brightly painted like Easter eggs, these Victorian homes are listed in Alhambra’s 1984 Historical Resources Survey as qualifying as a historic district. The two-story blue Queen Anne home located at 200 Beacon Street is especially significant to Alhambra’s history as it was the original home of Claude Adams – the son of George Adams, one of Alhambra’s earliest settlers. This home was originally located at the corner of Chapel Avenue and Main Street. It was moved to its current location on Beacon Street in the early 20th century.
300 North Granada Avenue – This was the home of one of Alhambra’s founding fathers – James DeBarth Shorb – and his large family. James DeBarth Shorb’s wife was Maria, the eldest daughter of Alhambra’s founder, Don Benito Wilson. Rumor has it that this home may have been moved in the early 20th century from San Marino to the home’s current location on North Granada. Built in 1888, this house, which was built in the Italianate style, features characteristics that one would find in this Victorian-era architecture. The two-story house is sheathed in shiplap siding and features a truncated roof with bracketed cornices at the eaves line.
502 North Story Place – Francis and Charlotte Story built the home at 502 North Story Place in 1883. Its matching carriage house can be found a few doors down Story Place. Francis Q. Story was among Alhambra’s first leaders and played a huge part in the success of California’s fledgling citrus industry by creating the Sunkist brand of oranges that endures today. Mrs. Story was key in establishing Alhambra’s first library.
the corner of present day Almansor Street and Alhambra Road! Mr. Story’s citrus orchards stretched from the arroyo on the east to present day Main Street on the south.
1306 West Pine Street – Located in the northwest corner of Alhambra, on the border of South Pasadena, this two-story Foursquare home was built in 1905 and was the original home of Adolph Graffen, an orchardist whose land holdings included the area from this home south to Alhambra Road and east to Atlantic Boulevard. A fun fact is that when Mr. Graffen subdivided his land in the early 20th century, present-day Marguerita Avenue was named after his daughter, Margie.
of present day Stoneman Avenue and Elgin Street. Elgin, Illinois was the birth place of Claude Adams and this may account for the naming of this small street in Alhambra. This was the home of Samuel and Emma Crow in the early 20th century. The Crows, in partnership with William Drake, owned Crow and Drake Grocers, which was located at 4 East Main Street, catty corner from the Alhambra Hotel. No doubt they did a booming business as “Dealers in Groceries, Hardware, Tinware, Provisions, Fruit, Flour and Feed” as their 1903 advertisement boasted.
2114 and 2118 San Clemente Avenue – Tucked away on the corner of San Clemente Avenue and Date Avenue, just west of Alhambra’s Granada Park is a pair of transitional Victorian homes built in 1905 and 1910 respectively. Transitional Victorians were popular during this time and often included a mix of Victorian and Arts and Crafts characteristics. Built long before the Midwick Country Club was constructed, the owners of these homes were probably two of Alhambra’s earliest farmers or orchardists.
by Barbara Beckley
“This building caught my eye,” he said, of the sprawling, single-story brick structure that has graced West Alhambra Road between Curtis and Electric Avenues since 1918. He knew right away its picturesque brickwork and multiple spaces with large windows looking out on a tree-lined residential street had “office potential.” Its location, near Huntington Drive and easy access to Los Angeles and other San Gabriel Valley communities was an added plus.
What’s the highlight of his reborn space? “All the beautifully preserved, and now exposed brick, and solid redwood beams. These beams shouldn’t be destroyed. We should be exposing and celebrating this rich beautiful wood. I love to see and celebrate the old brick, the wood and the concrete, and the new steel – the beauty of form and function.”
“Everyone is always impressed with the space,” he says. “Warm. Inviting. Calm,” is how his clients, visitors and prospective tenants describe this newest of Alhambra’s retro gems. “People like that they can have a beautiful office and natural light,” he says.
“We wanted to bring the ‘Wow!’ factor back,” explained Regina Cipriani, a lifelong Alhambra resident, explained. “Now, when you open the door, you see all the wood detailing that make Craftsman homes so stunning.
The home also revealed surprises. A now mostly illegible message written in pencil on the plaster in the rear bedroom dated August 1912 with the name “Schmidt” and “good night,” was found hidden under wallpaper.
An original Craftsman-style light fixture pendant was discovered in the basement. Probably one of the 10 fixtures that originally hung from the living room beams, and a match to the existing fixture in the library. It was rewired and now hangs in the breakfast room. “You think you know a house. But with these beautiful old Craftsman homes, there is still a lot to discover.”
The Prose of Preservation 