Christmas Tree Lane ~ An 80 Year Altadena, California Tradition

The road sign post reads 'Santa Rosa Avenue' but everyone in Altadena and nearby Pasadena knows it as 'Christmas Tree Lane.'

Every year, since 1930, automobiles and walkers have journeyed up this street after dark to experience one of Southern California's most emotionally satisfying array of holiday light shows, with colorful globes hanging on the elongated branch arms of spectacular deodar cedar (Cedrus deodara) trees.

How to describe this magical experience? Think Christmas tree illustrations from Dr. Seuss' How theGrinch Stole Christmas' or Bing Crosby singing 'White Christmas' with a stand of towering snow-laden cedars in the background.

Though Christmas Tree Lane's deodars are rarely snow-laden due to the mild Southern California climate, they do come alive every year with extensive strands of 10,000 colored lights that draw visitors to the mile-long 'lane' from around the world.

What makes Christmas Tree Lane, an official California Landmark listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, special is that since 1956, Altadena's Christmas Tree Lane Community Association (CTLA) has continued this tradition on a purely volunteer basis, seeking donations to cover the electricity utility costs, and stringing and maintaining the light show through hundreds of hours of service from the efforts of local homeowners and renters, senior citizens and schoolchildren, Altadena veterans and newcomers to the community.

If you've visited Christmas Tree Lane before, why not drive by this year and recapture the magic of this "Mile of Christmas Trees?" If you've never visited, come on by and start a new family holiday tradition. The show runs nightly from dusk to midnight, now through January 6, 2010. Come see what happens when nature, technology and love converge along a foothills lane.

For directions and more details: http://bit.ly/8BtyZr.

Arroyo Property of the Week

If you don't know where to look, it is easy to miss this 'original treasure' of Altadena, newly on the market for the first time in many, many years.

This one-acre secluded property at 2044 Mendocino Lane really doesn't have a driveway ~ it's more of a tree-canopied lane that leads you into an enchanted forest where a stately Spanish-style estate built in 1917 awaits with extensive original period detailing.

Often referred to as "La Quinta," this almost 4000 square foot home features a library with floor to ceiling bookcases and gold leaf ceiling, exposed etched beams, original sconces, corbels, and fireplace with a massive hand-hewn mantle. The main home boasts a formal living room, formal dining room, office, family room, master suite, 2 additional bedrooms and baths plus a maid's bedroom and bath. The separate guest house has a bath, and the lush, bucolic grounds include a natural rock fish pond. There is also a garage and large walk-in basement.

The gardens includes many rare trees, winding paths and was reputed to have once held one of the largest wisteria vines in the world. It was at this elegant estate that the late Dr. Lecomte du Nouy, noted French scientist, completed his book, "Human Destiny," in 1946.

This grand and historic property has now reached the real estate market as a 'trust sale' with a very attractive price of $1,250,000 due to the extensive restoration and renovation necessary to return this impressive property to it original splendor.

What a rare opportunity for an architectural preservationist to re-create a true legacy estate!

Thanks to Listing Agent Nancy Valentine of Dickson Podley Realtors for making my preview of this wonderful property possible. Property details here: http://bit.ly/18VgGS