Mountain Views News          Saturday, April 16, 2011

16

HOMES AND PROPERTY

 Mountain Views-News Saturday, April 16, 2011 

One Of A Kind: Featuring unique homes and gardens and the people whoe create them. Photos and Story By Chris Bertrand 


47th Annual Pasadena Showcase Open April 17th-May 15th

The 2011 Pasadena 
Showcase House for the 
Arts (PSHA) will open 
Sunday, April 17. This 
year’s featured property 
is a five acre, La Canada 
estate, with over 9600 
square feet of living space 
in several buildings. 

Designed by critically acclaimed, African 
American architect, Paul R. Williams in 1927, 
the English Revival manse was built originally 
for the J.B. Greens, as a “country retreat.” It was 
constructed for a cost of $36,525. 

This year, as is the custom, the home’s owners 
of over 60 years, vacated the property about 
six months ago, in order for work to begin. 
After an “Empty House” event kicked off the 
transformation efforts, sixteen interior design 
firms and eleven exterior design firms coordinated 
work from over fifty individual designers for this 
year’s presentation.

The magic of Showcase House is its entree into a 
bygone era, a glimpse into the “upper crust” life 
most of us will never personally experience, in 
what was described in a 1945 LA Times article as, 
“the most authentic 17th century (style) English 
home in this country.” 

The flip side of the excitement of Showcase House 
is the opportunity to see cutting edge design, and 
meet the designers. Many potential clients take 
this opportunity to evaluate the style, personality 
and the work product of several designers when 
in the decision process on a remodel or design 
update.

The presentation from the street is breathtaking, 
with traditional, English style, red brick exterior, 
the distinctive hipped and gabled rooflines and 
chimneys. Inside, the grand reception hall has 
been installed with an iron chandelier, sconces and 
original artwork, then softened with furnishing 
vignettes by George Massar Design of LA.

The Great Room, quite stunning even in its 
“empty room” state before the showcase project, 
boasts a vaulted wood ceiling, leaded windows 
and a hand carved fireplace. David Dalton, also 
of LA, created custom designed furnishings with 
multiple seating areas for the massive room, in a 
dramatic décor palette in black and gold, accented 
by “Geranium Red, Carnation Pink and Dahlia 
Orange,” according to the designer.

The kitchen is unexpectedly small by today’s 
kitchen-family room designs, but offers ample 
room for gourmet meal preparation by Yorkshire 
Kitchens of Pasadena. Jan Legard returned the 
room to its original 1920’s footprint and refinished 
vintage floors, with today’s appliances, built-ins 
and functionality.

The dining area can’t just be called a dining room. 
It’s the banquet room. Amy DeVault Interior 
Design featured the eye popping, intricate ceiling 
in white, complemented by a custom chandelier.

The guys will probably flock to Garage Envy’s 
Carriage House, with its cool, custom lighting 
created from welding tanks, flat screen TV and 
wine chiller amid the period architecture. 

The 1940’s pool area was updated by Pacific 
Outdoor Living, with pavestone decking, and 
what is engineered to look like a natural creek 
feeding the pool. 

This year’s home offers a particularly diverse 
group of designers, with a range of design 
interpretations that are inspired, practical, 
elegant, cutting edge, and sometimes even quirky, 
like the (Alice in)Wonderland outdoor tea room, 
with moss mushrooms, oversize croquet balls, 
decking reminiscent of a chess board and hanging 
windows for “room” definition. 

The plethora of ideas that can be applied in bits 
and pieces to much smaller scale projects, so bring 
your notebook, and feel free to ask questions! Plan 
at least an hour or two for your tour, an amble 
through the shops and perhaps a bite to eat!

Proceeds from the 35,000 anticipated visitors to 
this year’s Showcase and other PSHA donations 
help fund three annual music programs, award 
gifts and grants to other nonprofit organizations 
providing music oriented programs like music 
therapy, music education, scholarships and 
concert underwriting. Over the 47 years, over 
$17 million has been raised to support the music 
programs, LA Philharmonic and Walt Disney 
Concert Hall.

