Century-Old Stained Glass at Altadena’s Mountain View Mausoleum Faces Critical Deterioration

The stained glass windows that have washed the marble corridors of Mountain View Mausoleum in colored light for more than a century are in danger of falling from their frames.

That is the finding of a recent assessment by Judson Studios, the Los Angeles artisans who created the windows when the mausoleum was built in 1923. The studio found many panels at critical risk: glass pieces loose or broken, support bars shifted, lead cracked, glazing putty dried and separated from the stone frames. The horizontal panels known as laylights, bearing the constant pull of gravity, are bowing and separating. Without restoration, the century-old artistry could fail.

The Pasadena Cemetery Association, which operates the Altadena landmark, has launched a $125,000 fundraising campaign to address the damage. The mausoleum—designed by Cecil E. Bryan, a former apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright—survived the Eaton Fire that destroyed more than 9,000 structures across Altadena last January, but the organization says the blaze added stress to windows already weakened by nearly a century of natural wear.

Bryan considered Mountain View his masterpiece among more than 80 mausoleums he designed during his career. “My goal in building Mountain View Mausoleum was to create the grandest, most artistic mausoleum in the United States,” he once said of the building, whose 180-foot Great Gallery features ceiling murals by Norwegian painter Martin Syvertsen, surfaces of more than 64 varieties of Italian marble, and stained glass by Judson Studios—the same studio he entrusted with the windows now in jeopardy.

Bryan was so devoted to his creation that when he died in 1951, he was interred there.

The mausoleum is the final resting place for other notable figures as well: actor George Reeves, television’s original Superman; Eldridge Cleaver, a leader of the Black Panther Party; and Richard Feynman, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist. Jane Backman, president of the Altadena Historical Society, has described the building as “Altadena’s own Sistine Chapel.”

“This is not just a place of death, but this is a place of remembrance,” Keith Brown, the cemetery’s operations manager, said after the Eaton Fire. “This is a place to where when you walk the grounds, you might not know this individual, but just looking at the dates you almost get a snippet of the individual’s life.”

Judson Studios, founded in 1897, is the oldest family-run stained glass studio in the United States. Now led by fifth-generation David Judson, the Highland Park studio both creates new works and restores historic glass—recently completing a restoration of the Missouri State Capitol’s laylight. The studio’s work can be found across Los Angeles, from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House to All Saints Church in Pasadena.

The specific issues identified in the Mountain View assessment create what the campaign describes as a “feedback loop of stress.” Support bars meant to hold the windows in place have shifted, weakening panels and putting pressure on the glass and lead. The putty that once sealed the windows to their stone frames has dried and cracked. In the laylights—glass panels set horizontally in the ceiling—the effects of gravity have caused bowing and separation over the decades.

Stained glass restoration experts generally recommend restoration every 75 years. The Mountain View windows have exceeded that threshold by more than two decades.

Mountain View Cemetery, on whose grounds the mausoleum sits, is Altadena’s oldest continually operating business. Established in 1882 by Levi W. Giddings, it remains operated by his descendants. The mausoleum, built separately on nearby Marengo Avenue, was acquired by Mountain View in 1971.

The Eaton Fire, which burned 14,021 acres and killed at least 19 people, was the second-most destructive wildfire in California history. The mausoleum did not burn, though parts of the adjacent cemetery sustained minor fire damage.

Donations can be made through the Pasadena Cemetery Association’s GoFundMe campaign. As of the campaign’s launch, $1,025 had been raised toward the $125,000 goal.