Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 28, 2011

17

HOMES AND PROPERTY

Mountain Views-News Saturday, May 28, 2011 


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

LEGENDARY DEVELOPMENT COMPLETES 28 TERRA BELLA CONDOS IN OLD TOWN PASADENA

I was lucky enough to 
attend THE Pasadena and 
Foothills Magazine’s 50 
Fabulous Women event as a 
2011 honoree this week. The 
gala was held in the rooftop 
gardens atop the newly 
completed Terra Bella project 
at 155 Cordova Street in 
Old Pasadena. Over 400 
people enjoyed the luxury 
venue’s elegant entertaining 
spaces designated for use of the future homeowners, 
as a result of the generous support of local, 
family-owned development company, Legendary 
Developments, LLC.

 The following day, Podley Properties agent, Pamela 
Cimino, took me on a “backstage” tour of the 
project. Cimino, based in the Sierra Madre office, 
is one of the agency’s designated team of buyer’s 
agents who staff Terra Bella each weekend from 2-6 
p.m. Important components of the building are its 
privacy and security, driven by design and technology 
that allows residents and their guests access to 
only the specific floor on a specific elevator, with 
only two units per floor for each of the three elevator 
banks. 

A key fob system and video security, coupled 
with a mobile technology, allows door and elevator 
release onsite and remotely. This generates the 
secluded feeling of a single family residence, plus 
the easy control of who comes in and out, and easy 
last minute changes demanded by today’s buyers in 
super luxury buildings.

 Legendary Development has opted for technology 
and amenities instead of a concierge system, 
which significantly reduces the HOA fees from the 
typical $1200 for nearby concierge buildings to a 
monthly fee under $600 for typical units. 

 Milena Soni, wife of one of the developers, has 
been intimately involved with Terra Bella and 
with Sabine, and shared some of her personal insights 
on the company’s projects. “I’ve been onsite 
through construction, here almost every day. I give 
them the woman’s touch.” Cimino commented, 
“If you look at the storage and cabinetry, there’s 
no wasted space at all in these two projects. That’s 
Milena’s doing.” 

Everywhere you’ll see the mark of the “features 
and amenities typically reserved for the rich and famous 
or extravagant resorts” to use the Legendary 
verbiage. In fact, Soni collaborated with Beth Ann 
Shepard of Dressed to Close, Los Angeles, the design 
firm known for their work at the Beverly Hills 
Montage. 

With several floorplans and two styles of buildout, 
modern and transitional, no two units opening 
on the same elevator stop will look similar. Inside, 
you’ll find Viking Professional appliances, sumptuous 
exotic marbles and stone utilized in slab 
and unusual designs and cuts, sleek black custom 
cabinetry, dramatic dark hardwood floors, steam 
showers or jetted tubs and nine foot ceiling in most 
rooms. In the main floor’s common areas, residents 
can reserve the conference/dining room with 
adjacent catering kitchen, the salon and outdoor 
seating area for personal or business events. Up on 
the roof, nearly 10,000 square feet of recreation and 
relaxation and entertaining space awaits residents’ 
every whim. A fitness center, of course, looks out to 
the pool and mountain views. Six cabanas provide 
shaded respite and three barbecue areas, including 
a catering station allow for an elegant, chef quality, 
“back yard” barbecue. 

Other projects on the horizon? Milena Soni indicated 
that their next Pasadena project in the works 
is a 45,000 square foot commercial space on 130-
40 N. Fair Oaks, which is currently in the planning 
process. A Century City project on Beverly Glen 
is on track for August completion, and an 80 unit 
Glendale tower on N. Central is scheduled for a 
2014 completion.

 The 27 remaining Terra Bella residences are 
listed for $895,000 to $1,525,000 for the units from 
1569 s.f. to 2344 s.f. and at $2,850,000 for the 3949 
s.f. penthouse, which includes 1344 square feet of 
patio/balcony space. Cimino, who is also on Terra 
Bella’s sister project’s team at Sabine, indicated that 
all but six units of the Sabine on Lake project at 633 
S. Lake in Pasadena are sold or in escrow at this 
point, offered from $995,000 to $1,495,000. 

 

Terra Bella, 155 Cordova Street in Pasadena, is 
open every weekend from 2-6 p.m. For more information, 
contact The Ratliff Team at Podley Properties, 
626-408-1430 or visit the project’s website, 
http://www.LegendaryDev.com”www.LegendaryDev.
com.


2011 ALHAMBRA HISTORIC HOME TOUR TO SHOWCASE 
SIX DISTINCTIVE HOMES IN THE “PACIFIC ELECTRIC 
SUBURB” NORTHWEST REGION OF ALHAMBRA 

Ian Whitcomb & His Bungalow Boys & 

Sweet Adelines Headline Festivities


IF THEY 

SHOULD ASK

When you tell friends and family you’re going to buy or sell a home, and they ask, “Why are you 
working through a real estate agent when you can just use the internet,” how will you respond? Your first 
answer should be to have a professional handle all the paperwork - disclosure forms, inspection reports, 
deeds and titles, settlement statements... they’ll get the picture.

 You could describe your representative’s knowledge about the area - schools, zoning, and property 
values. You want to know that the neighborhood matches your needs, and that your home holds resale 
value for the future.

 Tell them there’s more to advertising than websites, and that your agent will more likely find a buyer 
instead through their relationships with other agents and past and current clients. Not to mention the 
fact that you don’t want complete strangers visiting your home, and you’re more comfortable knowing 
that your representative has screened and qualified all potential buyers.

