One of the first handful of "Millionaire's Row" mansions built in the golden era of Altadena, down the street from the likes of the McNally Mansion, the Zane Grey estate, the first estate in the area (the Woodbury Home) and a dozen or so more that comprised all of Altadena at the end of the nineteenth century. The home was designed by Seymore Locke of Locke & Munsell, Architects in Los Angeles, for a client, George Schoenberg Chambliss, an Eastern Industrialist, and completed in 1895 (with the carriage house added to the property in 1899). George died in 1903 and the property changed hands several times before the Louis G. and Marie F. Benziger Family purchased it in 1915 to raise their adopted children, Louis and Marguerite ("Rita"). Louis Sr. died in 1929, his wife lived at the property until her death in 1942, when adopted daughter Rita inherited the estate. Shortly after she took over the property, Rita's "cousin" Mariella Benziger (daughter of world famous Portrait painter August Benziger) visited and together they created (with the blessing of the Pope) the "Pope's Children War Relief" orphanage and over the course of several decades they brought over 400 orphans from Europe and raised them on the property. The craftsmanship throughout the home is extraordinary; the framing was 100% old growth California Redwoods, hauled south from the Northern forests by mule trains and milled locally. The large main house (almost 7,000 sq. ft. in its entirety) and all of the woodwork, built-in cabinetry, boxed beam ceilings, tall base moldings, paneled wainscoting, etc.--using mostly "tiger striped" quarter-sawn lumber-- was made by hand using a team of 65 carpenters . . . and yet took only seven months to create, at a cost of $7,500.00. Even the placement of the structure on the large estate lot is evidence of the architect's expertise . . . the way the light floods the diningroom as the sun rises above the towering Deodars of Christmas tree lane, and the same afternoon effect flowing through the large picture windows of the livingroom, gave rise to the eventual name given the property by one of the visiting Catholic Sisters: "Afterglow". Over a hundred mature fruit trees were planted throughout the property along with gardens for herbs and vegetables, animal husbandry areas for goats, rabbits, ducks, golden pheasants . . The house suffered damages from the 1992 and 1994 Sierra Madre and Northridge earthquakes, so all but the original woodwork was removed to the studs for a complete restoration and updating of the systems--all new electrical wiring, all new plumbing, foundations were repaired, house was fully insulated, seismic shear paneling was added throughout, 4 chimneys and fireplaces rebuilt to new code, 5 separate heating and cooling systems were installed, etc. at a cost of well over $1,000,000.00 and took almost 20 years to (almost)complete--there are still a few pieces of molding yet to be reinstalled, and some of the stripped wood surfaces have yet to be stained and refinished. In any case, a fabulous estate home, an important historical legacy, lovingly restored and currently used to house appreciative tenants from the Art Center College of design, JPL, and other sources of creative endeavor. Keep an eye out for Historical Home tours in the future ;-)
This property is off market, which means it's not currently listed for sale or rent on Zillow. This may be different from what's available on other websites or public sources.
