ALL FOR THE SHOW

From planting gardens in the rain to honoring the home’s history while adding contemporary appeal, there was no shortage of challenges at this year’s Pasadena Showcase House. Here, the interior and exterior designers give an inside look at what went into creating a masterpiece.

BY RAMONA SAVISS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS CONSIDINE

The 58th Pasadena Showcase House of Design, April 23 through May 21 this year, brought out all the stops. The historic 1933 American Colonial estate has been fully renovated by a team of all-star designers using a contemporary approach and the latest materials. The two-story home was originally built for Arthur C. Stewart, an oil company executive who lived there with his wife, Ruth, their two daughters, a cook, and a live-in nanny. Marston & Maybury was the original architect and Benjamin J. Bennett Jr. was the builder for the property. When completed, it was estimated to be 5,781 square feet and cost $13,495 to build—a large sum at the time, during the Great Depression. In 1969, under new ownership, a major remodeling and expansion of the residence was permitted with Keith Marston, son of the original architect, as architect and E. C. Moller as contractor—both of whom were from Pasadena. By the 1980s, the home had undergone other additions, such as a loft and garage, which was later converted to a family room and laundry area. Today, the residence has nearly 11,000 square feet of living space, including seven bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, guesthouse, pool, and a variety of gardens sited on two acres of exquisite grounds. Adding to its storied past, the home was also a Pasadena Showcase House in 1983, and while it’s only exchanged hands once since then, later this year it will be listed for sale, allowing another owner to usher it through generations to come. pasadenashowcase.org

The Designers

The 36 designers exhibiting their work at this year’s Showcase House include:

Jennifer Bevan

Karen Billman

Rydhima Brar

Marbé Briceno

Carmel Chow

Dona Dockendorf

Rachel Duarte

Sergio Gomez

Graciela Gonzalez

Meredith Green

Kira Halter

Lara Hovanessian

Amy Hy-Alarcon

Brenda Jacquez

Stephanie Leese

Louise Mueller

Ashley Marie O’Connell

Kirsten Poole

Chia-Ming Ro

Roxanne Spear

Gwen Sukeena

Courtney Thomas

Shari Tipich

Christopher Grant Ward

Carter White and Varand Zandoorian plus Goli Karima with ASID students including:

Lauren Bensmiller

Michelle Halabaso

Katie Jenkins

Missa Kato

Morgan Midgette

Yuri Oishi

Miranda Snell

Maria Videla and Donald Wong

“My favorite projects are taking beautiful old houses and making them work for the modern-day family. This house has a storied history with amazing architectural details, and I wanted to take that charm and build upon it to make these rooms look like they have always been part of this house.”

—KIRSTEN POOLE, Kitchen, first-time Showcase House designer

“I chose to reimagine the existing hand-painted murals. The challenge became with how much or how little to augment the paintings. I think the results honor the originals and bring them into the present. I’m thrilled with them, but the chandelier has to be my favorite design element.”

—RACHEL DUARTE, Dining Room, ninth-time Showcase House designer

“What surprised me was how much I loved the very things that initially felt daring in our design. The room grew from an African game preserve theme, and the more we explored this idea and leaned into it, the more depth and character the space emitted.”

—COURTNEY THOMAS, Primary Suite, third-time Showcase House designer