H A R DWA R E L I G H T I N G P LU M B I N G
F I X T U R E S
VA N I T I E S
Why Go All Over Town?
905 mission street south pasadena california . 91030
6 2 6 . 7 9 9. 3 5 0 3 m i s s i o n w e s t. b i z
next door to:
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of the third and fourth generations of the Gray family. To design their family home, Edmund hired two fresh-faced University of Southern California architecture students, Frank Green and Frederick Hageman, to take on the massive project in 1927. Green had graduated that year and Hageman was still in school (he graduated in 1928 with a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering). It was certainly a leap of faith for all parties involved. The total cost of design and construction amounted to $17,500 at the time. The careful planning and attention to detail are evident when perusing the original design specifications for the residence. Every space was planned down to the most minute of elements, with precise product descriptions and measurements. The highest quality materials were used in the construction of the home. The wrought iron work was exquisite and abundant—from the stunning staircase railing to the decorative light fixtures in the interior and exterior of the house to the intricate door hardware. Gladding, McBean tile was installed throughout the structure in the entry hall, the library, and on outdoor patios. There was also a Batchelder fountain placed in the garden. There were thoughtful design de-
10 / The Quarterly Magazine /Spring 2020
tails incorporated throughout the house to increase the comfort of its inhabitants. For instance, the home did not have air conditioning, as it was not available in private residences at the time of construction. To keep the house cool during the hot summer months it was built out of concrete block, then marketed as the latest technology to achieve this end, and exterior shutters were installed that could be closed to block the heat from the morning sun. Additionally, Green and Hageman designed the window locations to maximize cross ventilation from cool mountain breezes in the evening. Other innovations focused on laundry. A laundry chute was built from the sleeping porch off the master bedroom to the area beside the laundry room. An exterior staircase near the laundry room was installed that enabled the maid to bring the clean laundry up to the bedrooms without disturbing the residents. The Gray family spent over 40 years in the home, selling it after Edmund Sr.’s passing in 1969. It was purchased by William “Bob” Thomas Hartfield and his wife Mary “Teresa” Carter Hartfield, who lived in the house for the next 45 years. Teresa reportedly wanted a traditional Colonial-style house but couldn’t argue with the purchase of the home given that
“Home Is Where The Art Is”
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the family needed more space for its nine children. With so many Hartfield children, it is unsurprising that the home is still known to many in the community today as “the Hartfield house.” While the Hartfields made some changes to the property, such as planting a citrus orchard in the back yard and bricking in some of the garden paths, the house remained largely original over the years. Whenever there was a change made inside the home, the architectural elements that were removed were kept. For instance, when the doorway from the dining room to the breakfast room was closed off to create wall space for a dining room
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Spring 2020 / The Quarterly Magazine / 11