Editing Pasadena, California (section)

==Arts and culture==
===Tournament of Roses Parade===
[[File:Tournament of Roses Parade 2010 Float.jpg|thumb|right|Theme float "2010: A Cut Above the Rest" rolling down Colorado Boulevard during the parade]]
{{Main|Tournament of Roses Parade}}
Pasadena is home to the Tournament of Roses Parade, held each year on January 1 (or on January 2, if the 1st falls on a Sunday). The first parade was held in 1890 and was originally sponsored by the [[Valley Hunt Club]], a Pasadena [[social club]]. The motivation for having the parade was, as member Professor Charles F. Holder said, "In New York, people are buried in snow. Here our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear. Let's hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise."<ref name="Rose">{{cite web |url=http://discoveringpasadena.com/tournament-of-roses-history |title=Tournament of Roses History |author=Administrator |website=discoveringpasadena.com |access-date=February 4, 2014 |archive-date=February 21, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221223954/http://discoveringpasadena.com/tournament-of-roses-history |url-status=live }}</ref>

By 1895, the festivities had outgrown the Valley Hunt Club, and the [[Pasadena Tournament of Roses|Tournament of Roses Association]] was formed to take charge of the parade. The Rose Parade, as it is familiarly known, traditionally features elaborate floats, bands and equestrian units. According to the organizers, "Every inch of every float must be covered with flowers, or other natural materials, such as leaves, seeds, or bark. On average a float requires about 100,000 flowers and greenery. Volunteer workers swarm over the floats in the days after Christmas, their hands and clothes covered with glue and petals."<ref name="float">{{cite web |url=http://tournamentofroses.com/events/floatdecorating.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050404205424/http://tournamentofroses.com/events/floatdecorating.asp |title=Float Decorating ~ Tournament of Roses |archive-date=April 4, 2005 }}</ref> The most perishable flowers are placed in small vials of water, which are placed onto the float individually. Over the almost 3 hours of the parade, floats, and participants travel over {{convert|5|mi|km|spell=in}}<ref name="float"/> and pass by over one million viewers who traditionally camp out over New Year's Eve to have the best view along the parade route.<ref name="weather1">{{cite web |url=http://uk.weather.com/events/events-Pasadena-USCA0840?eventId=42104&cat=2229 |title=Doo Dah Parade Event Details – weather.co.uk |publisher=Uk.weather.com |date=May 1, 2011 |access-date=January 8, 2012 |archive-date=January 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113152255/http://uk.weather.com/events/events-Pasadena-USCA0840?eventId=42104&cat=2229 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Rose Parade is satirized by the popular [[Doo Dah Parade]], an annual event that originated in Old Pasadena in 1978, and soon gained national notoriety.<ref name="Pasdd">{{cite web |url=http://www.pasadenadoodahparade.info/dd_info.htm |title=Pasadena Doo Dah Parade 2011 &#124; Information |publisher=Pasadenadoodahparade.info |access-date=January 8, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115185216/http://www.pasadenadoodahparade.info/dd_info.htm |archive-date=November 15, 2011 }}</ref> ''[[Reader's Digest]]'' named the Doo Dah Parade "America's Best Parade", and was a recent feature in ''50 Places You Must Visit Before You Die!''.<ref name="Pasdd" /> It was formerly held around Thanksgiving, a month before the Rose Parade,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pasadenadoodahparade.info/ |title=2011 Pasadena Doo Dah Parade – Welcome |publisher=Pasadenadoodahparade.info |date=April 30, 2011 |access-date=January 8, 2012 |archive-date=September 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120907075522/http://www.pasadenadoodahparade.info/ |url-status=live }}</ref> but the parade is now held in January. In 2011, after 33 years in Pasadena, the parade moved to East Pasadena for the first time.<ref name="weather1"/> It features unusual and absurd entrants such as the BBQ & Hibachi Marching Grill Team, the Men of Leisure, and the Bastard Sons of Lee Marvin.<ref name="Pasdd"/> Proceeds from the parade's pancake breakfast, T-shirts, and after-party are donated to charity.<ref name="Pasdd"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pasadenadoodahparade.info/dd_archive.htm |title=Pasadena Doo Dah Parade 2011 &#124; Archive |publisher=Pasadenadoodahparade.info |access-date=January 8, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115183156/http://www.pasadenadoodahparade.info/dd_archive.htm |archive-date=November 15, 2011 }}</ref>

