{"nrhp_refnum":"05000050","name":"Storrier-Stearns Japanese Garden","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"270 Arlington Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pasadena","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.12759407000004,"lon":-118.15582748899999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-02-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1.45-acre Japanese stroll garden at 270 Arlington Drive in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California, designed and built between 1937 and 1942 by Japanese landscape designer Kinzuchi Fujii for Charles and Ellamae Storrier-Stearns.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the garden is an excellent example of Japanese-style garden design and is significant in California landscape architecture. It reflects the American appreciation of Japanese design and the Japanese immigrant experience. It is one of very few surviving pre-war private Japanese gardens in California and the supreme example of Fujii's work.","narrative":"This 1.45-acre Japanese stroll garden in a residential part of Pasadena was created between 1937 and 1942 by Kinzuchi Fujii, a landscape designer and craftsman from Japan, for Charles and Ellamae Storrier-Stearns. Two interconnected ponds, a 25-foot hill with a cascading waterfall, thousands of granite boulders, four bridges, a rustic redwood waystation, and granite and bronze lanterns make up its main features. Granite and bronze pieces were imported from Japan, and the work was done by hand labor and mules. The original teahouse was built in Japan, shipped over and reassembled. It burned in 1981 and is being rebuilt from original drawings. The garden is significant in California landscape architecture as an authentic wet garden with a promenade and as a rare surviving pre-war private Japanese garden. It also reflects Japanese immigrant contributions to American garden design. Despite losses and neglect, the basic design and most principal trees remain.","period_of_significance":"1937-42","architect_builder":"Fuji, Kinzuchi designer","architectural_style":"Other - Japanese","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The garden retains its basic design of ponds, waterfall, paths, boulders, bridges and retaining wall. The original teahouse burned in 1981 and is being reconstructed, with its foundation laid. The original entrance gate and Foo dogs were removed and replaced with period substitutes. Some artifacts are in storage.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.757791-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/05000050.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000050/9f787dc273-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000050/9f787dc273-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Clyde Charles Brown","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Storrier_Stearns_Japanese_Garden,_Pasadena,_California,_US.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Clyde Charles Brown</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Storrier_Stearns_Japanese_Garden,_Pasadena,_California,_US.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100006821","name":"Pasadena Avenue Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/california/pasadena-avenue-historic-district-100006821/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859554","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storrier-Stearns_Japanese_Garden","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7620328"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/storrier-stearns-japanese-garden-05000050/"}