Free Tours of Tournament House to Resume

Tournament House, the operating headquarters of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses®, which oversees the annual Rose Parade® and Rose Bowl Game®, will re-open for weekly public tours on Feb. 5. Tours will be offered, at no cost, each Thursday at 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. through Aug. 27.

Reservations are not required except for groups of 10 or more people.

Located at 391 S. Orange Grove Blvd., the mansion was once the home of chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. and his wife, Ada. After Ada’s death in 1958, the Wrigley family presented the property to the city of Pasadena, with the request that it become the base of operations for the Tournament of Roses Association. The Wrigley family had long enjoyed the Rose Parade as it unfolded just beyond their front yard.

Guided tours allow visitors to see the 21-room, Italian-Renaissance-style mansion designed and built in 1906 by architect G. Lawrence Stimson and his father George W.Stimson, a local builder. Volunteers from the Tournament’s Heritage Committee, well-versed in the organization’s 127-year history as well as in the details of the house
itself, conduct the tours.

The interior of the house features richly paneled rooms, inlaid marble floor and an ornate molded plaster ceiling – a design element that made Stimson famous. Displays related to Rose Bowl Games, Rose Queens and Royal Courts, Grand Marshals and Tournament Presidents are part of the décor.

Surrounding Tournament House are the Wrigley Gardens, which feature a 4.5-acre floral display of more than 1,500 varieties of roses, camellias and annuals. The gardens feature the All-America Rose Selections (AARS) award-winning Tournament of Roses rose developed especially for the Tournament of Roses Centennial.

Groups of 10 or more may call (626) 449-4100 for tour reservations.

About the Tournament of Roses

The Pasadena Tournament of Roses is a volunteer organization that annually hosts the Rose Parade®, the Rose Bowl Game® and a variety of associated events. The Tournament’s 935 volunteer members act as ambassadors of the organization within the community and serve on one of 31 committees that ensure the success of the parade and game. Collectively, they contribute upwards of 80,000 hours of manpower each year. The 127th Rose Parade presented by Honda and themed “Find Your Adventure,” will take place Friday, January 1, 2016, followed by the 102nd Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual. For additional information on the Tournament of Roses please visit the official website at www.tournamentofroses.com