For a few hours on the fourth Friday of July, the first floor of a 1908 Pasadena landmark belongs to anyone with a five-dollar ticket.
On Friday, July 24, the Gamble House will open that floor after hours as part of its twice-monthly summer series, pairing live music and wine flights on the lawn with docent-led access to the 1908 Craftsman home. The wine is poured by an Altadena shop, making the evening a small Pasadena–Altadena collaboration. Admission starts at $5 for non-members and is free for members and for children 12 and under, according to the Gamble House.
The series, “Friday Nights at The Gamble House with West Altadena Wine + Spirits,” runs on the second and fourth Fridays from May through August. July 24 is one of its final stretch of evenings, which continue through August 28. Each runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Inside, docents are stationed in each room of the first floor to answer questions about the house and its history. On the lawn, West Altadena Wine + Spirits, a shop on North Lincoln Avenue in Altadena, pours curated wine flights, and Triple Beam Pizza fires slices from a mobile oven. Guests may pack a picnic, but outside alcohol and pets are not allowed, and wine tasters must show identification at check-in; wine tasting is limited to guests 21 and older — all according to the Gamble House. According to the Gamble House website, the Wise Guys Big Band is the scheduled act for July 24.
The evenings are part of a wider effort by the nonprofit Gamble House Conservancy, which operates the property, to draw casual visitors who might never book a guided tour. “We have really increased our public programming to welcome the public in,” said Sheryl Scott, the Conservancy’s director of communications and operations, in an interview with Pasadena Weekly.
“While people are on site, the first floor of the house is open for touring, and we have docents stationed inside the house to answer people’s questions,” Scott said. “So that’s part of the ticket price.”
The format, she said, is meant to lower the threshold for people who are curious but not committed. “Not everyone wants to engage with the house in the same way,” Scott said. “It allows people to kind of dip their toe in and see what we have as far as programming.”
The 1908 Arts and Crafts home was created by architects Charles and Henry Greene as a winter residence for David and Mary Gamble of the Procter & Gamble Company. It was deeded to the City of Pasadena in 1966 and designated a local, state, and National Historic Landmark in 1977.
Friday Nights at The Gamble House takes place July 24 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena. Free public parking is available on Westmoreland Place and along Orange Grove Boulevard. Tickets are available at gamblehouse.org or by calling (626) 793-3334.
Not many people get to see the house in the long light of a July evening. For two hours on a Friday, the docents take their posts, and the doors stand open.
Friday Nights at the Gamble House — July 24
Date: Friday, July 24, 5:30–7:30 PM |📍 The Gamble House, 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena |🔗 https://gamblehouse.org/mec-events/friday-nights/ Gamble House
