“The large consensus was they wanted to bring Craftsman Weekend back,” said Zoot Velasco, who responded by expanding the beloved October tradition from a weekend into an eight-day celebration.
Many events sold out, and the organization has seen unprecedented growth, Velasco said.
The expansion—from a weekend to eight days, from one organization to five partner institutions—marked the first time Pasadena Heritage transformed its signature fall event into a comprehensive regional collaboration.
This week’s expanded event began Sunday and runs this week through Sunday, Oct. 19.
The events include partnering with Brett Waterman, host of Magnolia Network’s Restored series, the Gamble House and the Pasadena Museum of History.
“The decision was an idea I had that came out of talking with all of our board and staff,” Velasco said.
The expansion came during a critical transitional year for the preservation nonprofit, which had struggled financially post-COVID and lost its longtime director before hiring a successor who served only six months. Velasco began his interim term December 1, 2024, knowing it would end in late November 2025.
Strategic Partnerships and Economic Model
“We met with the Gamble House and the Pasadena Museum of History and decided to work together to do Craftsman Week across all three organizations,” Velasco said. “Later, that got expanded to include Old California Lighting and Judson Studios with tours of those two organizations that do a lot for the preservation community.”
The expansion strategy drew inspiration from Palm Springs Modernism Week, which Velasco cited as a successful revenue model for architectural festivals.
“A lot of my board was saying,’This is a great thing, we could do the same with Craftsman Week,'” he said.
The partnership model has allowed specialized institutional contributions.
“Pasadena Heritage and the Gamble House both strive to get people excited about the legacy of local architecture, and education is really the key to that,” said Jennifer Trotoux, Pasadena Heritage’s director of collections and interpretation.
At the Pasadena Museum of History, the collaboration highlighted the museum’s collection of more than 200 Batchelder tiles donated by the late architectural historian Robert Winter, Ph.D.
“This expansion of Pasadena Heritage’s Craftsman Weekend into a week-long immersion into the city’s Arts & Crafts legacy is an exciting new addition to our mutual calendars,” said Jeannette Bovard of the Pasadena Museum of History.
“We also wanted to celebrate more than just the architecture of the homes, but include things like the metal work, the woodwork, the tile work, the glass work, and even the music of the time period,” Velasco said.
Leadership Handoff
Dr. Bridget Lawlor, Pasadena Heritage’s current preservation director and soon to be new executive director on December 1, will succeed Velasco. She has served as preservation director since August 2024 and will begin as acting director November 1. She was preparing for Craftsman Week alongside Velasco and staff during the planning months.
Lawlor brings more than 15 years of preservation experience and previously served as Riverside County’s historic preservation officer, managing a $1.2 million budget and overseeing initiatives to safeguard nationally and state-registered historic sites. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in history with a concentration in archival studies from Claremont Graduate University.
“My job was to provide stability and make it sustainable. I feel like we’ve accomplished that this year in both cases,” Velasco said of his tenure.
Educational Mission Across Partners
The expansion allowed each partner institution to showcase specialized expertise. Trotoux described the Arts and Crafts metalwork exhibition at the Gamble House as spanning “not only the kinds of higher-level art metal that people like the Gambles might have collected, but also what was accessible to middle class people putting together an artistic home in the early 20th century.”
The Gamble House attracts visitors “whose houses were built locally in the same period who come here for a deeper understanding of what their own historic homes are about—there’s still so much to get in touch with from a visit here and so much inspiration to draw from it,” she said.
“A landmark like this is an incredibly important thing to the built environment and culture of Pasadena,” Trotoux said.
At the Pasadena Museum of History, the partnership highlighted the institution’s significant tile collection.
“We are especially proud of the extraordinary gift to our Archives by the late architectural historian Robert Winter, Ph.D., of his personal collection of Batchelder tiles and accompanying archives,” Bovard said.
“The donation includes over 200 Batchelder tiles made between the years 1910 and the early 1930s, including tiles in the Arts and Crafts style (from landscape reliefs to figural corbels) as well as colorfully glazed tiles of later years in the Mayan, Spanish Revival, and Art Deco styles,” she said.
Looking Forward
Velasco sees growth potential tied to upcoming anniversaries.
“Let’s take next year, for example, we have the 150th anniversary of the Colorado Boulevard. We have the hundred [year] anniversary of Route 66, we’ve got the 250th anniversary of our country. There’s all these historic anniversaries coming up next year, and big things are planned for that in June,” he said. “Craftsman Weekend is part of that,” he said.
“I think we’re getting more nostalgic. Younger people who are tied to their phones [and on] the internet are more nostalgic for things that are not tied to their phones on the internet. It’s a perfect time to bring back vintage moments like Craftsman Week,” Velasco said.
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