The Tournament of Roses also auditions local female high school students to be part of the Rose Court. There are total 7 candidates that advances to the Rose Court and one is chosen to be the Rose Queen and the others to be the Rose Princess. The Rose Court's main goal is to support local communities and local stores. They visit small stores owned by local residents to boost the activity of the area and to keep them in the current flow of the economics.

During the Rose Parade, the Rose Court members are also on a float, going through the parade together with the line of parades. The Rose Courts also represent their own local communities and their high school that they attend.

===Rose Bowl Game===
{{see also|Rose Bowl Game}}
The [[Rose Bowl (stadium)|Rose Bowl]], a [[National Historic Landmark]], is host of the first and most famous [[college football]] postseason [[bowl game]], the [[Pasadena Tournament of Roses|Tournament of Roses]] Rose Bowl Game, every New Year's Day. In 1895, the Tournament of Roses Association was formed to take charge of the parade. In 1902, the association declared that a football game would be added to the day's events. This was the first post-season college football game to be played on New Year's Day and is known as, "The Grandaddy of Them All"; many other football stadiums followed suit. After two decades, the game outgrew its original facility, and a new stadium was constructed in the Arroyo Seco area. The new stadium hosted its first New Year's Day football game in 1923. It was soon christened "The Rose Bowl", as was [[Rose Bowl Game|the game itself]].<ref name="Rose" />

The [[Rose Bowl (stadium)|Rose Bowl]], also holds annual Fourth of July events in its stadium. Due to fireworks being banned or illegal, people gather together at the Rose Bowl to watch the night sky light up with colorful fireworks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LAFD Reminds You All Fireworks in the City of L.A. are Illegal {{!}} City of Los Angeles |url=https://lacity.gov/highlights/lafd-reminds-you-all-fireworks-city-la-are-illegal |access-date=November 28, 2023 |website=lacity.gov }}</ref>

===Performing arts===
[[File:Pasadena Playhouse 2012-09-04 18-42-07.jpg|thumb|left|[[Pasadena Playhouse]]]]
The legendary [[Pasadena Playhouse]], the State Theater of California, is a member supported theater company that celebrated their centennial season in 2018. The theater puts on five shows a year. In 1937, the Pasadena Playhouse established a record as the only theatre in the United States to have staged the entire Shakespearean canon.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/pasadena-playhouse |title=Pasadena Playhouse {{!}} Los Angeles Conservancy |website=www.laconservancy.org |access-date=October 8, 2019 |archive-date=July 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711160635/https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/pasadena-playhouse |url-status=live }}</ref> Today, the Playhouse is known for their innovative productions.

The [[Pasadena Symphony and POPS|Pasadena Symphony]], founded in 1928, offers several concerts a year at the [[Ambassador Auditorium]] and the Pasadena Pops plays at the [[Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden]]. The Civic Center also holds a few traveling [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] shows each year.

