They don't make them like this Arts and Crafts manor anymore

They don't make them like this Arts and Crafts manor anymore

They just don't make them like this anymore.

The 1908 Arts and Crafts manor, on Millionaire's Row in Pasadena just northeast of Los Angeles, is a throwback to another era, despite its modernization. There's simply no parallel for the craftsmanship.

Appropriately, it's the home of letterpress printer Andre Chaves, whose Clinker Press publishes material about the Arts and Crafts movement and about printing. The movement, a reaction against the mechanized manufacturing processes emerging at the time, featured handmade, detail-oriented architecture and furnishings that focused on the quality of materials and labor.

The three-story, 9,000-square-foot home has won state and local preservation awards for its recent renovation. It's decked out in exotic woods, with handcrafted details meticulously chosen for the property. And it contains not one but two hand-hammered copper fireplaces among its total of nine fireplaces.

The current owner's on-site print shop.
The current owner's on-site print shop.

The home was built in 1908 for iron tycoon Lewis J. Merritt. In possession of vast amounts of money and not enough to do with it, Merritt built the massive palace in Pasadena near his brothers, also iron tycoons with mansions in the area.

The Lewis Merritt mansion, now known as Manor Del Mar, has a unique subsequent history as well: The home was sold and converted to dorms for Ambassador College in the 1950s. The small college was established by Herbert W. Armstrong, a controversial spiritual leader who founded the Radio Church of God (later the Worldwide Church of God). He frequently predicted that various doomsday scenarios were imminent, including nuclear war and enslavement of mankind.

Click here or on a photo for a slideshow of the Lewis Merritt mansion, Manor Del Mar -- an impeccable example of the Arts and Crafts movement.

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