Marisa Giesler and Greg Giesler at the Santa Anita Racetrack Clubhouse on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Marisa Giesler and Patti Currie at the Santa Anita Racetrack Clubhouse on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Art Deco Band performing at the Santa Anita Racetrack Clubhouse on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Lisa Kenyon and Pete Siberell at the Santa Anita Racetrack on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Molly Ann Woods. Jessica Harrison (Chair), and Jackie Jones (Chair) at the Santa Anita Racetrack on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Stephen Goei, Gin Goei, Paul Shinto, Vicki Shinto, Linda Bergara, and Steve Bergara at the Santa Anita Racetrack on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Mary Swanton and Aislinn Swanton at the Santa Anita Racetrack Clubhouse on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Sheri Domenghini and Marsha Seyfert at the Santa Anita Racetrack Clubhouse on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Ryan Swanson and Ritu Kumar at the Santa Anita Racetrack Clubhouse on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Fredi Slickelmen, Charlene Hazelton, and Ty Mullen at the Santa Anita Racetrack Clubhouse on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Jeff Fleury (Monrovia Nursery, landscape designer for Showcase House) and Tammy Fleury at the Santa Anita Racetrack Clubhouse on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Ruben Marquez and Tom Graham (Sherle Wagner, plumbing and hardware vendor for Showcase House) at the Santa Anita Racetrack on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Maddie Moreland and Marcus Buenabenta at the Santa Anita Racetrack on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Julie McCrimlisk and Michelle Prestholt at the Santa Anita Racetrack on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Julia Camara-Calvo (Gracie, wallpaper vendor for Showcase House), Hannah Villines (Custom Comfort Mattress, vendor for Showcase House) and Melissa Besenty (Custom Comfort Mattress) at the Santa Anita Racetrack on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Steve Flemmer, Nancy Collins, and Garett Collins at the Santa Anita Racetrack on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Rachel Duarte (Design Advisor), Nick Mosaquites, Matt McIntyre, Garrett Collins at the Santa Anita Racetrack on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Beth Handon, Olivia Wan, and Irene Wan at the Santa Anita Racetrack on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Jill Romine (Jill Ramine Interiors) (center), Jayson Larson, and Mia Williams at the Santa Anita Racetrack on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Rhonda Angell (Rhonda Angell Interior Design) and Greg Angell at the Santa Anita Racetrack on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Cynthia Bengtson (Benefit Co-Chair), Lynne Graves (Benefit Co-Chair), Lydia Rubin (Benefit Co-Chair), and Marisa Giesler at the Santa Anita Racetrack Clubhouse on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
Guests, live music, and event signage at the Santa Anita Racetrack Clubhouse on the Showcase House Premiere Night, April 17, 2026. [Shirley Huang/Pasadena Now]
The late Friday afternoon in the shadow of the San Gabriels, began with a shuttle ride and a sense of anticipation. Guests—designers, donors, and the well-heeled design-curious—were ferried out to the Baldwin Oaks Estate, where the 2026 Pasadena Showcase House of Design stood in full, manicured readiness. The house, perfectly dressed, of course, felt less like a residence than a stage.
Inside, more than two dozen interior and exterior designers had transformed the estate into a sequence of moods—rooms that invited not just inspection, but a kind of affectionate awe. Guests moved slowly, almost ceremonially, pausing to take in a flourish of wallpaper here, a daring furniture pairing there, murmuring appreciatively, occasionally doubling back for a second look. It was less a tour than a procession.
Premier Night, as 2026 Pasadena Showcase House of Design Co-Chair Cynthia Bengtson explained, is a prologue.
“It really sets the tone for the next 30 days,” she said, describing the evening as the organization’s central fundraising event.
The Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts, a fully volunteer-run organization, directs its proceeds across the San Gabriel Valley, with over $1.1 million awarded in grants last year to roughly ninety schools and nonprofit organizations, along with support for its own programs, including youth concerts, an instrumental competition, a Music Mobile, and a fellowship with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
By twilight, the evening pivoted—elegantly, if logistically—toward Arcadia’s other landmark. Guests were shuttled to Santa Anita Park, where the Clubhouse Chandelier Room had been transformed into an intimate dining space for several hundred. The choice, organizers said, was both practical and poetic. The Baldwin estate’s namesake lineage echoes in “Lucky” Baldwin’s racetrack legacy, and the pairing gave the evening a sense of narrative continuity.
“We thought it was fun to be at an iconic place,” one organizer said, noting that not every Showcase property can accommodate a dinner of this scale.
Under soft light and glittering fixtures, conversation replaced commentary. The spectacle of design gave way to the quieter business of philanthropy—the shared understanding that the evening’s elegance had a purpose beyond itself.
The 2026 Pasadena Showcase House of Design, which officially opens Sunday morning, is open to the public through May, with tours typically running Tuesday through Sunday. www.pasadenashowcase.org.
