Zane Grey Estate
- Architect
- Myron Hunt
- Style
- Spanish Colonial Revival
- City
- Los Angeles, CA
Built in 1907 for Chicago business-machine manufacturer Arthur Herbert Woodward, this Mediterranean Revival house in Altadena was designed by architects Myron Hunt and Elmer Grey and built entirely of reinforced concrete — earning it a reputation as the first 'fireproof' home in Altadena, at the insistence of Woodward's wife Edith, a survivor of the 1903 Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago. Author Zane Grey and his wife bought the house in 1920, recalling a honeymoon visit to Altadena, and added a rooftop studio and library. The house was destroyed in the January 2025 Eaton Fire, leaving only concrete walls standing.
the building
Reinforced-concrete construction. Built entirely of reinforced concrete rather than wood or masonry, a deliberate fireproofing choice specified by Edith Woodward after she survived the deadly 1903 Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago.
the style
Hunt and Grey designed the house in the Mediterranean Revival style typical of early Altadena estates, giving Woodward's fireproof concrete structure the tiled roofs and stucco massing of a Southern California villa.
More on Spanish Colonial Revivalthe architect
Myron Hunt, working here with Elmer Grey, was among the Pasadena area's most prominent early-20th-century architects; this 1907 commission predates much of his later, more widely known work.
significance
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. After passing through the Grey family until 1970 and changing hands again in 2020, the house was destroyed in the January 2025 Eaton Fire, leaving only portions of its concrete walls standing.
nearby
- Andrew McNally House
- Case Study House No. 20
- Samuel Merrill House
- Space Flight Operations Facility
- Orange Grove Court
- Rose Bowl