Boston Court Performing Arts Center, opened in 2003, is near Lake and Colorado. Its resident theatre company, the award-winning The Theatre @ Boston Court, presents four productions a year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bostoncourt.com/ |title=Boston Court |access-date=May 2, 2009 |archive-date=February 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207115116/http://bostoncourt.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Music at the Court presents numerous music concerts each year, ranging from classical to [[jazz]]. The Friends of the Levitt organization presents a free summer concert series in Memorial Park, with the 2008 summer season marking its sixth year.
[[File:Pasadena Conservatory Wakely315101 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Pasadena Conservatory of Music]]
Beckman Auditorium and other venues on the Caltech campus present a wide range of performing arts, lectures, films, classes and entertainment events, primarily during the academic year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://events.caltech.edu/venues.html |title=Venues |publisher=Events.caltech.edu |access-date=January 8, 2012 |archive-date=October 15, 2009 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091015091343/http://events.caltech.edu/venues.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

For more than ten years, twice annually Pasadena's cultural institutions have opened their doors for free during ArtNight Pasadena,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.artnightpasadena.org |title=ArtNight Pasadena |access-date=May 2, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417072056/http://www.artnightpasadena.org/ |archive-date=April 17, 2009 }}</ref> offering the public a rich sampling of quality art, artifacts and music within the city. This has evolved into the yearly PasadenART Weekend,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pasadenaartweekend.org |title=Celebrate the Arts in Pasadena |access-date=May 2, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203003527/http://www.pasadenaartweekend.org/ |archive-date=December 3, 2013 }}</ref> a three-day citywide event which, as of 2007, encompasses ArtNight, ArtWalk, ArtHeritage, ArtMarket, and ArtPerformance, a vibrant outdoor music event showcasing emerging and nationally recognized talent. Free concerts take place on multiple stages throughout Old Pasadena.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.artnightpasadena.org/ |title=Art Night Pasadena |publisher=Art Night Pasadena |access-date=January 8, 2012 |archive-date=April 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417072056/http://www.artnightpasadena.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:2008-1226-Pasadena-001-AmbassadorCollege-pan.JPG|thumb|left|[[Ambassador Auditorium]]]]
[[Ambassador Auditorium]] was built under the guidance of [[Herbert W. Armstrong]] as both a facility to be used by the [[Worldwide Church of God]] for religious services and as a concert hall for public performances celebrating the performing arts. In 2007, the native Pasadena band [[Ozma (band)|Ozma]] reunited and produced the album ''Pasadena'' in tribute to the city. The album photos and artwork were shot at the [[Colorado Street Bridge (Pasadena, California)|Colorado Street Bridge]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, USA |url=https://www.gpsmycity.com/attractions/ambassador-auditorium-38583.html |access-date=June 15, 2023 |website=GPSmyCity |language=en }}</ref>

The 1960s song "[[The Little Old Lady from Pasadena]]" parodies a popular Southern California image of Pasadena as home to a large population of aged eccentrics. In the song, [[Jan and Dean]] sing of an elderly lady who drives a powerful "[[Dodge 330|Super Stock Dodge]]" [[muscle car]] and is "the terror of Colorado Boulevard". The [[Dead Kennedys]] paid a tribute to this archetypal song in the track "Buzzbomb From Pasadena" in the album ''[[Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death]]''. Pasadena was also the location of the 2012 film [[Project X (2012 film)|Project X]].

===Visual arts===
A number of artists of national repute, such as [[Guy Rose]], [[Alson S. Clark]], [[Marion Wachtel]] and [[Ernest A. Batchelder]], of the [[Arts and Crafts Movement]], made Pasadena their home in the early twentieth century. The formation of the [[California Art Club]], [[Stickney Memorial Art School]] (later known as Pasadena Arts Institute) and the [[Pasadena Society of Artists]] heralded the city's emergence as a regional center for the visual arts.

