To spot the Home Laundry, look for a two-story brick building with gabled roofs, cream-colored timber details, and a row of red awnings right in front of you on Arroyo Parkway-it stands out with its Tudor-style flair.
Welcome to the Home Laundry! Believe it or not, what you’re standing in front of isn’t a cozy old English cottage, but a ground-breaking laundry business from the roaring 1920s. Imagine Pasadena almost a century ago: horse-drawn carts clattering down the street, people in straw hats carrying bundles of clothes, and right here, the shiny new Home Laundry building opening its doors. Now, here’s the twist: the men behind this business weren’t ordinary soap-slingers-they were local big shots, with Daniel Linnard so famous he could fold a towel and have it make headlines nationwide, at least in hotel circles!
The building itself feels almost magical, doesn’t it? See those intricate half-timbered lines, sturdy brickwork, and those fairytale gabled dormers peeking above? That’s the work of Marston, Van Pelt & Maybury, some of Pasadena’s favorite architects. And get this-the clever folks here made sure the offices stayed sharp and clean in the front, while all the whirring, steaming laundry action happened in back. If you listen closely, maybe you’ll hear the ghostly swish of suds and the clang of irons from a time when Pasadena’s finest linens came through these doors. Not only is this a one-of-a-kind Tudor Revival business building in the whole city, but since 1987, it’s been protected as a slice of Pasadena’s most spotless history. Now, who knew laundry could be so legendary?
