Pasadena bungalow courts: 5 things to photograph in a 1920s rental

Pasadena has a housing type most cities never built: the bungalow court, a row of small cottages facing a shared garden walk. The city's own historic preservation material names St. Francis Court, designed by Sylvanus Marston and built in 1909, as its first. A century later, renting one means trading central air and a laundry room for a porch, a garden and original windows. The charm is real. So is the age.

Here is what to look at, or to have photographed, before signing for a cottage that has stood since the 1920s.

1. The windows

Original wood windows are a reason to love these courts and a reason to look closely: sashes painted shut, cracked glazing, gaps where the frame meets the wall, missing screens. Photograph each window and its frame up close, and note which ones open.

2. Floors that have moved

Hundred year old wood floors settle. Look for slopes visible along the baseboards, gaps between boards, doors trimmed at the bottom to clear the floor. None of it is a defect by itself. All of it belongs in the move-in record, so it is never blamed on you later.

3. Outlets and switches

Older cottages often have few outlets per room, two prong outlets and cover plates that are cracked or painted over. Count them before you plan where the desk goes, and photograph any damaged plate. Whether the wiring is sound is a question for a licensed electrician, not for a visit.

4. Under the sinks

Open the cabinets under the kitchen and bathroom sinks: water stains, swollen wood, a fresh patch of paint, old pipes. A dated photo is the simplest way to separate a past leak from a future one.

5. The shared walk

The courtyard is the selling point and also shared space. Ask who keeps up the garden, where the trash goes, where you park, and how close the next porch is to your bedroom window.

Pasadena has its own rent rules

Pasadena is a separate city, so the City of Los Angeles rent stabilization rules do not apply. Pasadena voters approved Measure H in 2022, and the city says its rent control laws "apply to multi-unit residential rental properties built before February 1, 1995". A 1920s court with several rental cottages may well be covered, so check with the city before you sign. The Pasadena area page covers the rest of the city.

The takeaway. A bungalow court is old by design, and that is the point. Look at the windows, the floors, the outlets and under the sinks, and get it all photographed before you move in. Choosing from a distance? Scoutmyplace visits across Los Angeles and its neighboring cities, Pasadena included, and the report arrives within 24 hours.