===Museums and galleries===
[[File:Pasadena History Museum.jpg|thumb|left|[[Pasadena Museum of History]]]]
Pasadena is home to a number of art museums and public galleries, including the [[Norton Simon Museum]]. The museum's collections include European paintings, sculpture, and tapestry; sculpture from [[South Asia|Southern Asia]]; and an extensive [[sculpture garden]]. The museum also has the [[contemporary art]] collection of its predecessor, the Pasadena Museum of Art, which focused on [[Modern art|modern]] and contemporary art before being taken over by Simon in the early 1970s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nortonsimon.org/art/ |title=Norton Simon Museum - About the Collection |publisher=Nortonsimon.org |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=March 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323084052/https://www.nortonsimon.org/art/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Preserving and sharing the rich history and culture of Pasadena and its adjacent communities is the [[Pasadena Museum of History]]. Located on a campus of {{convert|2|acre|m2}}, it has gardens, a history center, the Finnish Folk Art Museum, the Curtin House, and the Fenyes Mansion, a 1906 [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux Arts]]-style architectural residence and a Pasadena Cultural Heritage Landmark.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of PMH |url=http://pasadenahistory.org/history-of-pasadena-museum-of-history/ |website=Pasadena Museum of History |date=December 7, 2012 |access-date=February 1, 2017 |archive-date=February 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219210632/http://pasadenahistory.org/history-of-pasadena-museum-of-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Pacific Asia Museum, with a garden courtyard in its center, features art from the many countries and cultures of Asia. The nearby [[Pasadena Museum of California Art]] (recently closed) hosts changing exhibitions of work by historical and contemporary California artists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pmcaonline.org/ |title=PMCA.org Welcome |publisher=Pmcaonline.org |access-date=January 8, 2012 |archive-date=January 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106031857/http://www.pmcaonline.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Armory Center for the Arts]] has an extensive exhibition program as well as serving as a center for art education for all ages.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.armoryarts.org/ |title=Armory Center for the Arts web site |publisher=Armoryarts.org |access-date=January 8, 2012 }}</ref> Art Center College of Design offers exhibitions at its Williamson Gallery, as well as frequent displays of student work.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.artcenter.edu/williamson/ |title=Alyce De Roulet Williamson Gallery |publisher=Artcenter.edu |access-date=January 8, 2012 }}</ref> Pasadena City College has an art gallery that shows work of professionals as part of their annual artist-in-residence program, as well as exhibiting work by students and faculty.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pasadena.edu/artgallery |title=Pasadena City College Art Gallery |publisher=Pasadena.edu |access-date=January 8, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111231115918/http://www.pasadena.edu/artgallery/ |archive-date=December 31, 2011 }}</ref>

The [[The Huntington Library|Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens]], with painting and sculpture galleries, is adjacent to Pasadena in the city of [[San Marino, California|San Marino]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huntington.org/ |title=The Huntington Library |publisher=Huntington.org |access-date=August 4, 2010 |archive-date=July 3, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703173816/http://www.huntington.org/ArtDiv/HEHArtHome.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The innovative [[Kidspace Children's Museum]] is located in [[Brookside Park/Arroyo Terrace, Pasadena, California|Brookside Park]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kidspacemuseum.org/site/PageServer?pagename=vs_gettinghere |title=Getting Here, Kidspace Children's Museum |publisher=Kidspacemuseum.org |access-date=January 8, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111210024831/http://www.kidspacemuseum.org/site/PageServer?pagename=vs_gettinghere |archive-date=December 10, 2011 }}</ref>

===Literature===
[[Red Hen Press]], one of the largest independent literary publishers on the US west coast, is located in Pasadena. The press publishes over twenty titles of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction each year as well as a biannual literary magazine called The Los Angeles Review.

In 2002 [[David Ebershoff]] published the novel ''Pasadena''. The novel won praise for its accurate recreation of Pasadena before World War II.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ebershoff.com/also.html |title=Also by David Ebershoff |publisher=Ebershoff.com |access-date=January 8, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112123011/http://www.ebershoff.com/also.html |archive-date=January 12, 2012 }}</ref>

