Pasadena Film Landmark Gutted In Fire

 

Flames engulf a Pasadena Tudor-style mansion used in several films (above), leaving only a few brick walls remaining (below).

     The Tudor style mansion used as a location for such films Clue (1985) and Batman (1989) burned to the ground Wednesday night. More than 80 firefighters from Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale and the city and county of Los Angeles worked through the night to keep the blaze from igniting the brush surrounding the Pasadena home which overlooks Arroyo Canyon.

 

     The mansion, which sat on a 3.3 acre property, was owned by Michael Hammer, grandson and heir of oil magnate Armand Hammer, and was in the final phase of a renovation which had begun last March. Damages to the three story, 21 room building were estimated at approximately $15 million. No one was home at the time. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

 

     The mystery/comedy Clue utilized the mansion’s ballroom and front drive, though for the exterior shots of the drive, the house itself was partially obscured by a more sinister looking matte painting. Other films which have used the 12,000 square foot home as a location include The Bells Of St. Mary, Topper ( both 1937), Being There (1979), Rocky V, Three Men And A Little Lady (both 1990), Hollywood Homicide and Just Married (both 2003). The home was built in 1929, designed by architect Paul Revere Williams. The homes original owner, thoroughbred horse breeder Jack Pease Atkins, often allowed film crews to use the house in the 1930s, donating the money paid for the location by the studios to Depression-era soup kitchens.

 

     Some reports have stated that the burned mansion was also seen in the 1960s Batman television series. However, the house that burned was located at 160 S. San Rafael Avenue in Pasadena. The mansion used in the Batman television series is located up the street at 380 S. San Rafael Avenue.The confusion between the two locations can be traced to the fact that the mansion at 380 S. San Rafael can not be seen from the street and fans who knew that the Batman series used a home on the street erroneously assumed the one at 160 s. San Rafael, which is visible from the street, to be it. The mansion at 380 S. San Rafael Avenue was also seen in the films Dead Again (1991), The X-Files: Fight The Future and Rush Hour (both 1998).

 

Two shots from the 1985 movie Clue showing the winding driveway and a portion of the front of the Tudor-style mansion which burned on Wednesday evening. Portions of the house were enhanced via matte painting.