Mountain Views News          Saturday, April 28, 2012

12

HOMES & PROPERTY

 Mountain Views-News Saturday, April 28, 2012 

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


A Mother’s Day Tradition 
in Monrovia…

Celebrate by Touring 
Dramatic Vintage Homes!

Once again, the Monrovia Old Home Preservation 
Group (MOHPG) will host their yearly Mother’s Day 
tour on May 13th from 10-4, with four vintage homes, a 
modern Craftsman iteration, plus the century old First 
Baptist Church open for viewing.

Two historic homes never open to the public on previous 
tours, will be featured this year. The first, an expansive Hillcrest Boulevard 
Victorian, built in 1888, will welcome tour visitors. A recent, yearlong remodel 
has piqued keen interest from Victorian home lovers in the area. A favorite of 
passersby in North Monrovia, the home features a deep wraparound porch, with 
towers on the east and west ends of the home.

 Also new to the tour this year is the 1920’s era, Château des Rêves home. Translated 
from the French, the home’s name means “Castle of Dreams.” A French Norman 
cottage with a dramatic, two-story circular turret, the second story windows not 
only bring ample natural light to the home, but provide natural venting, cooling 
the home during summer’s hot days.

Located on an unusually long triangular homesite bordering three streets, 
Greystone, Shamrock and Norumbega, it is situated on what was once the border 
between two ranchos, the Santa Anita and the Azusa de Duarte. The property is 
believed to have been a stagecoach stop during that era.

 Château des Rêves was custom built for the original owner, artist Frederick Melville DuMond, 
a painter known for his renderings of the American Southwest. The home is sure to delight and 
surprise; full of medieval flavor, whimsy, artistic dalliances, hand hewn beams, carved figures and 
murals.

Just purchased by the current owners a year ago, Château des Rêves has never been on the MOHPG 
annual home tour, so only a handful of people in the community have ever seen its interior. Previous 
owners had occupied the home for 42 years. According to James Wigton, MOHPG president, the 
owners have “begun a modest restoration which is true to the artistic talent and original design of 
DuMond.”

 Wigton went on to describe, “DuMond felled the trees and hewed the beams himself. Carved 
figures (in the home) represent the joker, the judge, the monk, and the devil, and a six foot square 
mural of “Old King Cole” adorns the sloping ceiling on one side of the room. DuMond’s artistic and 
creative talent is obvious throughout the rest of the house, as evidenced by the many painted wall murals, 
including one in the shower! The peaceful atmosphere inside is augmented by the recently certified wildlife 
habitat on the outside.”

Monrovia landmark home #13, constructed in 1908, is on North Myrtle. This exemplary Craftsman 
is surrounded by an expansive porch with its original granite supports and detailing. In its second 
appearance on the tour, the interior has been completed remodeled, yet the exterior has been 
preserved a century of its classic original, Craftsman design.

A unique twist to the tour includes a newly constructed home, also on N. Myrtle, in what Wigton 
dubs a “modern version of folk Victorian.” The property previously had an 1896 Folk Victorian home 
on it spanning two lots. Numerous city meetings were held in 2010 regarding the process to build a 
new home on the property.

The fourth vintage home is a 1921 English Stucco cottage on South Shamrock. Since its last appearance 
on the Mother’s Day tour, the home has been extensively remodeled inside.

The First Baptist Church, celebrating its 100th anniversary in its Monrovia location, after its initial 
1881 founding in Duarte, is making its second appearance on the tour. Of particular interest are the 
many preserved, stained glass windows. 

The Monrovia Historical Museum, located at 742 E. Lemon Avenue, in Recreation Park, a historic 
building itself, will be open for viewing as well, offering many exhibits on live in the foothills a century 
ago.

The MOHPG is one of the largest non-profit groups in Monrovia, with an active membership of over 200, who expend great effort to make “a tangible different in the appearance and livability of our 
community” per the MOHPG website. 

The organization’s first tour took place in 1982, and hosted about 75 people, and has grown ever since. This year, nearly 1000 are expected to tour the open properties.

Ticket cost is $17 for adults, $14 for Senior over 65, $9 for teens and children 12 and under are free with a paid adult ticket. For more information, visit the organization’s website, www.mohpg.org. 

IF YOU WANT TO SEE TWO MORE VICTORIAN HOMES… 

If you still hunger for even MORE Victorian homes to see in Monrovia on Mother’s Day, one of last year’s tour highlights is currently offered for sale at $1,450,000 and will be open Mother’s Day from 
1-4 p.m. Visit www.225MonroePlace.com for details. 

Both Monroe Place and another fabulous Victorian, 225 North Lima, Sierra Madre, also known as the Pinney House, were featured this spring in this column when they came on the market. The 10,000 square foot 
Pinney House, listed at $2,795,000, will be open twice in May, on May 6th and May 20th, from 1-4 p.m., though not on Mother’s Day. For more information, visit the home’s website, www.225NorthLima.com. 

Have an interesting home garden or person who helps create them, that might be of interest to our readers? Contact C.Bertrand@MVObserver.com. 


Hillcrest Victorian


Historic Craftsman

New Folk Victorian


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!