Tuesday, January 8, 2013

House on Bilike Hill

I painted the Bilike Mansion in South Pasadena last Saturday.  The Bilike House was designed by John Parkinson and G. Edwin Bergstrom in 1906.  Parkinson and Bergstrom  are responsible for a very significant portion of the architectural icons of the City of Los Angeles.  The house was built for Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Bilike.  The house now shares grounds with the South Pasadena United Methodist Church.  It is used by Boy Scouts, Al-anon, and Kinesthetic Learner childcare.  I'm pretty certain I recall reading that Mr. and Mrs. Bilike died on the Lusitania.  Yet at this point I can find no mention of that in the wide deep sea of the internet.  Somewhere around my house I've misplaced my South Pasadena history book.

This is only a small view, and a canted one, of what is easily one of South Pasadena's most significant structures.  The house is surrounded by trees that have been growing for a long time, but you can still make out the views in every direction, and they are wonderful.      

3 comments:

  1. This is beautiful Barbara - i especially like the soft light coming in on the house.

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  2. Wonderful history. Bergstrom & Parkinson is saying something for this mansion. Not much more to add, except, did the owners like the colors you chose to paint their mansion? ;)

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