First published in the Dec. 30 print issue of the Pasadena Outlook.
Photos by Keira Wight
The Outlook
Civitas Pasadena recently hosted a holiday party at the Maxwell House, where members enjoyed a joyful evening at one of Pasadena’s most celebrated historic venues.
As the group looks forward to 2022, they were served light appetizers and festive drinks. Games and prizes were also present to help get everyone in the holiday spirit.
Additionally, a tour of the Maxwell House was available, which George H. Maxwell commissioned architects to build a 13,000 square-foot “bungalow” on the grounds of the Vista del Arroyo Hotel in 1929. The result is a Mediterranean Italianate style house with tile roofing, stucco walls, a Palladian entrance and elaborate detailing.
The expansive mansion was abandoned in the 1940s and the buildings of the Vista del Arroyo Hotel were taken over by the U.S. Government for use as an Army hospital during WWII. The properties were restored for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the 1980s and the Maxwell House became the home of the Western Justice Center, a nonprofit serving youth and educators in Southern California.
The event was organized by program committee members Kim Ferreira, Kaya Plansker and Jim McCarthy.
