[photo credit: Pasadena Museum of History]
This Thursday, the Pasadena Museum of History explores how Charles F. Lummis’s El Alisal became a cultural landmark.
Christian Rodriguez, Curator of El Alisal, presents “Inventing the Southwest: The Architectural Significance of El Alisal” on Thursday, August 21, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Pasadena Museum of History, 470 W. Walnut St.
El Alisal—Spanish for “alder grove”—was built between 1897 and 1910 in Highland Park.
The house “marks the beginning of the Arts and Crafts movement in Southern California,” according to the Museums of the Arroyo.
Lummis spent 13 years constructing the 4,000-square-foot home using river-stone masonry, building around a mammoth sycamore tree.
The rustic Craftsman-style design attracted notable visitors including Clarence Darrow, Will Rogers, and John Muir.
The home earned California Historical Landmark status in 1955, National Register listing in 1971, and Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument designation.
Today, the City of Los Angeles operates El Alisal as a historic house museum at 200 East Avenue 43.
Rodriguez’s presentation addresses universal philosophical questions about regional identity and architectural influence, examining how one pioneering home shaped Southwest cultural development.
Tickets cost $18 general admission, $13 for museum members.
“Inventing the Southwest: The Architectural Significance of El Alisal” will run Thursday, Aug. 21 at 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Pasadena Museum of History, 470 W. Walnut St., in Pasadena. For more call (626) 577-1660 or visit https://pasadenahistory.org/events/lecture-inventing-the-southwest-the-architectural-significance-of-el-alisal-the-charles-f-lummis-home/. Tickets: $18 general; $13 members.
