People fall for Pasadena on a weekday, over a house and a school district and a commute that finally makes sense. But they stay for the weekends. There is a particular rhythm to a Pasadena year, a rotation of gardens and markets and rituals that repeats just enough to feel like home and changes just enough to keep surprising you. After years of living it, this is the calendar I would hand a friend who just moved here, one good weekend at a time.
What is spring like in Pasadena?
Spring is the show-off season, and it is worth clearing the calendar for. Descanso Gardens in La Cañada turns over its beds to tulips and lilacs, and the camellia woodland that made it famous is still in bloom, a canopy of pink over shaded paths. The jacarandas that line so many streets begin their purple few weeks. And on one Sunday in late April, Bungalow Heaven opens its front doors: the annual home tour lets you walk through the interiors of eight restored Craftsman bungalows while docents explain the history, with McDonald Park turned over to music and food for the day. It is the best afternoon of the year for anyone who loves these houses, and I rarely miss it.
How do you spend a Pasadena summer weekend?
Summer moves outdoors and after dark, because the days are hot and the evenings are perfect. Levitt Pavilion in Memorial Park plays free concerts under the trees all season, and the lawn fills with blankets and picnic dinners. The Rose Bowl loop, three flat and shaded miles around the stadium, becomes the whole city's shared backyard for a morning walk before the heat. Saturday mornings belong to the Victory Park farmers market on the east side, and Thursday evenings to the South Pasadena market by the Metro station, half grocery run and half block party. When the night finally cools, there is always ice cream in Old Pasadena and a slow walk through the brick alleys while the buildings give back the day's warmth.
What about autumn?
Autumn is the connoisseur's season, when the light goes gold and the crowds thin. It is the right time for the indoor pleasures: the Norton Simon Museum, whose collection rivals institutions in cities ten times the size, and the Huntington in San Marino, where you can spend a whole Saturday between the Chinese garden, the desert garden, and tea in the rose garden. Fall is also when Pasadena Heritage stages its Craftsman Weekend, a celebration of the city's Arts and Crafts legacy with tours and talks for the architecturally besotted. And the season closes with the smell of woodsmoke and the first cool nights that remind you why people once came here to winter.
What is winter like in Pasadena?
Mild, green, and quietly magic. Pasadena winters are the reason this was a resort town a century ago: clear cool days, roses still blooming, the mountains occasionally dusted white at the top. Descanso lights its forest for the holidays in the evenings, and the camellias return to open the whole cycle again. And then there is the morning the entire world looks at our town. On the first of January, the Tournament of Roses sends the Rose Parade down Colorado Boulevard, a river of flowers past the Norton Simon, and whether you go for the grandstands or just wander down to see the floats up close the next day, living here means the most famous parade in America is a local event. Few cities get a ritual that big and still that neighborly.
The monthly ritual: the Rose Bowl Flea Market
One rhythm runs underneath all the seasons. On the second Sunday of every month, rain or shine, the Rose Bowl Flea Market fills the stadium and its lots with thousands of vendors, one of the largest and most storied markets in the country. Designers, decorators, and anyone furnishing a first house treat it as a monthly pilgrimage, arriving early for the good finds and leaving with a mid-century chair or a stack of vintage linens. As a designer, I have sourced pieces here for more homes than I can count, and I still go for the pleasure of it. Put the second Sunday on your calendar in permanent ink.
Why the weekends are the real reason to move here
You can measure a town by its house prices and its commute times, and I will happily do that with you. But the truer measure is what an ordinary Saturday feels like, and Pasadena's ordinary Saturdays are extraordinarily good: a garden in the morning, an old house or a flea market in the afternoon, a patio dinner as the light goes long. This is the life buyers are really purchasing, underneath the square footage. If you are picturing your own version of this calendar, I would love to help you find the address it starts from. My neighborhood map is a good place to begin dreaming, and I am a good person to call when the dreaming turns serious.
Thalia
