Welcome from the Tournament House and the Wrigley Gardens. We hope you will enjoy your on-line visit and encourage you to visit us.
HOUSE TOURS AND THE TOURNAMENT OF ROSES
Tours of the interior are offered on Thursday afternoons from 2:00 to 4:00, February through August. Throughout the year, it is used as a meeting place for the Tournament of Roses Association's 935 active volunteer members who organize the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game.
The grounds of the Tournament House are maintained by the Tournament of Roses Association. Volunteers from the Pacific Rose Society care for the rose gardens. The All-America Rose Selections' test gardens contain hundreds of varieties of roses, camellias, and annuals, and are open to the public throughout the year, except for December 31 through January 2.
It has been said that the house was donated for the use by the Tournament of Roses because Mrs.
Wrigley received so much pleasure watching the Rose Parade from in front of her home each New Year's
Day. The annual Rose Parade began in 1890 and was already 24 years old when the Wrigleys moved
into the neighborhood.
Over the years the Wrigleys witnessed the Rose Parade's considerable growth. What began as a home-town festival soon became the festival of flowered floats, marching bands and equestrian splendor, and is now enjoyed by an estimated one million in-person spectators, 125 million television viewers in the United States, and an additional international audience of 325 million in over 90 countries.
The Rose Parade actually begins two blocks north of Tournament House (towards the mountains) at the corner of Ellis and Orange Grove. It takes a lot of room to stage such a large Parade. The night before the Parade, more than 50 floats fill Orange Grove Boulevard, from two blocks north of Tournament House to 11 blocks south of the house. The bands and equestrian units enter from side streets northeast of the house.
GARDEN WALKING TOUR
Millionaires ' Row
We suggest that you begin your tour at the two-inch-thick Italian marble steps of Tournament House, facing South Orange Grove Boulevard. Orange Grove Boulevard was once nicknamed "Millionaires' Row" because of the many grand houses that lined the street. At the time, this house was actually considered to be one of the more modest residences on the boulevard.
In the early days of Pasadena, many of these homes were used as winter retreats by Midwestern and Eastern industrialists. This house was one of the six houses owned by the William Wrigley Jr. family of Wrigley's chewing gum fame. The Wrigleys also owned houses in Philadelphia, Chicago, Phoenix, Lake Geneva (Wisconsin) and at Avalon on Catalina Island, 20 miles off the coast of Los Angeles.
Mrs. Wrigley favored the Pasadena house and spent most of her time here after Mr. Wrigley died in 1932. After her death in 1958, the house and the surrounding 4-1/2 acres of gardens were donated to the city of Pasadena to be used as the permanent headquarters of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association.
Originally, the house was built for real estate and dry goods tycoon George Stimson. The architect, who would later become famous in the Pasadena area was Stimson's son, G. Lawrence Stimson. This 22-room, 18,500-square-foot house, which features over 2,400-square-feet of closet space, was under construction from 1906-1914. Most of the Stimson children had grown up and moved away by the time it was completed, so Mr. Stimson sold it to the Wrigleys in 1914 for $170,000. It is solidly constructed with poured concrete. Much of the woodwork in the interior is irreplaceable, crafted of woods that are now extinct.
While on the porch, notice the carved mahogany front door. Although the door is four inches thick and extremely heavy, it was installed to be perfestly balanced and can be moved with just the slightest touch.
Front Garden
Before Stimson sold the house, he recognized the value that trees would one day add to his property due to the arid climate and barren slopes of this region. He enlisted an English gardener to gather trees from all over the world. Stimson's love for palm trees enticed him to plant hundreds of them throughout Pasadena (many are still standing today). The front lawn of the house used to be filled with palms, prompting Mrs. Wrigley to nickname the estate "The Shadows." A wind storm in the 1930s destroyed most of the trees which had nearly hidden the house from the street for more than a decade.
South of the porch in the front garden is the showpiece of Stimson's collection of trees. This large tree is commonly known as a Moreton Bay Fig. This type of tree, given the right climate and conditions, will grow to become one of the largest trees in the world. The largest of these trees in the United States is in Lahaina on the island of Maui, Hawaii.
South Garden
As you follow the walkway to the south garden of the Tournament House, you will pass a bench commemorating the 75th Rose Parade. On January 2, 1989, the Tournament of Roses Association celebrated its 100th Rose Parade and 75th Rose Bowl Game. At the center of the south rose garden is a fountain which was created in honor of the Tournament of Roses Centennial. A time capsule which contains memorabilia from the Centennial celebration in 1989 rests beneath the plaque at the fountain's center and will be opened in 2089 when the Tournament of Roses celebrates its Bicentennial.
The roses surrounding the fountain are named "Tournarnent of Roses" in honor of the Tournament Centennial celebration. The rose was developed by the Jackson & Perkins Company, the world's largest producer of roses, and was selected as the official rose of the Tournament of Roses Centennial. The coral-pink rose was one of only four roses to win the prestigious All-America Rose Selections award in 1989.
The gardens of Tournament House are the site of many special events each year. The gardens are used during the selection and announcement of the Rose Queen & Royal Court and Rose Parade Grand Marshal. West of the fountain is a parking lot that was once the site of the Wrigleys' tennis court. From the south gardens, you can also see the executive offices that were added by the Tournament of Roses Association in 1960 and remodeled in 1987. In addition to its 935 volunteers, the Tournament of Roses Association has a full-time staff of 15.
North Garden
To the north of Tournament House is the most extensive rose garden on the grounds. This garden and the adjacent large grassy area were not part of the original property. In 1915, the year after William Wrigley Jr. purchased the house, he paid $25,000 for the house that stood here and used the property for the rose gardens and arbor.
The structure opposite the driveway on the north side of the house is the garage that housed the Wrigleys' cars. The garage was complete with its own hydraulic hoist for lifting the cars for repairs and is now used for equipment storage. The building to the west of the garage is known as the Tournament Annex. It is used by Tournament volunteers who work through the night on New Year's Eve. Inside the Annex are restrooms, showers and staff quarters.
At the northwest corner of the garage is a tree known as "The Freedom Tree". It is a Mela Leuca Linariifolia, commonly known as "Snow In Surnmer" and was planted on May 19, 1973, during a ceremony in honor of Pasadena resident, Warrant Officer James A. Johansen, and all others killed in the Vietnam War.
North of the Annex, facing Arbor Street, is a building which housed the groundskeepers and other employees. It is now a private residence, so please avoid disturbing the occupants as you tour the gardens.