Two Sierra Madre businesses will showcase their 
wares at the Shops at Showcase tent, where 25% of 
the sales price is tax deductible. Look for Kersting 
Court’s gourmet food vendor, Savor the Flavor, 
and the town’s children’s store, Once Upon a Time. 
An alfresco restaurant, sited on the home’s tennis 
court, will serve daily from 9 a.m. to close.

Showcase tickets are $30-$40, and can be ordered 
by mail, by calling (714) 442-3872 or online at 
www.PasadenaShowcase.org. 

A few reminders for the day of viewing: Wear flat 
shoes; no photography is permitted, and no children 
under twelve are allowed. Check for the day’s 
parking location (usually at the Rose Bowl with a 
few exception dates). 

Unfortunately, the site is not handicapped accessible, 
due to its historic design and hilly terrain.


SIERRA MADRE’S BEAUTIFUL HOMES ...

If you would like to see an on-line video showing 78 beautiful homes in 
Sierra Madre go to youtube.com and search Sierra Madre California 
Homes Or Sierra Madre’s Beautiful Homes.


DON’T GIVE IT 
AWAY

CENTURY 21 VILLAGE HONORED

While indicators show that housing is 
making a comeback, the glut of negative 
reporting is still making people skittish 
about buying a home. This has created a hot 
rental market, with few places available to 
lease and rising rent rates. Consider some 
reasons why it’s always better to own than 
to rent.

First, as owner, you are your own landlord. 
You won’t be kicked out for any reason other 
than not making your mortgage payments. 
You control every other aspect of how you 
choose to live in your home.

Even more important, those monthly 
payments are a kind of forced savings, 
helping you to build equity. Although it’s 
possible that home values could fall further, 
the same could happen to your 401(k). But 
over the long term, both types of investment 
are more likely to see gains.

Right now, interest rates are still very low, 
which means that if you choose a fixed-rate 
mortgage, that rate will never change, and 
you will build equity at an even quicker pace.

Another reason to opt for the ownership 
route is that you’ll find - particularly now 
with so few leases available - that the nicest 
homes in the safest neighborhoods with the 
best schools will be offered for sale and not 
for rent. Consult with an agent and turn 
that rent payment into savings and security 
instead.

 Andy Bencosme, Managing Broker of CENTURY 
21 Village in Sierra Madre recently returned from 
Las Vegas after attending the CENTURY 21 International 
convention held at the Mirage Hotel. Bencosme 
told the agents present at a recent office and 
marketing meeting that he was “very impressed 
with the office’s success in 2010.”

The office was honored with the coveted Ambassador 
Award which honors elite CENTURY 21 offices 
that have achieved the President’s Award 5 times in 
the past 7 years. This award is achieved by offices 
that produce both a High Level of Sales and achieve 
High Levels of Customer Satisfaction. It is represented 
by a beautiful Crystal trophy. They also received 
the Quality Service Pinnacle Award for 2010 
which is decided by positive customer surveys of the 
agents after a transaction is completed. 

Agents Nazee Rix, Emily Duggan & Julie Muttavangkul 
were also recognized with several awards for 
their sales volume and quality service due to their 
total dedication to their clients.

 Bencosme reported that keynote speakers at the 
convention were Aron Ralston (the man whose 
hand was crushed and pinned by a boulder in Utah’s 
canyon country and whose story is depicted in the 
current film '127 Hours') and Jillian Michaels, one of 
the leading health and wellness experts in the country, 
currently featured on the TV Show "The Biggest 
Loser." 

Richard Davis, the president & CEO of Century 
21 Corporate was in attendance and welcomed all 
of the brokers and agents to the convention. Davis 
told all present that “across our CENTURY 21 team, 
from Marketing to Operations to Field Services, 
we’ll show you our plans to take the industry by 
storm as the Smarter, Bolder, Faster and more innovative 
brand that everyone will be talking about.

There was also and array of classes and seminars for 
the agents to attend during the convention and one 
of the favorites was the “New Technology for Real 
Estate.” REO Speedwagon the rock group from the 
late sixties and early seventies were the entertainment 
headliners. Bencosme said that the event was 
very educational, motivational and informative.

 

All of the friendly agents at CENTURY 21 Village 
Realty can be reached at 38 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. in 
Sierra Madre or by telephone 626.355.1451 or on the 
internet at www.c21village.com.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com