The Grassroots Race to Save Altadena’s Historic Batchelder Tiles—Before the Bulldozers Move In
In the Eaton Fire burn zone, fireplaces adorned with Arts and Crafts tiles are among the sole surviving relics of the town’s architectural heritage, and volunteers are on a mission to salvage them.
In the Eaton Fire burn zone, fireplaces adorned with Arts and Crafts tiles are among the sole surviving relics of the town’s architectural heritage, and volunteers are on a mission to salvage them.
Shortly after the Eaton Fire devastated Altadena, California, burning more than 6,000 homes and 3,000 additional structures, local resident Eric Garland took a walk around his neighborhood with his daughter, Lucy.
Fireplaces and chimneys are largely the only structures left standing in the Eaton Fire burn zone. Many are covered with Arts and Crafts-style tiles that are celebrated elements of Altadena’s architectural heritage.
Photo by Meg Pinsonneault
"We were in total disbelief and devastation," he says. "We walked our block, stopping to weep about every 100 yards, gasping at what was gone and what remains. As we were standing in front of my neighbor Fred’s debris field, we noticed there was this beautiful standing chimney with this perfect Batchelder tile surround. It was this glorious piece of art and it was like there wasn’t a chip on it. It was still vibrant and beautiful."
All over Altadena, thousands of fireplaces and chimneys still stand on lots otherwise reduced to ash, the last sentinels in a decimated landscape. Many are covered in historic tiles by artist Ernest Batchelder, a leader of the Arts and Crafts movement. The surviving tiles and fireplaces are (largely) all that’s left of those homes and of some of Altadena’s most historic architecture. As Garland and his daughter walked that day, they pondered those solitary soldiers. "We thought, ‘One day, fifty or a hundred years from now, there will be a new Altadena and the only piece of old Altadena that any of these people will have is that fireplace," he says. "We stood and appreciated that for about five seconds and then my daughter said to me, ‘But who saves the fireplaces?’"
Artist Ernest Batchelder began producing handmade tiles in 1910. His early designs often featured intricate low-relief patterns with muted earth tones and blue accents.
Photo by Meg Pinsonneault
Founded somewhere around 1875, Altadena has long had a rich architectural landscape full of worker cottages, Craftsman bungalows, Mission-style mansions, and everything in between. Development in the town boomed starting in 1887 when Andrew McNally, of the Rand-McNally map printing family, moved out from Chicago. He invited other wealthy friends to come enjoy the California weather and soon people like newspaper mogul William Armiger Scripps and noted author Zane Grey were building homes. (McNally’s grandson, Wallace Neff, started his career in Altadena in the 1920s before going on to become one of Southern California’s most significant architects.)
When building homes in the 1910s and ’20s, Altadenans often looked to Batchelder’s studio for decorative ceramic tiles to decorate and surround their fireplaces. His neutral field tiles matched all sorts of styles and his more detailed art tiles helped elevate mantle pieces or add pizzazz to even the most basic of homes. (The artist’s first studio was just a few miles away in Pasadena, which is why his work can be found all over the region, from the Pasadena Playhouse to a Dutch-themed chocolate shop in downtown Los Angeles.)
Local architects embraced Batchelder’s work and incorporated his tiles into homes and buildings across Altadena and Pasadena. Several other early 20th-century manufacturers produced tiles with similar aesthetics and techniques, like Claycraft Potteries and Gladding-McBean.
Photo by Meg Pinsonneault
See the full story on Dwell.com: The Grassroots Race to Save Altadena’s Historic Batchelder Tiles—Before the Bulldozers Move In