===Bungalow Heaven===
{{main|Bungalow Heaven}}
Bungalow Heaven is a neighborhood of 800 small Craftsman homes built from 1900 to 1930. Many of these homes are still occupied. Much of the area became a landmark district in 1989,<ref name=Yates>{{cite book |title=Best Places Los Angeles |author=Yates, Stephanie A. |page=[https://archive.org/details/bestplaceslosang00yate/page/206 206] |year=2001 |publisher=Sasquatch Books |isbn=978-1-57061-278-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bestplaceslosang00yate/page/206 }}</ref> and annual historic home tours have been conducted since that designation.<ref>{{cite book |title=Arts & Crafts Homes and the Revival |year=2009 |publisher=Home Buyer Publications |page=76 |issn=1559-6117 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_zcEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA76 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Hometown Pasadena: The Insider's Guide |page=72 |author=Bates, Colleen D. |publisher=Prospect Park Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-9753939-1-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mtm90kfdNeMC&pg=PA72 }}</ref> Bungalow Heaven's borders are Washington Boulevard to the north, [[Orange Grove Boulevard]] to the south, Mentor Avenue to the west, and Chester Avenue to the east.<ref>{{cite web |title=National Register of Historic Places listings |date=April 18, 2008 |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/listings/20080418.HTM |access-date=November 4, 2010 |archive-date=November 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115110715/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/listings/20080418.HTM |url-status=live }}</ref> The neighborhood is usually extended to Lake Avenue to the west and Hill Avenue to the east.<ref name=Yates/><ref>{{cite journal |title=Old House Interiors |page=108 |date=September 2002 |issn=1079-3941 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_jAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA108 |last1=Publications |first1=Home Buyer |journal=Old-House Interiors }}</ref>
Famed architects [[Greene and Greene]] built several of their Japanese-inspired bungalows in Pasadena, including the [[Gamble House (Pasadena, California)|Gamble House]]; the style of the homes in Bungalow Heaven show the effects of their success.

===Orange Grove Boulevard===
{{main|Orange Grove Boulevard}}
[[File:Tournament House.jpg|thumb|Tournament House]]
The [[Norton Simon Museum]] is at the intersection of Orange Grove and Colorado Boulevards. This corner is the official start of the Rose Parade route and the museum can be quite clearly seen every year during the parade television broadcast.

Orange Grove Boulevard is one of several exclusive residential districts in Pasadena, and has been a home for the rich and famous since the early 20th century. Because of the number of landmark mansions, the street earned the name [[Millionaire's Row]], an appropriate sobriquet considering that the estates that once lined this spacious boulevard and the surrounding neighborhood read like a [[Who's Who]] of American consumer products.

===Historical estates===
The maker of [[Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company|Wrigley's chewing gum]], [[William Wrigley Jr.]]'s, substantial home was offered to the city of Pasadena after Mrs. Wrigley's death in 1958, under the condition that their home would be the Rose Parade's permanent headquarters.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tournamentofroses.com/aboutus/house.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050308001911/http://www.tournamentofroses.com/aboutus/house.asp |title=Tournament House |archive-date=March 8, 2005 }}</ref> The stately [[Tournament House]] stands today, and serves as the headquarters for the Tournament of Roses Parade.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tournamentofroses.com/pasadena-tournament-of-roses/the-house/history |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513235207/http://www.tournamentofroses.com/pasadena-tournament-of-roses/the-house/history |title=History of the Tournament House |archive-date=May 13, 2011 }}</ref> [[Adolphus Busch]], co-founder of [[Anheuser-Busch]], brewer of [[Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)|Budweiser]] beer, established the first of a series of [[Busch Gardens]] in Pasadena. When Busch died at his Pasadena estate, his wife generously offered the property to the City of Pasadena, an offer the city inexplicably refused. [[Henry Markham]], who lived adjacent to Busch, was the 18th Governor of the state of California (1891–1895) and wrote ''Pasadena: Its Early Years''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000134 |title=MARKHAM, Henry Harrison – Biographical Information |publisher=Bioguide.congress.gov |date=October 9, 1923 |access-date=January 8, 2012 |archive-date=June 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628221303/http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000134 |url-status=live }}</ref> The home of David Gamble, son of consumer product maker James Gamble of [[Procter & Gamble]], is located on the north end of Orange Grove Boulevard.

