2606 N Madison Ave
Altadena, CA 91001, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Woodbury/Story House

Excerpt from the Statement of Significant:

The Woodbury House is significant under Criterion B for its historic association with Frederick J. Woodbury who, together with his brother John P., are credited with founding Altadena in 1887. Built-in 1882, the house is the oldest remaining residence in Altadena and one of the few remaining grand mansions built during the boom of the ‘80s when the Woodbury brothers envisioned Altadena as a community of grand estates. The house is also important under Criterion C because of its outstanding workmanship and high artistic value. It is the only remaining example of the Italianate style in Altadena and was probably designed by early Pasadena builder Harry Ridgway. in 1895 Hampton Story purchased the house and had a music roan added in 1898. The addition was designed by Frederick L. Roehrig, prominent Pasadena architect who is associated with the Green Hotel in that city. The house has maintained its integrity, despite the changes in ownership and use.

Frederick J. Woodbury came from a wealthy farming and banking family in Marshalltown, Iowa. Frederick had farmed his parent's land in Iowa and run a grist mill. He also served as a captain under General U. S. Grant during the Civil War, receiving a slight wound. Woodbury was attracted to the Pasadena area for its farming potential and through his close friendship with Colonel Jabez Banbury and the Giddings family, both previous Marshalltown residents who had settled in the area. In 1881 the Woodbury family - Frederick, Martha and their three children arrived in Pasadena. Shortly after their arrival, they purchased their first 141 acres of Rubio Canyon land including the water rights. In 1882 Frederick purchased 937 acres on the Pasadena Highland slope (portion of Rancho San Pasqual) and had a fine two-story house built for his family. An exact date for the house has not been verified, but most articles give the year 1882 as the date the house was built. It was definitely built by August 1883 when an etching of it appeared in R.W.C. Farnsworth's A Southern California Paradise published in Los Angeles. Woodbury sold a 75-acre portion of his land to Colonel Banbury who also built an Italianate residence the same year. Both had commanding views of the valley

John P. Woodbury joined his brother Frederick in 1885. Both men were partners with John, the businessman, and Frederick, the rancher. The boom of 1886-87 in Southern California, touched off by the arrival of the railroads, found the Woodbury brothers forming a partnership with surrounding landowners. The Pasadena Improvement Company incorporated in 1887 and subdivided the property calling the tract Altadena. The name was chosen after receiving permission from Byron O. Clark, whose nearby business was called the Altadena Nursery because of its higher (alta - high) location above Pasadena. Altadena was conceived as a community for the wealthy, and several large estates were built during the 1890s by wealthy individuals from the Midwest and East. The boom-collapsed in 1888 with much of the land unsold.

After subdividing their land, the Woodburys kept about nine acres surrounding the house. Ornamental trees and shrubs were planted around the house and the rest of the land was planted in orchard and vineyards. Frederick and his wife Martha lived in their Altadena residence for nine years and then moved to Pasadena in 1891 where Frederick died on April 4, 1909 at the age of seventy-five.

After his wife's death in 1896, John Woodbury returned to the East Coast and eventually settled in Marshalltown where he died on July 14, 1909. John was responsible for the planting of the Deodar trees on Santa Rosa Avenue in 1885. These trees lined the entrance to the Woodbury property and are now a State Landmark.

The Woodbury House has had six different owners since the Woodbury sold it in 1891. Thomas and Florence Walker owned it briefly from 1891 to 1895. Mr. Walker was in the sugar beet industry in Chino and used the house on weekends.

The owners who lived in the house the longest and made the most significant changes were Hampton L. and Adella B. Story. (1895-1926) The house became a social center for the community during the Story's residence. Mr. Story was prominent in the music business in Chicago. His company. Story and Camp (later Story and Clark) were agents of Estey organs. Mr. Story moved to San Diego in 1883 and jointly purchased Coronado Island where he built the Hotel del Coronado with John D. Spreckles and E.F. Babcock.

After purchasing the house in 1895, Story hired architect Frederick Roehrig to design an addition that would serve as a music room and house his large pipe organ. In addition to hosting musical concerts and other social events, the house served as the first headquarters for the Altadena Improvement Association. Mr. Story took an active role in the community, serving as first chairman of the Improvement Association and as President of the Rubio Canyon Land and Water Association. Upon becoming ill, Mr. Story and his wife moved to Los Angeles in 1924. He died in following year at the age of 90. At the time of his death he was vice-president of Story and Clark Music Co. of Chicago.

From 1926 to 1954 the house was owned by Ralf and LaLa Goddard. The Goddards lived elsewhere and the house was leased or remained vacant. From 1935 to 1947 the house was used as a restaurant and tea room called the Royal Trees Tavern, operated by Leta M. and Nell L. Nelson. Mr. Goddard sold about three acres of land to Los Angeles County in 1949. Between 1947 and 1949 the house appears to have been used as a Los Angeles County Sheriff office and as a Justice Court for Altadena Township.

In 1953 Ralf Goddard sold the remaining land and house to Otto Heidelberger. Mr. Heidelberger subdivided the land into 25 parcels, allowing the house to remain on a less than one acre parcel. Between 1954 and 1956 the lots were sold and homes were built. Mr. Heidelberger sold the Woodbury House to Charles Strong, who in turn sold it to teachers James and Elizabeth Reetzke in 1959. They owned the house until 1973 when it was sold to Lionel J. and Eetla Soracco. The Soracco's sold it to the present owner. Dr. William C. Schleiter, in 1989.

The house is architecturally significant as an outstanding example of the Italianate style that has maintained its integrity over the years. The house helped to shape the historic identity of the Altadena Highlands as part of the grand estates built during the 1880s and 1890s by wealthy easterners and mid-westerners. This house is the oldest and one of the few surviving examples of the grand estates. It is also the only remaining example of Italianate architecture in Altadena. The design and plan of the house is said to be similar to the house the Woodbury's owned in Marshalltown, Iowa.

It is uncertain who designed and built the house in 1882, but it is attributed to Hamilton Ridgway. Hamilton (Harry) Ridgway was the first architect to open an office in Pasadena in 1878. He worked with Clinton Ripley, Pasadena's first contractor and builder. The two men designed and built many of Pasadena's finest buildings. Mr. Ridgway designed the second house for F. J. Woodbury on Terrace Drive in Pasadena. Ridgway was prolific in the early days of Pasadena's development. He and Ripley are said to have designed and built over one hundred residences, many commercial structures and school buildings. Only a few of these buildings remain today.

The music room addition was designed by noted Pasadena architect Frederick Roehrig in 1898. Roehrig probably designed the remaining additions as well. Born in LeRoy, New York in 1851, Roehrig obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture from Cornell University in 1883. After studying abroad in England and France, he settled in Pasadena in 1886 and opened his practice. He collaborated with architect Simon Locke on several projects including the original portion of the Green Hotel in 1889. Roehrig designed a "villa" on Mariposa Street circa 1894 for wealthy Chicago tycoon Andrew McNally.

2606 N Madison Ave, Altadena, CA, USA

Historic photograph of the exterior, ca. 1883, looking northeast