Ghostly

I've always loved the way the Eddie Park house looks at night in black and white...

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Lovely Decay

by Laurie Allee

"The Buddha knew one thing science didn't prove for millennia after his death: Entropy increases.  Things fall apart."  --John Green, Looking for Alaska

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South Pasadena: Movie Backlot

I remember watching movies set in neighborhoods with Craftsman houses nestled into tree-lined streets and wondering where IS that?

Turns out, a lot of those films were shot in South Pas.  While some people might be annoyed living among so many film and TV productions, I think it's fun to be a small part of the dream factory.  (Plus, it's kind of exciting to see your street in a Steve Carrell movie...)

I've only gotten a few checks from a studio in the almost ten years I've lived here.  One was merely for using my driveway to stage equipment for a CSI shoot down the street.  Thanks, Hollywood!

I put together the above video a few years ago, so it is missing quite a few productions.  (In fact, I've barely scratched the surface of South Pas film and television history.)   I think I might need to make a Part 2.  

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Thanks for the Request! Links to All Glimpses of South Pasadena Videos

South Pasadena Neighborhood Views

I received a great email from long-time reader Sally wanting to know how to directly access all of my Glimpses of South Pasadena photo slideshows and videos.  Thank you for your interest, my good pal Sally!  In case there are others who would also like access to all of the videos:

Here's a link to a list of all posts that include video.  

Here's a link directly to my YouTube Channel.

In the meanwhile, click above for a video of some of my favorite South Pasadena neighborhood views.  

Stay tuned for more! (I know, I know, I've been promising extended video interviews and documentary-style pieces for almost a year now.  Don't rush me.) 

Want to leave a message or start a conversation?  Perhaps link to one of YOUR videos?  Head over to the Glimpses of South Pasadena Community Forum and do just that.

Craftsman Homes of South Pasadena

Take a look at some of South Pasadena's Craftsman homes

If you move to South Pasadena, chances are you have an affinity (possibly bordering on obsession) for the Arts and Crafts movement. You’ll find hundreds of Craftsman homes in these few square miles, one after another, tucked humbly under generations-old shade trees like little zen mushrooms.

Exploring Oaklawn in South Pasadena

Explore Oaklawn with me!

In 1904, a brand new residential development was taking shape in a peaceful orange grove at the northern end of South Pas.  Although it contained only one large oak tree, it was called Oaklawn.  "The good life," South Pasadena Realty and Investment Company promised, "is in South Pasadena."

South of Huntington

Check out the neighborhoods south of Huntington

When I first moved to South Pasadena, I thought the city's southernmost border was Huntington Drive.  It's a logical assumption: Huntington is a major thoroughfare.  It seems like some kind of line of demarcation.

As it turns out, the corner of Huntington and Fair Oaks was once the junction of the Pasadena Short Line and the Monrovia Line -- two important Big Red Car trolley routes.  After Henry E. Huntington incorporated the Pacific Electric Railway Company in 1901, he began work on what would eventually develop into the largest interurban electric rail system in the world...

Walking Around South Pas Neighborhoods...

So many different kinds of houses!

When I first moved to South Pasadena from the west side, I couldn't get over how beautiful it was.  It's not that my former neighborhood near the Santa Monica Airport wasn't nice.  It was great.  But South Pasadena had so many different kinds of houses nestled among so many different kinds of trees ... it was kind of overwhelming.  In a good way.  I started exploring my neighborhood on foot, and kept walking until I'd covered most of the sidewalks in town.  

Here I am, almost 9 years later, still looking around with a sense of wonder.  (My dog Rocky is always game to join me on a walk.)

Isn't it pretty here?

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Beautiful Decay

I have always looked upon decay as being just as wonderful and rich an expression of life as growth.
--Henry Miller

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Gated Grandeur

This mysterious gate leads to a Florentine palazzo-inspired mansion designed by Reginald D. Johnson and built in 1916 as a winter residence the distinguished John S. Tanner of Chicago.  (How could Mr. Tanner ever go back to the hectic windy city after spending the holidays strolling around this dreamy spot?)

Known for years as the Tanner-Behr house, it was later dubbed Villa Arno by another owner, referring to both Italy as well as to her husband Arno Behr.  (I personally call it Villa Incognito, for obvious reasons.)

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Homes Sweet Homes

I've been charmed by the homes in South Pasadena ever since my husband and I actually bought one of them and moved here 8 years ago!  I made the video above several years ago, highlighting some of the varied and beautiful houses around town.  I've been busily shooting more home pictures, so there will be a Part 2 video coming very soon.

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Storybook House

Every time I think I've found a favorite house in South Pas, I find yet another one that I adore.  This one is right out of a fairytale, don't you think?

I'm in a South Pasadena Home Tour kind of mood these days, so look for more shots of picturesque homes.  It's no wonder so many film crews shoot in and around our city.   Here's my highlight reel of famous South Pas film and TV production settings:

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Craftsman in the Shadows

Hmmm.

I think it might be time for another Craftsman Challenge!

Simple Truth

"There is no blue without yellow."

--Vincent Van Gogh

Noir Moderne

“I wouldn't presume to define noir - if we could define it, we wouldn't need to use a French word for it - but it seems to me it's more a way of looking at the world than what one sees.”

― Lawrence Block

Noir Week (#3)

“It seemed like a nice neighborhood to have bad habits in.”
― Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep

Noir Week continues here at Glimpses. Join me as I lurk around in the shadows for a few more days.

Priorities

If there was ever a question about whether South Pasadena loves its trees, let this homestead offer up a hearty affirmative. For generations, homeowners have allowed the front yard tree to have its way with the lot -- front door be damned!

I've featured this home before, but I haven't quite captured the whimsy of it. I mean honestly ... that tree!

Chimney

"Mommy, all I know is that if I were Santa I'd hope this family was on the naughty list. Just look at that chimney. It's impossible!"

(Today is the first day of the month and that means it's Theme Day for participating City Daily photo bloggers. Today's theme is Chimneys. For a look at some of Santa's other worldwide choices, see the contributions of my fellow bloggers. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.)

Widescreen Craftsman

What do you do with the challenge of photographing Craftsman houses? Sneak up on them in bright afternoon light, zero in on a piece of the architecture and go for a widescreen view!

(Well, that's my latest strategy. How am I doing?)

iPhone Noir

I once had a professor who insisted that some of the most haunting film noir scenes did not take place in shadowy alleys or low-rent bars, but rather in ordinary suburban settings that seemed innocuous on the surface, but hinted at something lurking below. Remember that insane carousel scene from Strangers on a Train? I had an entirely new view of amusement parks after seeing that film.

David Lynch's Blue Velvet probably cornered the market on creepiness beneath the picket fences of suburbia, but that film built on the foundation of the works of writers like James Cain and Raymond Chandler. To this day, I can't look at a happy Mayberry scene without imagining the way Chandler would have described it.

I remember being surprised to learn that Chandler lived in some truly white-bread neighborhoods in Los Angeles County. I always pictured him in a seedy walk-up in Hollywood, not a cozy little bungalow in Monrovia. But maybe he understood what my film professor was trying to say. Maybe he liked imagining potential darkness inside every sunny American dream.

(I think Chandler would have loved the iPhone MoreMono app. It turns everything into Marlowe's playground.)