Evanston Court

Annual Sponsors

Spectra Company

WJE

Architectural Resources Group & ARG Conservation

California Office of Historic Preservation

CAW Architects, Inc.

Environmental Science Associates

Evergreene

Historic Resources Group

ICF

IS Architecture

Kelly Sutherlin McLeod Architecture, Inc.

Napa Design Partners

Page & Turnbull

Simpson Gumpertz & Heger

Tef Design

TreanorHL

ZFA Structural Engineers

To learn about CPF’s sponsorship opportunities, including how you can sponsor this page, click here or email Andrew Shaffer.

Evanston Court

Evanston Court in Pasadena is the winner of a 2018 Preservation Design Award. Award recipients are selected by a jury of top professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, planning, and history, as well as renowned architecture critics and journalists. In making their decision, the jury stated: “This is a very nice example of contextual infill in a sensitive area.”

The Award will be presented on Friday, October 19, 2018 at a gala dinner and awards ceremony at Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Tickets and sponsorship options are available at californiapreservation.org/awards.

About this project

Pasadena is known historically as the resort town/sister city to Los Angeles. In 1984, the Evanston Inn was listed in the National Register under Criterion A for its association with resort history/tourism in Pasadena and Criterion C for its architecture. The period of significance extends from 1897, when the first hotel buildings were completed, to 1917, when the building’s use changed from hotel to multi-family residence. The following significance statement is excerpted from the nomination form prepared by Richard Sicha of Pasadena Heritage:

The Evanston Inn, Pasadena’s only remaining wood-frame hotel from the 19th century, is an important reminder of the city’s historic economic development. Smaller and homier than the large luxury hotels like the Raymond (1901) and Hotel Green (1899), the Evanston Inn provided a quiet retreat for its many winter visitors. The Inn opened in 1897, several years before many of Pasadena’s large hotels were available to a steadily increasing number of tourists at this time. Typical of the less elaborate, boarding-house style inns, the Evanston was enlarged with wing appendages as demand increased. The Inn is a skillfully integrated combination of Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styling. The original building carries a variety of shingling textures and architectural preferences while the addition is more reserved, typical of the [American Foursquare] architectural style of the next decade. The Evanston Inn is the last survivor of its type and period in the community, exemplifying the small resort hotel genre of Pasadena at the turn of the century.

Located at 385 South Marengo Avenue in Pasadena, Evanston Court is a 24-unit condominium project centered around the National Register listed Evanston Inn. Standing on a one-acre site, the Inn is the last remaining wood framed hotel in the city, though its state had deteriorated substantially until the site was purchased in 2012. Built in 1897 in the Queen Anne style, within one year the hotel expanded with an American Foursquare addition. Its deep front yard setback and substantial presence held hierarchy on the site plan as the additional structures were placed to the side and rear. The new architecture symbolizes the idea of the proprietors business evolving over time into new Craftsman townhouses and Triple Decker flats. In order to hide required parking, the 11,753 square foot Inn was lifted up and rested on beams and cribbing while a subterranean garage was built below. The project’s modern condo program incorporated and preserved historic features throughout.

Photos © Stephen Schafer Photography and © Jim Simmons Photography