2024 Pasadena Showcase House of Design Revealed

The Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts has announced the 2024 Pasadena Showcase House of Design, one of the nation’s oldest, largest, and most successful home and garden tours. 

Potter Daniels Manor, the 59th Pasadena Showcase House of Design, boasts a significant historic background, several storied owners and even a prestigious designation as a Pasadena City Landmark. 

Potter Daniels Manor, located along picturesque North Grand Ave., was built in 1902 as a graceful, shingle-style structure, but was magnificently transformed in 1922 to an English Tudor Revival Style estate, creating this resplendent, classic storybook home and earning it a city landmark designation. 

“We are so delighted to be back in Pasadena and to be able to present such a grand and notable city landmark as our 59th Pasadena Showcase House of Design,” Suzanne Hart, President of Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts, said.  

Public tours of the Showcase House of Design will take place from April 21 to May 19, 2024. Golden Tickets are now on sale.

Originally commissioned by Gertrude Potter Daniels, wife of a wealthy Chicago businessman, this house was constructed in 1902 by Joseph J. Blick, a pioneering architect in Pasadena. It served as a “winter home” for the Daniels family, offering a shingle-style design and a price tag of $15,000, a considerable sum for the era. Nestled amidst the beauty of the Arroyo Seco with vistas of vineyards and citrus groves, this residence became a charming and grand venue for entertaining, attracting notable guests, including President Theodore Roosevelt.

In 1905, the house was acquired by Susanna Bransford Emery Holmes, famously known as the “Silver Queen” after her late husband’s success in Utah’s Silver King Mines. With the purchase came significant architectural modifications, reflecting the Emery Holmes’ commitment to opulence. They continued to host extravagant gatherings in their winter residence for several years until 1922 when they decided to make it their permanent home. 

Mrs. Holmes, inspired by her European travels, enlisted the Postle Company of Los Angeles, renowned builders of the Pasadena Playhouse, to transform the house into the English Tudor Revival Style mansion that stands today. This extensive remodeling came at a cost of $37,000, resulting in a home that bore little resemblance to its original design but stood as one of Pasadena’s most impressive residences.

“It’s the quintessential Tudor style home and it conveys such grandeur and romance that harken you back to the days of old England,” Dotty Ewing, Chair of the 2024 Benefit committee, said.  “Our guests will certainly be awed by this home.”

Beginning in April 2024, over 25,000 guests are expected to tour through the 30 interior and landscape design spaces highlighting cutting-edge trends in high-style living. 

Guests can expect to see the famous Shops at Showcase offering a variety of boutique and craft merchants, as well as several on-site restaurants offering hot meals, grab-and-go snacks, and beer, wine, and cocktails. Entertainment and programming are planned throughout the event showcasing local musicians, docent-led garden tours, special brunches, and more.

The Pasadena Showcase House of Design is the primary fundraising benefit for Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that has supported local music and arts programs since 1948. During the 2022-2023 program year, the organization contributed $900,000 to 75 nonprofit organizations supporting music and arts programs. To date, the group has contributed more than $25 million to nonprofit organizations, particularly through its Gifts & Grants program, in support of music education, scholarships, concerts, and music therapy, while continuing to support the LA Phil. 

The organization nurtures the study and appreciation of music among young people with its three annual music programs: the Music Mobile, which has introduced orchestral instruments to more than 130,000 third grade students; the Instrumental Competition, which has awarded more than $685,000 in monetary prizes for exceptionally talented young musicians; and the Youth Concert, which has brought nearly 255,000 fourth graders to Walt Disney Concert Hall for exuberant performances presented by the LA Phil.

To purchase Golden Tickets that are valid any day or time the House is open for tours, visit www.pasadenashowcase.org/tickets. Insider Packages offer a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the transformation of Potter Daniels Manor with access to the Empty House Party in January and the Premiere Night Gala in April. Timed entry tickets will go on sale in early February.

To learn more about the 2024 Pasadena Showcase House of Design, visit https://pasadenashowcase.org/showcase-house/.