Mountain Views News          Saturday, March 31, 2012

SECTION B

SATURDAY MARCH 31, 2012

VOLUME 6 NO. 13

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

 
Does your century old home have a 
pedigree? A storied past? Tim Gregory, 
the Building Biographer can research it 
and tell you all about it! 

One of only a few acknowledged house 
historians in the country, Gregory faced 
a bit of a midlife crisis some years back. 
After twenty years as a librarian in 
public libraries, Gregory decided he wanted to do something 
different with his life.

He went back to school and got a second master’s degree in Public 
History and Historic Preservation from Cal State Dominguez 
Hills, and took a part time job as an archivist at the Pasadena 
Historical Society (now known as the Pasadena Museum of 
History).

Gregory got quite a few calls from both homeowners as well 
as Realtors, asking about what was available about area homes 
in the museum’s collections. He already knew the Society had 
quite a bit of information on local homes, their architecture and 
histories.

He reflects that he saw a turning point in local sentiment 
switch from tearing down older homes, to increased interest, 
particularly in Pasadena which is rich in century old homes, 
in preserving the architectural history of individual homes, 
neighborhoods and cities.

As a founder of the Altadena Heritage group as well as an active 
member of the Pasadena Heritage group, he decided to try out 
whether people would pay for the type of research he loved to do 
about topics near and dear to his heart. An invitation to speak 
in front of the Pasadena Board of Realtors about his capabilities 
bolstered his resolve to create this niche career for himself.

Over 2500 research projects later, the answer is a resounding yes. 

As Gregory’s reputation grew, his work has branched out from 
Pasadena, and only about a third of his history requests come 
from the San Gabriel Valley these days. Most of the balance 
comes from the greater Los Angeles County. 

He got to know the ins and out of other places in the county 
to get the type of information people wanted to know about 
their homes. He regularly descends into the map room in the 
downtown LA, County Recorder’s office to review old records. 
As a preserver of this precious history, He learned that many old 
homes are identified in the building department by the name of 
the original owner, rather than the address.

The first step is to establish when the first improvement shows up 
on the property. He finds the census information from “the old 
days” very detailed and fascinating, with number of children and 
servants, what occupations they held, and more.

With an owner name he starts his research online, with “who’s 
Who”, and various other indexes at the Los Angeles Public 
Library. Even the old card file is now available online, and 
cardholders can use this database for free.

Owners of old homes seem to particularly love to see newspaper 
advertisements from a century ago, describing their homes. 
Often, the architect is listed, especially on the larger homes, and 
this provides another area to research. 

A publication called Southwest Builder and Contractor was a 
weekly magazine until the 1960’s offers a wealth of information 
just waiting to be mine by the savvy researcher for interested 
homeowners and Realtors. This work, however, requires a 
patient eye, since the archive is not indexed, and requires sifting 
through microfilm.

One delighted customer thanked Gregory for adding about $30k 
to his sales price, as Gregory’s research validated the home’s 
design “pedigree” by a famous architect.

The LA County Assessor’s district offices are another source 
of data back to the 1920’s, though this may required a drive to 
Sylmar, South El Monte, etc. depending on the location of the 
home in question. Assessors used to sketch a footprint of the 
home, and draw in alterations, a nice added touch, according to 
Gregory. This allows him to “carbon date” some of the changes in 
a home. This information isn’t open public record, however, and 
the current owner’s authorization is required. 

Sometimes his research turns up data that doesn’t please the 
owners or the Realtors. Often homes touted as “star-owned” are 
not. Gregory chuckled, “A lot of properties listed say ‘Mae West 
lived here’ but that’s rarely the case. West owned a lot of property 
so she may have been an owner, or had a financial interest in 
the property, but not many can accurately claim that “Mae West 
slept here.”

His sleuthing activities have turned up the storied past of some 
homes. Like the house in the Hollywood Hills with phone lines 
galore in the basement. Surprise surprise… Turns out a former 
owner was a bookie, and ran his operation from the basement.

Other homes presented a 
puzzlement. Sometimes 
owners just want to know 
why a home’s feature appears. 
Experience has taught 
Gregory that Altadena and 
Glendale were popular spots 
for speakeasies, and when homes turn up with huge basements, 
and perhaps an escape tunnel or two to the street below, think 
Prohibition, speakeasy and bathtub gin.

Gregory’s favorite home designer? “It has to be Anna Latham. 
She designed and built her own houses. She did some of the 
finest designs I have ever seen. No one really knew about her.” 
Gregory has uncovered a surprising number of women in what 
was considered a man’s field of home design and construction. 
“Often they used only initials instead of full names, or a company 
name. For instance, Dulux Building Company was owned by a 
woman.”

When researching a home in San Marino, documentation 
indicated the property had a train shed on the homesite. 
Gregory looked up the history of local train lines, and no answer 
to this mystery came to mind. Turns out he was completely 
on the wrong track, pun intended. A previous owner collected 
miniature trains, and built a shed to display his hobby.

Only one ghost story has come across his desk. This case came 
up in the San Rafael Hills of Pasadena, in a home designed by 
Paul Williams. A couple purchased a home from an old woman 
who died. 

The couple started a remodel, including tearing out walls. One 
owner got up during the night and saw an apparition of a woman 
with her hair tied up in a bun, and a dog on a leash. The other 
owner then admitted, “I was reluctant to mention it, but… “I saw 
her too, a few weeks ago!” Later, the couple found a photo of the 
same lady, hair in a bun, with Fido by her side. After that, the 
ghost was never seen again, apparently finally at rest.

For more information, contact Tim Gregory, The Building 
Biographer, at 626-792-7465, or through his website, www.
BuildingBiographer.com 

TIM GREGORY, THE BUILDING BIOGRAPHER


Photo by Steven Alfano Gallerie


HOW TO BUY LIKE 
A SELLER

If you're in the market to buy a home, take a counter-intuitive tip and imagine the day you'll 
be selling it. That's right - whether you're a first time buyer, or relocating, this home probably 
won't be your last, so look for features that will pay off when the day comes to move 
again.

North, south, east or west, the biggest amenity the next buyer will look for is central air 
conditioning. In the Deep South, over 90% of buyers rank central air as critically important, 
and three-quarters of buyers everywhere else put it high on the list.

Another often-overlooked feature is storage. Over half of buyers desire a two-car garage 
and a walk-in closet for the master bedroom. Ample closets and storage space just can't be 
stressed enough.

If at all possible, avoid costly upgrades and offer incentive down the road by purchasing an 
energy efficient home with newer windows, pervasive insulation, and Energy Star appliances. 
If the home is already wired for cable, satellite, and high-speed Internet, so much the 
better.

Finally, it’s still all about location, location, location. It's the one thing you can't change 
about the home you buy, so look for good schools (even if you don't have children) and 
proximity to shopping and recreation. Just ask your agent about the most popular features 
in your area and take heed!

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