The [[Gamble House (Pasadena, California)|Gamble House]], an [[American Craftsman]] masterpiece, was built in 1908,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gamblehouse.org/about/index.html |title=About The Gamble House, by architects Greene and Greene &#124; Pasadena, California |publisher=Gamblehouse.org |access-date=January 8, 2012 |archive-date=January 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120102180137/http://www.gamblehouse.org/about/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> by architects [[Greene and Greene|Charles and Henry Greene]], as an exemplification of their [[ultimate bungalow]]. It is open to the public as both an architectural conservancy and museum.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gamblehouse.org/ |title=The Gamble House by Greene & Greene in Pasadena, California: official website |publisher=Gamblehouse.org |date=July 27, 2010 |access-date=August 4, 2010 |archive-date=October 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005144904/http://gamblehouse.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:GambleHouse-2005 edit1.jpg|thumb|right|The Gamble House, an American Craftsman Masterpiece<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.abfimagazine.com/architecture/data/gamblehouse.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820052511/http://www.abfimagazine.com/architecture/data/gamblehouse.htm |url-status=dead |title=Gamble House by Tim Street-Porter |archive-date=August 20, 2008 |website=www.abfimagazine.com }}</ref><ref>Images of The Gamble House - Masterwork of Greene & Greene, Jeanette Thomas, Univ. of So. Calif. 1989, {{ISBN|0-9622296-1-X }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/gamble/index.htm |title=David B. Gamble House Pasadena by Greene and Greene |publisher=Galinsky.com |access-date=January 8, 2012 |archive-date=January 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121151728/http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/gamble/index.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

The Gamble House is a [[California Historical Landmark]] and a National Historic Landmark on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. In 1966, it was deeded to the city of Pasadena in a mutual agreement with the [[University of Southern California]] School of Architecture. Every year, two fifth-year USC architecture students live in the house full-time. The students change yearly.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://arch.usc.edu/Resources/Physical/HistoricStructures/TheGambleHouse |title=The Gamble House |publisher=Arch.usc.edu |access-date=January 8, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126031004/http://arch.usc.edu/Resources/Physical/HistoricStructures/TheGambleHouse |archive-date=November 26, 2011 }}</ref>

The home of Anna Bissell McCay, daughter of [[carpet sweeper]] magnate Melville [[Bissell]], is a four-story [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] home, on the border of South Pasadena. Today the Bissell House is a [[bed and breakfast]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bissellhouse.com/bissell_history.html |title=The Bissell House, a South Pasadena, California Bed and Breakfast Inn |publisher=Bissellhouse.com |access-date=January 8, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111053954/http://www.bissellhouse.com/bissell_history.html |archive-date=January 11, 2012 }}</ref> [[Thaddeus S. C. Lowe]]'s home of {{convert|24000|sqft|m2}} was on South Orange Grove. The house included a sixth story solarium which he converted into an observatory. Lowe was also a generous patron of the astronomical sciences. He started a water-gas company, founded the Citizens Bank of Los Angeles, built numerous ice plants, and purchased a Pasadena opera house. He also established the [[Mount Lowe Railway]] in the mountains above Pasadena and eventually lost his fortune.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mtlowe.net/ |title=Scenic Mount Lowe Railway Historical Committee |publisher=Mtlowe.net |date=December 3, 2011 |access-date=January 8, 2012 |archive-date=January 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118153812/http://www.mtlowe.net/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The brilliant, but troubled, rocket scientist [[John Whiteside Parsons]] sometimes shared his residence with other noteworthy people, including [[L. Ron Hubbard]], the founder of [[Scientology]]. Parsons died in an explosion while testing a new rocket fuel in his Pasadena home laboratory, in 1952.<ref>Pendle, George (2005). ''Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons'', Harcourt {{ISBN|0-297-84853-4}}. OCLC 59352636.</ref>