Pacific Asia Museum (Grace Nicholson's Treasure House of Oriental and Western Art)

Grace Nicholson came to Pasadena in 1901 with a small inheritance and built a business in Native American basketry, buying directly from weavers including Elizabeth Hickox of the Karuk and the Pomo weaver Mary Benson, and supplying museums from Harvard to Philadelphia. When that market cooled she turned to Asian art. In 1924 she hired Marston, Van Pelt and Maybury to build her a Chinese imperial courtyard house, roof tiles shipped from China. She gave it to Pasadena in 1943.

What the plaque says

Grace Nicholson, a noted collector and authority on American Indian and Asian Art and artifacts, supervised the design of her combination gallery and museum which was completed in 1929. It has been called an outstanding example of 1920s revival architecture and is unique for its use of Chinese ornamentation.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Colorado Street Bridge — 1.3 mi
  Beaux-Arts concrete arches curving 150 feet above the Arroyo Seco, opened in 1913 and later a link in Route 66.
• Mission San Gabriel Arcangel — 4.0 mi
  The fourth Alta California mission, built on Tongva land with Tongva labor, rebuilt after arson and now telling that story straight.
• Santa Monica Pier — 23 mi
  Where the Mother Road runs out of continent, and where the End of the Trail sign gives the drive somewhere to finish.

More markers nearby

• Pasadena Playhouse — 0.2 mi
• The Gamble House — 1.2 mi
• Old Mill — 2.0 mi
• Governor Stoneman Adobe, Los Robles — 2.2 mi