[photo credit: Pasadena Tournament of Roses]
The 90-minute tours, led by volunteer members of the Tournament’s Heritage Committee, run every Thursday at 2 p.m. through Aug. 27 and take visitors through the residence that has served since 1958 as headquarters for the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game. The Italian Renaissance-style mansion was once the winter home of chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. and his wife Ada, whose family donated the property to the city of Pasadena with the request that it become the Tournament’s permanent home.
Designed by architect George Lawrence Stimson and completed in 1914, the home is filled with details that volunteer guides relish pointing out: a 400-pound Honduran mahogany front door original to the house, hand-painted foiled wallpaper by the Gracie company, Romanian Circassian walnut paneling, and ornate plasterwork ceilings throughout. Surrounding the mansion are the 4.5-acre Wrigley Gardens, home to more than 1,500 varieties of roses, camellias and seasonal blooms, including the disease-resistant pink Tournament of Roses Rose, bred for the parade’s centennial.
Tours are free, but reservations are required and can be made through the Tournament of Roses website. Each tour is limited to about 80 visitors. Guests are asked to arrive 10 minutes early. Picnicking on the grounds is welcomed.
Tournament House public tours will run on Thursday, May 7 at 2 p.m. and every Thursday at 2 p.m. through Aug. 27. Wrigley Mansion (Tournament House), 391 S. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena. For more information and reservations, call (626) 449-4100 or visit tournamentofroses.com/house-to
