What to Know
- Castle Green 125th Anniversary Holiday Tour
- Sunday, Dec. 8
- 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- $60 + fee
Castle Green has been merrily marking its quasquicentennial for a little while now, but there's more merriment ahead.
For any anniversary that involves 125 memorable years makes for a grand occasion, which means that more than a few events will shimmer on a landmark's schedule.
And the one that's coming up Dec. 8 will quite literally shimmer, thanks to the occasion: It's the Pasadena building's annual Holiday Tour, a sure-to-sell-out treat that, quite obviously, only comes around once a year, in December.
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The festive look-around — it's self-guided — will include access to the elegantly attired ground floor, which has been seen in movies like "The Sting" and "The Prestige," as well as several condominiums, over 20 in all.
Indeed, the former Hotel Green, which opened in 1898, is now the handsome home to permanent residents, not the trunk-hauling travelers of long ago, and many of those residents generously open their homes during the Holiday Tour.
Stepping inside the Castle Green Penthouse is also a hard-to-come-by pleasure for many visitors, as is the opportunity to call upon the Bridge.
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True, the building-fronting Bridge no longer extends over Raymond Avenue as it did many decades ago, but the unusual feature still intrigues those who gaze up to admire it from the street or the well-tended grounds below.
Other convivial touches during the four-hour festivity will include carolers, a DJ, decorations, and "bite-sized holiday snacks and refreshments (as supplies last)."
Architect Frederick I. Roehrig designed this whimsical and sizable structure, a one-of-a-kind building that includes "Moorish, Spanish, and Victorian influences."
Anybody who has beheld this castle would likely add "fairy tale" to that impressive list. For while Castle Green may lack dragons and a moat, it definitely has an allure that feels otherworldly, or at least other-our-worldly.
Making it an ideal spot for holiday cheer and a bit of classic Christmas fantasy.
Hoping to join this joyful event, which has a way of making all architecture lovers feel royal for an hour or two?
Ho, ho, ho: Go to this site now before every ticket is gone, much like sugar cookies have a way of disappearing off a still-warm cookie sheet.
