Pasadena Junior Philharmonic Committee has selected an Arcadia estate as the Pasadena Showcase House of Design. It was designed by Roland E. Coates, Sr., for Lawrence and Josephine Garat Wilcox Barker of Barker Brothers Furniture fame.
The Pasadena Showcase House of Design features an Arcadia home designed for Lawrence and Josepine Garat Wilcox Barker and built over two years in 1941-1943.
Developers hoping to build 31 houses on land where the Anoakia mansion sits have won a court victory that clears the way for the house to be torn down.
Arcadia City Councill will look at possible changes in the city code on floor area ratio (FAR), lot coverage, and design review for single-family homes. FAR refers to the combined floor area of buildings on a lot, compared to the size of the lot. Arcadia has a lot coverage rule that single-story homes can cover 45% of the lot and 2-story dwellings 35%. Arcadia currently has a citizen-run design review effort within homeowner associations in northern parts of Arcadia, but no citywide system.
Ed Huang, an architect who works as a senior planner for the city of Los Angeles, gives a tour of his "green" home in Arcadia. His house is a model of energy efficiency, using solar panels and other environmentally and ecologically friendly design elements. Huang had been Arcadia's planning commissioner from 1992-2002.
The City Council considers adopting a floor area ratio (FAR) guideline for single family homes. The FAR sets the total buildable size of a home at a percntage figure of the lot size.
The City Council voted unanimously to expand design review for single-family homes citywide. It is the latest effort in the fight against boxy mansions being built in Arcadia. The review board thinks Asian families like the big houses and the Asian families say they do want to fit in with the community.
Monrovia's Aztec Hotel is showcasing fine art in its non-profit Aztec Art Center Route 66 Gallery. Visitors are not just from Monrovia, but from Pasadena, Duarte and Arcadia. A painting by Manuel Barillas is pictured. The hotel is owned by Kathie Reece-McNeill. The hotel was designed in 1925 by English architect Robert Stacy-Judd and was inspired by Mayan and Aztect structures. The building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976.
Arcadia Public Library will have a new conference room constructed and will remodel the existing room into offices and a work area. An office will be created for the Friends of the Library. This is the first phase and the contract was awarded to K & S Design for $106,500. Phase 2 of the project, to be completed at a later date, will include a teen center and an enlarged international language area.
A new magazine called "Atomic Ranch" will be dedicated to the boxy tract homes built after World War II and found in Arcadia, Duarte and Hastings Ranch and east Pasadena.
The City Council approved three members for the Planning Commission. They are attorney Craig Lucas, architect Frank Hsu, and manager-consultant S. H. Wen.
Construction begins on Anoakia luxury housing development, on the former site of Anoakia, Anita Baldwin's mansion, on the corner of Baldwin Avenue and Foothill Boulevard in Arcadia. The Anoakia Mansion was demolished last August to make way for 31 homes to be built by Hover Development Inc. of Newport Beach. Anita Baldwin, daughter of Lucky Baldwin, lived there until her death in 1939. It was used as a girls' school from 1941 to the late 1970s. The new housing development is 19 acres.
The City of Arcadia has contracted with Gonzalez Goodale Architects to plan for a new City Hall. Both Upper and Lower City Hall buildings will be torn down after completion of the new facility.
Arcadia police surrounded a home in the 1700 block of Mayflower Avenue in a 7-hour standoff with an armed suspect believed to be threatening suicide and harm to other people in the house. Herb Rodrigues said the alleged gunman was his girlfriend's son. When police entered the house, only an elderly man was there, alone. The suspect had fled.
Firefighters have gained the upper hand on the Santa Anita Fire yesterday after it had burned a total of 584 acres. Officials lifted mandatory evacuations throughout the area. A timeline of the fire is on page 11.
McDonald's Corporation celebrates its official 50th anniversary today. The McDonald brothers' first food outlet was an orange juice stand and furniture store in Arcadia called Wigwam.