On Tuesday evening, June 21, 2016, the Monrovia City Council approved three more structures to be added to the list of local landmarks.
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Leading up to the home tour this year was the concern that the date change from Mother's Day to the Sunday before might have an adverse impact on attendance.  Well, that concern can be laid to rest.  Attendance for the 2016 tour was just over 450 people, not including the almost 200 volunteers helping to make the tour a success, which is almost the same as last year.  And the weather cooperated, as light raindrops Saturday evening gave way to mid-70 degree temps and sunny skies on Sunday, making the day a perfect one for touring.
The pictures below give some idea of how the day went.
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The Monrovia Historic Preservation Group will once again host its annual home tour, but this year it will occur on the FIRST Sunday in May.
WHAT: Docent-led tour of five homes and two museums
WHEN: Sunday, May 1, 2016
TIME: 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
The selection of homes for 2016 includes Spanish Colonial Revival, Craftsman, and English Tudor Cottage.  In other words something for everyone!

Ticket Prices
Pre Tour                                             Day of Tour
Adult  $20                                            Adult  $25
Senior (65+)  $15                                 Senior (65+)  $20
Teen (13-19)  $10                                 Teen (13-19)  $15
12 and under are free
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Ticket Information
Advance tickets can be purchased in several ways:
1. As of 10 p.m., April 29, tickets can no longer be purchased on this website.
2. Purchase in person at one of these locations in Monrovia:  Dollmakers (412 S. Myrtle Ave) or Monrovia Chamber of Commerce (620 S. Myrtle Ave); or at Curves (1159 E. Huntington Dr, in Duarte).
3. Purchase in person at the Friday Night Festival on Myrtle, April 8-29 (corner Myrtle and Colorado).
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On the day of the tour tickets may only be purchased at only one location -
​Monrovia Historical Museum, 742 E. Lemon Ave.  This will also be the location for Will Call tickets.

20The residents of the 100 and 200 blocks of North Encinitas are close to submitting an application for historic district status, but they need your help.  A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise the $11,153 amount for the application.
If you would like to see Monrovia gain its second historic district (after Wild Rose), go to:            
                                         www.gofundme.com/savingourblock
See how much has been raised so far!
​(NOTE:  As of April 30, $7610 has been contributed.)
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The recent proposal to move the existing Community Center on Palm Avenue to the vacant 4th Dimension building on Myrtle Avenue appears to have succumbed without the necessity of a vote by the City Council.  Over 100 people filled the Community Room of the Monrovia Library on the evening of January 7 to hear details of the proposal from City Manager Oliver Chi.

City staff had spent many hours analyzing the merits of the move, and in the end it became apparent even to staff that the economics were not there to make it a smart move for the City.  Virtually all of those present at the meeting were in agreement with that conclusion, especially after viewing the artist rendering of the replacement 54-unit condo project that would be built on the site of the existing Community Center.

Preservationists were especially pleased that the part of the proposal to move a landmarked home next to the project was taken off the table even before the meeting began.  To date no landmarked home has been touched in the twenty years the city has been identifying structures worth preserving.

Moving forward the City will now examine its options for dealing with the deferred maintenance on the existing Community Center.

MOHPG held its first vintage home tour in 1983 with the assistance of the Los Angeles Conservancy.  In 1986 the day of the tour was changed to Mother's Day, and it has been held on that date since then.
Beginning in 2016, however, that will change.  After polling its membership, docents, and online ticket buyers, as well as responses from Facebook, the MOHPG Board of Directors unanimously voted to change the date of the tour to the first Sunday in May.
All told the Board received responses from approximately 150 people, and over 75% were in favor of moving the date.  While not everyone will accept the decision favorably, the Board felt that changing the date of the tour followed the wishes of the majority.

​The 2016 MOHPG Vintage Home Tour will be held on Sunday, May 1, 2016, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.  Be sure to mark your calendars now so that you don't forget.  The lineup of homes to be spotlighted will be announced in January, 2016, on this website.

If you have ever walked by the library park fountain on the Myrtle side, you probably failed to notice the engraving on one of the granite stones.  That is not likely to happen in the future.  MOHPG put the finishing touch on the fountain restoration by painting in the engraving that spells out "Farmers Club."  For it was the Farmers Club of Monrovia that in 1909 donated the drinking fountain to the city.
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Minute remnants of paint indicated that the letters had at one time been painted, and now once again passersby can identify the donors of the fountain.

At the City Council meeting on September 1, 2015, the Council voted to make the home at 415 N. Primrose Avenue Historic Landmark #136.  The home, which had been on the Mother's Day Home Tour several months ago, is a 1908 Craftsman and had been placed on the Monrovia Potential Landmarks List.
This brings to nine, the number of buildings landmarked by the City in the past two years.

Approximately 40 guests and MOHPG members came together on Saturday, June 27, 2015, to celebrate the successful move and reconstruction of Monrovia's oldest carriage barn.

Moved in pieces from its former location (behind the 1887 Victorian at 131 E. Greystone Ave), the barn has been almost completely reconstructed at its new site at 996 Norumbega Drive.

Artist Leisa Collins, who has given five previous awards recognizing outstanding examples of preservation/restoration across the United States, presented owner Tracey Tempel with a custom watercolor and pen/ink drawing of the barn as it now stands.  MOHPG member Jimi Hendrix who directed the move and reconstruction of the barn also received a copy of the drawing.

The list of locally designated landmarks grew by three as a result of action by the Monrovia City Council on Tuesday evening, May 19, 2015.  The newest additions are:
Historic Landmark #133 - 248 E. Colorado Blvd, a 1911 Craftsman
Historic Landmark #134 - 833 Wildrose Avenue, a 1965 Mid-Century Modern
Historic Landmark #135 - 114 E. Lemon Avenue, a 1922 commercial brick building with a Federally inspired design

While only two landmarks were designated from 2009 to 2012, this makes a total of eight landmarks identified in the last three years.  Things are looking up!