Hotel Green

Hotel Green
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Hotel Green in 1905
Location:	99 South Raymond Avenue Pasadena, California
Coordinates:	34°08′38″N 118°08′58″W
Architect:	Frederick L. Roehrig
NRHP Reference#:	82002196
Added to NRHP:	March 23, 1982

Hotel Green, 1900.

The Hotel Green, built in 1903 in Pasadena, California was home to both the Tournament of Roses and the Valley Hunt Club. The hotel was built by George Gill Green and was supplemented by two later buildings, creating a complex of three structures.

Hotel Green, by Los Angeles-based architect Frederick Roehrig, was the first of the three buildings; it was published in the periodical The Western Architect in December 1905.

Castle Green was the second building in the complex and was originally known as the "Central Annex." By 1924 the hotel was owned by a group of investors who divided the hotel complex into three parts. The Central Annex was subdivided into fifty residential apartments and renamed the Castle Green. The Castle Green is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the State Historic Register, and the City of Pasadena's list of Historic Places.

History

The Castle Green Apartments that stand on Raymond Avenue in historic old town Pasadena were built in 1887 and officially opened to the public in 1889, however this wasn't the first portion of the Green empire. The first portion of the hotel complex that sits on the southwest corner of Raymond Avenue and Green Street with its hand cut granite facing, bay windows and retail space, was known as the Webster Hotel. Mr. Webster became nearly bankrupt while trying to finish his lavish hotel in time for its opening. It opened its doors to the public in the 1880s and was only open a few months before he sold it to Mr. Green, who finished the construction and changed its name to the Hotel Green. Green soon felt the need for another building as an annex to house the hundreds of guests who came to the resort town of Pasadena. The second building could be built near the railroad depot and property was available. Soon construction was underway and the six-story complex was built of wood. Pasadena was one of the most famous resort communities in Southern California during these times and a place for those suffering from tuberculosis. Doctors advised patients to go to dry and warmer climates and Pasadena became a boom town for snowbirds, those who desired a warmer climate during the harsh winters back east. The second building stood on the southeast corner of Raymond Avenue and Green Street and was a huge success when it opened in the mid 1870s. Green soon saw the advantage of building a more permanent residence within his hotel empire and a third building was designed and underway in 1887 as apartments, where those who wished to could rent for a week or a year or longer. The building has distinctive exterior elements in the Mediterranean Revival style and several interior spaces in the Moorish Revival style. It was decided that a bridge could be built over Raymond Avenue to annex the Castle Green Apartments or the new Hotel by visitors or long renting guests with easier access between the two buildings. The Castle Green Apartments were built of concrete and rebar for sturdier construction.

Both had large ballrooms and dining rooms, a gentleman's smoking salon, a woman's salon, foyers, crystal chandeliers, a grand staircase in Cararra marble and the finest wrought and cast iron made for each of the buildings. Pasadena had 14 resort hotels by 1900, but the Hotel Green complex was one of the most famous and well patronized. Sitting across the street from Central Park with its rose gardens, fountains, paths, a zoo, lion and alligator and ostrich farms and a place for both locals and visitors to enjoy themselves. In the mid 1920s, the second hotel, built of wood, suffered a fire when a guest fell asleep with a lit cigar, catching the drapes and furniture on fire in the first floor smoking parlor. Evidence of the damage can still be seen on the square columns at the top where the plaster melted from the heat and the water from the firehoses. The building was heavily damaged and a few people died. The building sat derelict until the 1935 Long Beach Earthquake, which brought more of it down; it was decided to tear the wooden building down completely. The only original portion sits on the corner facing Green Street and is used as the Christmas tree room for the decorating store Stats, which has owned the building since the 1960s. A tunnel runs from the old wooden Hotel Green under Raymond Avenue and connects to the earliest portion of the hotel and the apartments.

Present day

Today, the Castle Green Apartments are one of the oldest standing historic landmarks in Los Angeles County, and have many of the original features from its construction including the oldest wrought iron elevator on the west coast, gorgeous plaster, moldings, hand carved fireplace mantles, grills and wood moldings, and original lighting. They were turned into condominiums in later years and are open to the public twice a year. The third portion to the Green Complex Castle was built in the Spanish and Moorish style complete with crenelations, hand-painted tiles, scallops, balconies, various sizes and shapes of windows and curved onion-shaped domes over its towers, a penthouse and roof garden with views of Mount Wilson to the north and a birds-eye view of the entire city. It was the home of the Valley Hunt Club who founded the Tournament of Roses Parade, has been used in hundreds of film and television shoots. Select portions of the Castle can be rented for weddings, private parties and events.

External links

• "Official website of Castle Green". http://www.castlegreen.com/. Retrieved 2008-07-08. 

Historical information with regards to the fire that brought the old Hotel Green wooden structure down, is credited to the book Haunted Houses of Pasadena by Michael J. Kouri, a well known historian and Parapsychological Investigator.