 And once you’re on either side of an offer, you trust a professional’s ability to negotiate successfully 
when it comes to terms like price, financing, inspections and repairs, and other contractual commitments.

 Your final argument might be that most people may buy or sell a handful of homes in their lifetime, 
but your agent has been successful hundreds of times, on both sides of the transaction. Case closed!

This 1924 Colonial Revival home is one of six featured homes on the 2011 Alhambra Historic 
Home Tour presented by the Alhambra Preservation Group on Sunday, June 12, 2011.

Alhambra, CA -- Alhambra Preservation Group 
will open a selection of architecturally diverse 
and historically evocative homes in Alhambra’s 
distinctive northwest neighborhood to the public 
on Sunday, June 12, 2011 in conjunction with its 
2011 Alhambra Historic Home Tour. 

The 2011 Alhambra Historic Home Tour will 
be in the area bounded by Huntington Drive and 
Pine Street on the north, Alhambra Road on the 
south, Bushnell Avenue on the west and Atlantic 
Boulevard on the east.

Tour hours will be 11 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tickets 
will be sold on the day of the tour only at Alhambra 
Historical Society Museum, located at 1550 West 
Alhambra Road. Tickets are $20 per person. 

Tour-goers will be guided through the homes 
by docents knowledgeable about the fun facts 
and architectural highlights of each – and will be 
provided with an informative keepsake booklet by 
which to remember and revisit the details of this 
historic neighborhood and its homes. 

Rich in local history, this picturesque 
neighborhood (originally the Wuest, Bushnell, 
La Marguerita, Souders and La Senda housing 
tracts) was developed shortly after the turn of 
the 20th Century by real estate speculators eager 
to capitalize on the close proximity of a Pacific 
Electric Red Line, which traveled along present-
day Huntington Drive to and from downtown Los 
Angeles.

In the early 1990s, Alhambra was a sleepy 
farming community. Railroad magnate Henry 
E. Huntington owned much of the land in 
northwestern Alhambra, and he utilized his 
Pacific Electric Railway system to market this land. 
The first red car rolled down Huntington Drive 
in 1902, followed by an advertising campaign 
encouraging people to “Profit with the Prophet” 
by purchasing Alhambra lots.

This neighborhood, with charming homes 
built in the newest architectural styles. Was one 
of many San Gabriel Valley suburbs that popped 
up all along this Pacific Electric Red Line. Today, 
the neighborhood remains largely unchanged 
and features many of Alhambra’s most beautiful 
homes. (See attached home tour descriptions).

Rounding out the tour will be live musical 
performances by several ensembles and a 
windown restoration workshop:

Ian Whittcomb and His Bungalow Boys

British invasion veteran and Grammy-award 
winning recording artist Ian Whitcomb & His 
Bungalow Boys. With his unique performance 
style and eclectic repertoire of period music, 
Whitcomb, a British icon and music historian, 
has garnered a large and devoted following 
and, in 2008, was recognized by Los Angeles 
Magazine among the “Best of L.A.” In addition to 
maintaining a busy schedule of live performances, 
his music can be heard on the soundtracks of 
Hollywood films such as The Cat’s Meow and 
Stanley’s Gig. 

Sweet Adelines Quartet from the Verdugo 
Hills Showtime Chorus

The Sweet Adelines Quartet from the Verdugo 
Hills Showtime Chorus (VHSC), an award-
winning women’s chorus specializing in the art 
of four-part a cappella, barbershop style. Based in 
Southern California, the VHSC is comprised of 
women from across the greater Los Angeles area 
who join together weekly to perfect performing 
skills. Known for its singing excellence, the VHSC 
is a 13-time regional chorus champion who has 
also competed and medaled internationally.

Window Restoration Workshop

Ed Sanchez, owner of Window Restoration and 
Repair, will present a workshop on preserving 
and maintaining windows at the 2011 Alhambra 
Historic Home Tour on June 12, 2011. Ed Sanchez 
began his business in 2000 after working with 
windows since 1983. He demonstrates that 
restoring original windows is a wiser financial 
decision for homeowners than replacing them 
with new ones. His business specializes in the 
restoration of both wood and steel windows.

For more information about the 2011 Alhambra 
Home Tour, please call 626-755-3467, visit 
www.AlhambraPreservation.org or follow us on 
Facebook.

The Alhambra Preservation Group is a non-
profit organization formed in 2003 by Alhambra 
residents eager to promote and protect Alhambra’s 
rich and historic architectural heritage.

Podley Properties is proud to recognize Realtor Sue 
Lamb for receiving the 2011 Readers Choice Award 

Sue was voted Best Real Estate Agent in the San Gabriel Valley by 
subscribers of the Pasadena Star News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune and 
the Whittier Daily News. 

Known by her clients for her strong involvement within the 
community as well as her great expertise on home sales in the Pasadena, 
Sierra Madre and Monrovia areas. Sue has also served as a member 
of the La Salle High School parent and athletic board, Sierra Madre 
Chamber of Commerce, Monrovia Chamber of Commerce and many 
other volunteer organizations.

She has been a top producer with Podley Properties, year after year, 
earning the trust from first time buyers to multimillion dollar estates. 

We congratulate Sue on her “Best Realtor” award for the San Gabriel 
Valley!


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OPEN SUN 2-4PMOPEN SUN 2 - 4
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