HomeReal Estate NewsShowcase House Opens to Public

Showcase House Opens to Public

The 2016 Showcase House in La Cañada Flintridge is now open for the public to tour.

Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts hosted its Premiere Night on Friday, April 15 when guests were able to get a first look at the 2-acre property, including the Mission Revival main house built in 1918.

The home, formerly known as Dryborough Hall, is believed to be designed by famous architect Myron Hunt for restaurateur Leon C. Riggs. The 16,000-square-foot main residence has six bedrooms and five bathrooms. The property also includes a two-bedroom, two-bathroom 2,032-square-foot guesthouse, a pool and spa, and a horse corral.

Nearly 30 designers spent the last two months transforming the house and property, using a specifically chosen color palette to reflect what was popular during the time that the house was constructed.

Showcase House President Gretchen McNally said there are certain requirements that have to be met when choosing a particular home to be a Showcase House, such as it has to be at least 10,000 square feet, have two staircases and enough land to be able to support a restaurant and shops.

“This house was chosen because it is a gorgeous house and because it’s also historically significant,” she said. “This land originally belonged to Sen. Frank Putnam Flint of Flintridge. Another thing that’s terrific about this house is that it has never been added onto. It has been remodeled, but it is as it was built in 1918.”

She said there seems to be a theme every year with the designs of the Showcase House, and this year’s appears to be birds.

McNally called the house spectacular.

“Designers inside and out have done a marvelous job,” she said.

Money raised by the Showcase House goes back into the community to support music and arts programs in the San Gabriel Valley.

“All of the proceeds from the Pasadena Showcase House of Design go to charity,” Benefit Chair Marilyn Anderson said.

It partners with the Pasadena Conservatory of Music for its Music Mobile program when PCM members visit more than 30 schools in the San Gabriel Valley to explain orchestral instruments. Students are able to handle and play these instruments.

Pasadena Showcase House funds also support sending San Gabriel Valley fourth-graders to Walt Disney Concert Hall for its Youth Concert program.

“They actually get to see one of their first symphonic orchestra compositions at Disney Hall,” Anderson said. “It’s so heartwarming and touching because you see these kids dressed to the nines.”

The Showcase House sponsors an Instrumental Competition that has provided more than $500,000 in prize money throughout the years as well as numerous gifts and grants for music education.

TasteBuds Culinary is catering this year’s Showcase House restaurant, “The Berkshire.” The Moroccan-inspired Saffron Lounge is located in the estate’s basement in a room that used to be a speakeasy during Prohibition.

Showcase House entry hours from now until May 15 are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. It is closed on Mondays. Ticket prices range from $35-$45. There will be complimentary parking and shuttle service from the Pasadena Rose Bowl Lot 1 at 360 North Arroyo Blvd. Tickets can be purchased at www.pasadenashowcase.org or by calling 714-442-3872.

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