Ambassador Gardens

History

Ambassador Gardens, in Pasadena, California, has a rich and diverse history. In 1873, a group of investors laid out the subdivision with a broad north-south main road–now called Orange Grove Avenue. In the 1890s, the area began to attract wealthy Midwest and East Coast snowbirds, becoming nationally known as “Millionaire’s Row.”

In 1902, one of the most prominent businessmen in the nation, Otho S.A. Sprague began construction of the 12,000-square-foot Tudor Revival Mayfair Mansion at Ambassador Gardens. Multimillionaire Hulett C. Merritt started development of his home in 1905 and finished at the astounding cost of $1,100,000. During construction of Hulett’s home, his father, Lewis J. Merritt built his own large English Arts and Crafts-styled residence on the property in 1908. Several other notable mansions were completed, as well as gardens, streams and sculptures.

From 1946 to 1990, Herbert W. Armstrong transformed the property for use by the Worldwide Church of God’s Ambassador College campus. The existing mansions were repurposed as college buildings and several new academic buildings were constructed.  The college closed in 1990 and the site was studied by a number of developers, one of whom planned to demolish everything and build 2,000 housing units.

New Development

In 2010, WHA began designing three new multi-family developments for City Ventures within the numerous constraints related to historic preservation, urban forestry and City requirements. These projects had to fit within the historical context, complement the existing mansions and use classic designs from the early 20th Century. The project underwent intense scrutiny by the City’s Design Review Commission.

The luxurious flats and townhomes include ten-foot or higher ceilings, spacious open kitchens, large dining rooms, great rooms that open to broad terraces, grand master suites, and special elements such as wine rooms, beamed ceilings and libraries. A subterranean parking garage provides each unit with individual 3- or 4-car garages and a combination of private and common elevators for convenient access to residents’ units.

The Bungalows at Ambassador Gardens consists of 10 flats and townhomes located along Del Mar Avenue adjacent to the Lewis Merritt Mansion. The buildings were designed to appear as individual mansions, one a California Bungalow inspired by the architecture of Greene & Greene who designed the Bolton house across the street, and the other an English Arts & Crafts inspired by the work of Sir Edwin Lutyens.

The Grove at Ambassador Gardens overlooks the Great Lawn and historic Fowler Gardens and consists of 21 flats and townhomes in a Spanish-style inspired by the Santa Barbara County Court House and the adjacent Rankin Mansion. The Rankin carriage house was relocated and the remnants of the Fowler Mansion were demolished to make room for The Grove.

Jamieson Place includes two buildings with 39 flats and townhomes inspired by the Italianate design of the adjacent Merritt Mansion. The historic gardens were restored and the existing central reflecting pool was reconstructed into a resort-style swimming pool.

Given the extraordinary constraints and influences, Ambassador Gardens is a truly unique project, one that has enjoyed tremendous sales success, received numerous design awards and a special commendation to its architect–Ron Nestor of WHA–from the California State Senate for historic preservation.