We did it! Alhambra FINALLY has a historic preservation ordinance! Alhambra City Council unanimously adopted the proposed Historic Preservation Ordinance on Monday, August 25, 2025!
With their vote, Alhambra City Council codified legislation that will work to preserve and protect Alhambra’s historic homes, businesses, churches and schools. The development of the ordinance was the third and final phase of a comprehensive historic preservation program implemented by the City of Alhambra.
This vote was the culmination of Alhambra Preservation Group’s more than 22 years of advocacy for meaningful legislation to preserve and protect Alhambra’s historic resources. It was the result of thousands of volunteer hours of work that included countless meetings with Alhambra leaders and residents; numerous home tours and City Council candidates’ forums; house histories and heritage awards to worthy homeowners; a citywide windshield survey in 2016; countless e-blasts, news articles and posts on social media; and a recent fight to save Alhambra’s historic 1930s-era community clinic on Shorb.
As you can imagine, we are over the moon with the City Council’s adoption of a historic preservation ordinance. It is with great pride that we can finally celebrate the adoption of meaningful historic preservation legislation here in Alhambra! Cue the celebration, pour the bubbly, and clink those glasses!
So, what are the next steps for Alhambra’s Historic Preservation Program?
The next steps for Alhambra’s Historic Preservation Program is the procedural second reading of the historic preservation ordinance on September 8. Then the ordinance will become law in mid-October – 40 days after its second reading.
Once the ordinance becomes law, the City of Alhambra will begin implementing the ordinance. This will include the development of application processes for the various elements of the ordinance including the official designation of historic resources and the process for the review of modifications to historic resources. We anticipate that this may take the City of Alhambra several months. The City of Alhambra has contracted with Historic Resources Group, LA County’s preeminent historic preservation consulting firm, to provide ongoing guidance to the City of Alhambra on the implementation of this ordinance.
As the City of Alhambra begins implementing the adopted ordinance, Alhambra Preservation Group will continue to monitor matters, ensuring that the various elements of this ordinance are adhered to and helping to educate residents about Alhambra’s newest legislation.
In the meantime, it’s time to celebrate the adoption of this ordinance and recognize and celebrate the hard work of APG members who made this momentous achievement happen!
A huge thank you to Alhambra City Council for their leadership on this issue and thank you for your ongoing support of Alhambra Preservation Group and for never giving up on the belief that Alhambra’s historic resources deserve to be preserved and protected. We’ll say it once again… WE DID IT!
To learn more about the Alhambra Preservation Group, please visit our web site.
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.
The Alhambra City Council will consider the final City of Alhambra General Plan at its August 12 meeting. We encourage all Alhambrans to attend and show their support for strong historic preservation goals and policies.
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.
The Prose of Preservation 