File:Street view of the large H.C. Merritt residence, Pasadena, ca.1916 (CHS-5617).jpg

Street view of the large Hulett C. Merritt residence, Pasadena, ca.1916

Photograph of a street view of the large Hulett C. Merritt residence, Pasadena, ca.1916. The three-story mansion sits on top of a hill on a large estate. Surrounded by an immaculate lawn, the mansion features a federal-style facade where the building is symmetric. Balustrades circle certain areas on the roof, it encloses the balcony, and it flanks the entrance to the front door. The estate is surrounded by a fancy and lavishly decorated concrete wall. Past the front gates are several flights of stairs that lead to the mansion entrance.

Hulett C. Merritt Sr. was born in Duluth, Minn and started out in business in Minnesota helping his father (Lewis J. Merritt) and uncles as an employee of the Duluth Mesabi & Northern Railroad. Hulett Sr. subsequently became one of the largest shareholders in the resultant U.S. Steel Corporation. Hulett Sr. moved to Southern California in 1898. He was successful with various real estate and business ventures in Southern California. An article in the San Francisco Call Newspaper of Jan 17, 1902 stated "Syndicate Controls Power Company" and stated Hulett and group had gained control of the United Electric, Gas and Power Company in Los Angeles and Hulett was President. It has been reported that when Hulett Sr. sold his shares of United Electric to the Southern California Edison Company in 1903, United Electric subsequently represented one third of SoCal Edison's territory at the time.

Hulett Sr.'s estate "Villa Merritt Ollivier" in Pasadena was built on four acres for $1,100,000 in 1905 - 1908. This area on South Orange Grove Avenue was referred to locally as "Millionaires' Row" (per the City of Pasadena's Architectural and Historical Survey of 1997). His mansion was located at 99 Terrace Drive and bounded on the north by Olcott Place and on the west by South Orange Grove Avenue. After Hulett Sr.'s death in 1956, the property was purchased by Herbert W. Armstrong from Hulett's four surviving grandchildren because it was adjacent to Ambassador College. Villa Merritt Ollivier was renamed "Ambassador Hall", and Ambassador College subsequently obtained permission to close Terrace Drive. Thereafter, the residence and street address for the former Villa Merritt Ollivier was renamed Ambassador Hall, 100 S. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena.

Call number: CHS-5617

Filename: CHS-5617

Coverage date: circa 1916

Part of collection: California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960

Format: glass plate negatives

Type: images

Geographic subject (city or populated place): Pasadena; Pasadena

Repository name: USC Libraries Special Collections

Accession number: 5617

Microfiche number: 1-37-77

Archival file: chs_Volume52/CHS-5617.tiff

Part of subcollection: Title Insurance and Trust, and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960

Repository address: Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189

Geographic subject (country): USA

Format (aacr2): 1 photograph : glass photonegative, b&w ; 21 x 26 cm.

Rights: Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library; From the California Historical Society Collection at the University of Southern California

Subject (adlf): residential sites

Project: USC

Repository email: specol@usc.edu

Contributing entity: California Historical Society

Date created: circa 1916

Publisher (of the digital version): University of Southern California. Libraries

Format (aat): photographs

Geographic subject (state): California

Subject (file heading): Pasadena -- Architecture -- Domestic

Legacy record ID: chs-m6100; USC-1-1-1-6209

Access conditions: Send requests to address or e-mail given. Phone (213) 821-2366; fax (213) 740-2343.

Geographic subject (county): Los Angeles

Subject (lcsh): Architecture, Domestic; Dwellings

Subject: Merritt, Hulett C.; Pasadena (Los Angeles) -- Architecture -- Domestic