Nestled between Sierra Madre Boulevard and the Huntington Library, Poet’s Quarter is a
divinely fantastic neighborhood, with ready access to the 210 freeway and
several important north-south and east-west thoroughfares. Sections of this
neighborhood are equally as grand and awe inspiring as our high-end Lacy
Estates, but there are also similarities to the ordered and elegant Library
District. However you cut it, though,
Poet’s Quarter is a truly beautiful and impressive neighborhood, featuring
famous architecture and spectacular large lots. 

Longtime Poet’s Quarter residents, Fred and Sarah Chen own a delightful and truly
original Adobe Ranch home on Canterbury Road. 
The Chen’s home was designed and built by Hugh W. Comstock, of Carmel,
California. After reading an interesting
article in “The Carmel Residents Association Newsletter”, I learned that Mr.
Comstock was not a licensed architect or builder but became quite famous for
his highly creative and imaginative designs. 
He built his business in Carmel, where his charming and purposefully
imperfect cottages became incredibly popular. 
He was a man ahead of his time, using eco-friendly, natural and native
materials in his homes as early as the 1920’s.

After ample success with his whimsical cottages, people began to push him to build
more traditional year-round houses. 
Because of the financial difficulties of his era, he became quite
fascinated with the use of the economical material, adobe. In his desire to create the perfect adobe
brick, he and his associates devised a formula for the perfect waterproof
brick, and then they manufactured them from their Carmel factory. Combining the adobe bricks with heavy grooved
bearing beams, Comstock developed the Post-Adobe system. With a true love of architecture and a desire
for others to learn from his findings, he did not patent his system but instead
made his plans public for others to enjoy. 
His fantastic designs have been highlighted in “Good Housekeeping”,
“Sunset Magazine” and “House and Garden”. The Chen’s Adobe Ranch home, as well as another similar home on Oxford Road, must
have been some of Comstock’s last designs. 
His death and the building of the Chen’s home appear to have both
transpired in 1950. Fred and Sarah love
the unique architecture and the extremely family-friendly floor plan of their
sprawling one-story home. Although,
Comstock’s favored adobe material provides ample sound proofing and insulation
from weather, these bricks are difficult to come by and would need to be
imported from Mexico if the Chens desired to expand the home. Luckily, the original floor plan, as designed
by Comstock, has suited the Chen’s lifestyle to a tee.

Once you enter the home, the interior design is anything but rustic. It has been beautifully renovated through the
years and has a truly contemporary feeling with beautiful Asian accents. Although they have no formal plans, the Chens
are blessed to have priceless painted renderings of each interior room, from
the hand of the original designer. 
Although the kitchen has been remodeled, surfaces have been replaced and
colors have been changed, the renderings show a home very similar to what
currently exists. The interior is
highlighted by walls of glass, which look out to a gorgeous rear garden,
replete with a huge, well-supplied Koi Pond. 
This water feature creates a perfect “Zen” environment to the home and
is best experienced while sitting on their lovely covered patio.
Fred and Sarah, as well as their son Mark, a Senior at San Marino High School, love
their quiet neighborhood and its convenient location. They have particularly enjoyed the freedom
that their safe and central neighborhood has provided for Mark throughout his
childhood years. Mark has a tight group of friends (my son, Luke included) who
have been inseparable since elementary school and love to spend as much of
their spare hours together as possible. 

These boys have rarely required a ride but have opted instead to jump on
a bike or skateboard and gather at a designated household. This group regularly
rode bikes to school from their middle years at Carver Elementary School,
too. The Chen’s sweeping front yard has
been the site of many a pickup football game, their pool a popular location for
little league team parties and their dining room a favorite gathering spot for
adult guests. I think that Comstock
would be thrilled to know how thoroughly the Chen’s have made use of his
ingenious design and the happy memories which have taken place within his adobe
walls. 
Buying a home in Poet’s Quarter is an expensive prospect. There are currently 13 homes on the market in
this section of town (out of a total of 45 in the whole city), with an average
list price of $2,943,846 and an average price per square foot of $675.