LANDMARK MEDIEVAL CASTLE 

The Wilkins House is one of the landmark properties of Northeast Altadena. Surrounded by almost a half acre of lush, mature English gardens that give way to breathtaking vistas of Eaton Canyon and the San Gabriel Mountains, this historical home was constructed entirely of native blue granite by Hugh Walker Wilkins (1876-1954), a Pennsylvania stonemason, who migrated to the area in 1909. It took him four years to build the home, completing it in 1929. Dr. Mary Quane, whom Wilkins met in 1924 and married three years later, designed the house in the Spanish Revival style, the most popular style of the day. Nevertheless, the house reflects the couple’s highly divergent personalities. It is both honest and straightforward and at the same time, whimsical and aristocratic. It echoes all the magic of a medieval castle, complete with turret and parapet. Inside the rooms are spacious with 10foot coved ceilings arching over the home’s original red oak wood floors.

The stately formal gardens are graced with two ponds filled with water lilies and koi, seven towering California Oaks, and an array of mature flowering trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals, and boxwood hedges amidst cobblestone planter old stone walls.

Thus, this captivating home has turned heads for nearly three-quarters of a century. In 1995 the present owners embarked on what would become a 12-year restoration project. Since then, every detail has been lovingly restored, no expense spared to bring the Wilkins House back to the way it was intended to be in the Roaring Twenties. Today it is truly one of Altadena’s architectural and historical treasures.

Entry:  A stone staircase leads to the arched entry door. Hardwood floors and a coved ceiling highlight the formal entry hall.

Living Room:  Three arched Palladian windows offer an abundance of natural light and garden views. Red Oak hardwood floors and 10 feet coved ceiling. An impressive stone fireplace is the focal point of the formal living room.

Dining Room:  Located in the center of the residence, the formal dining room offers 10 feet coved ceilings, Red Oak hardwood floors, and access to both formal and informal areas of the home.

Convertible Den:  An arched Palladian window and stone fireplace grace this intimate room located off the main entry hall. Red Oak hardwood floors, coved ceilings, and an adjacent remodeled three-quarter bath with subway tile.

Kitchen:  The remodeled kitchen offers marble counters, stained wood cabinets with glass fronts, hardwood floors, bead board ceilings, recessed light, stainless steel gas range, Bosch dishwasher, and built-in Viking refrigerator/freezer, and custom built reproduction sideboard with cancelled microwave.

Bedrooms:

One: Red Oak floors, expansive closet space, panned windows with garden and mountain views, and a turret lined with windows lends itself as an alcove area for a bed, sitting room, or tranquil office space.

Two:  Red Oak floors, two large closets, dramatic garden and mountain views, access to rear patio and gardens.

Additional Features:

High efficiency Carrier forced air and central air conditioning system.

Updated electrical system with 200 AMP service service Chimneys rebuilt in 1996.

Updated plumbing throughout: mostly copper lines

Lilly and koi ponds with bio-filtration system system. Upgraded irrigation system throughout the grounds.

Amenities include: walking trails, Lilly & Koi Ponds.

Built in 1929. Built by Hugh Walker Wilkins.

1 story, 2,200 approximate square feet. 2 buildings. Native blue granite stone exterior. Spanish clay tile roof.

.409 acre lot. 17860 sq ft lot dim.