Andrew McNally House
Encyclopedia
The Andrew McNally House in Altadena, California
was the home of Andrew McNally
(1838-1904), co-founder and president of the Rand McNally
publishing company. The Queen Anne Style
house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places
.
McNally was an Irish immigrant who worked as a printer. When he came to the United States, he first worked for the Chicago Tribune
when he met William Rand
. Together they formed the company that bears their names. In 1880, McNally took his fortune and family and moved west They lived for a time in Pasadena, California
before building their mansion in Altadena in 1887. The mansion is located on East Mariposa Street at Santa Rosa Avenue. McNally was a booster of the life in Altadena, and he convinced his friends to move here as well. They also built mansions along Mariposa, which soon began to be known locally as "Millionaire's Row".
McNally paid Pasadena architect Frederick Roehrig
$15,000 to design the Victorian
house. Facing south, away from the street, the house offered vistas of the Los Angeles Basin, the Pacific Ocean, and Santa Catalina Island. The house has a three-story rotunda that allows a view to the San Gabriel Mountains to the north. McNally also built a private rail spur from Altadena Junction to his property to store his private railroad car. The grounds were lavishly landscaped, with an aviary along Mariposa St. His gardener also looked after the deodar cedars that grew along Santa Rosa Avenue. These trees became Christmas Tree Lane
, which is also listed in the National Register.
In 1904, McNally caught pneumonia while en route to his Windemere Ranch in La Mirada, California
. (The ranch headquarters is also listed in the National Register.) He died shortly afterward. The gardens and aviary were neglected, some of the birds escaped. The property was then subdivided.
Altadena, California
Altadena is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately from the downtown Los Angeles Civic Center, and directly north of the city of Pasadena, California...
was the home of Andrew McNally
Andrew McNally
Andrew McNally was born in Armagh, Northern Ireland, and immigrated to New York City in 1857. A printer by trade, he moved to Chicago in 1858 and got a job in a print shop owned by William Rand at a wage of $9 per week. Rand and McNally became business partners and incorporated Rand, McNally & Co...
(1838-1904), co-founder and president of the Rand McNally
Rand McNally
Rand McNally is an American publisher of maps, atlases, textbooks, and globes for travel, reference, commercial, and educational uses. It also provides online consumer street maps and directions, as well as commercial transportation routing software and mileage data...
publishing company. The Queen Anne Style
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
McNally was an Irish immigrant who worked as a printer. When he came to the United States, he first worked for the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
when he met William Rand
William Rand (printer)
William H. Rand was born in Quincy, Massachusetts. As a young man, he was an apprentice at his brothers' print shop in Boston. He was enticed west in September, 1849, by the California Gold Rush. He settled in Los Angeles and co-founded the state's first newspaper, the Los Angeles Star...
. Together they formed the company that bears their names. In 1880, McNally took his fortune and family and moved west They lived for a time in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
before building their mansion in Altadena in 1887. The mansion is located on East Mariposa Street at Santa Rosa Avenue. McNally was a booster of the life in Altadena, and he convinced his friends to move here as well. They also built mansions along Mariposa, which soon began to be known locally as "Millionaire's Row".
McNally paid Pasadena architect Frederick Roehrig
Frederick Roehrig
Frederick Louis Roehrig was an early 20th-century American architect. Roehrig was born in LeRoy, New York, the son of the noted "orientalist and philoligist," Frederick L.O. Roehrig He graduated from Cornell University in 1883 and also studied architecture in England and France...
$15,000 to design the Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
house. Facing south, away from the street, the house offered vistas of the Los Angeles Basin, the Pacific Ocean, and Santa Catalina Island. The house has a three-story rotunda that allows a view to the San Gabriel Mountains to the north. McNally also built a private rail spur from Altadena Junction to his property to store his private railroad car. The grounds were lavishly landscaped, with an aviary along Mariposa St. His gardener also looked after the deodar cedars that grew along Santa Rosa Avenue. These trees became Christmas Tree Lane
Christmas Tree Lane
Christmas Tree Lane is a boulevard of deodar cedar trees in Altadena, California. The trees on the Lane, Santa Rosa Avenue, have been lighted annually as a Christmas Holiday display since 1920. The association which runs it claims it "is the oldest large-scale Christmas lighting spectacle in the...
, which is also listed in the National Register.
In 1904, McNally caught pneumonia while en route to his Windemere Ranch in La Mirada, California
La Mirada, California
La Mirada is a city in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, and is one of the Gateway Cities. The population was 48,527 at the 2010 census, up from 46,783 at the 2000 census....
. (The ranch headquarters is also listed in the National Register.) He died shortly afterward. The gardens and aviary were neglected, some of the birds escaped. The property was then subdivided.