Originally THE residence of Southern Pacific Railroad heir Henry E. Huntington and his second wife, Arabella, the Huntington Art Gallery, that most genteel Beaux-Arts structure with a Mediterranean twist, first rose up on the Pasadena landscape in 1911. It was an early Southern California foray into domestic grandeur of Rockefellerian proportions.
By the 1930s, both Huntingtons had passed on, leaving permanent residents such as Diana the Huntress and the works of Thomas Gainsborough, Gilbert Stuart and John Constable in their stead, turning their personal abode into one of the city's biggest tourist sites. That is, until January 2006, when the powers that be shuttered the gallery for renovation. Thirty months and $20 million later, the gallery reopened Wednesday, expanded, rehabbed, redecorated and reshuffled.
From its grand white marble hall through its wholesale importation of the Arabella D. Huntington Memorial Collection (including numerous 18th century French treats) to its "Blue Boy"-infused portrait gallery, it's entirely possible to fashion a most becoming day out of these newly renovated nooks and crannies. And unlike all that Getty Villa hoopla, you can pretty much run right over, unannounced.
GETTING THERE
This may seem like a no-brainer, with the Huntington ensconced firmly in car-friendly San Marino. But with gas stations proffering their wares at prices only an oil baron could love, why not consider paying homage to the Huntington's railroad tycoon founder by riding up on the Gold Line? Exit at the Allen Street stop, and it's a 1.5-mile walk, bike ride or bus-bike-walk combination down to Henry's front door.
EXPLORING THE NEW ART GALLERY
Thanks to donors, free, in-depth audio tours are available at reception (er, free after you've coughed up the $15 to $20 to get through the gates). But it's why you came, so here are a few more tips for maximizing the experience from those responsible for creating it.
THE FIRST FLOOR
To better visualize quotidian life among the extraordinarily wealthy, the Huntington reconstituted its ground floor's floor plan. Transforming its "gallery" layout back into discrete rooms, with doors reaffixed to hinges and a few personal artifacts scattered about, it puts the emphasis back on its time as a family home -- or rather, a magnate's majestic estate of the Gilded Age.
