Unable to find someone to take the buildings, Caltech plans to pick up and move seven historic bungalows to a parking lot two blocks away to free up space for a $200 million neuroscience research center.

The Spanish Colonial Revival-style bungalow court, built in 1923, is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, according to Pasadenas Design and Historic Preservation department.

The city suggested it might qualify as historically significant and we actually hired a historic preservation architect to do a study of it, said Hall Daily, Caltechs director of government relations. They deemed it was significant, not because the buildings are significant at all, but because Pasadena prizes bungalow courts and has established them as a priority to preserve.

Caltech offered to pay part of the relocation costs if a private party would take the bungalows, but there were few sites in Pasadena that could accommodate the homes. The institute has successfully relocated 40 buildings for preservation in the last 25 years with most moving off campus, Hall said.

The little buildings will be disconnected from their foundations, shored up and then trucked to their new home down the street. Caltech did not have an estimate for the cost.

Pasadena is considered the birthplace of the bungalow court, a collection of small one-to-two bedroom houses with common space in between. Developed generally from 1909 to 1942, bungalow courts were originally meant for transient, seasonal use, but over time became permanent residences sought for their unique architectural style, according to a city report.

They are very nicely designed, but theyre designed to work together, said Sue Mossman, executive director of Pasadena Heritage. Newlyweds, single-parent families and young adults often sought out the bungalows because they offered a sense of community at a lower cost, she said.

Pasadena had 112 bungalow courts left during a 2011 count, down from highs of more than 200 in previous decades. Of the remaining courts, 91 had a historic designation or were eligible.

We have lost a lot of them and they have become ever more precious, Mossman said.

Pasadena Heritage supports Caltechs solution for preserving the buildings and the layout of the homes, Mossman said.

Its not easy and its not inexpensive, but it can be so worth it if you look at the whole picture, she said.

Caltechs bungalow court, used for graduate student housing, no longer fits with the other buildings at the southwest corner of Wilson Avenue and Del Mar Boulevard. As the campus has evolved and changed over the years, the bungalows neighbors were replaced with parking lots and academic buildings.

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The proposed new site is a small parking lot in a residential area near San Pasqual Street and Catalina Avenue. The rest of that block is used for graduate student apartments.

Caltech must maintain the original configuration of the court as much as possible. Early plans suggest they may flip the layout by 90 degrees so the courtyard would face south. The courtyard may also be narrowed by five to 10 feet in width and length due to the smaller size of the new lot, according to a project description.

Caltech is constrained in part by their master plan, a guiding document for development on campus. Pasadena Heritage wants Caltech to seek an amendment from the City Council to allow more space for the court, but that may take too long.

One of the reasons officials at Caltech chose to pick up and move the court is because its faster than wading through bureaucracy.

Most of the options take much longer to resolve, said Hall, the Caltech official. In light of that fact that wed really like to put together this neuroscience center, I think it serves all parties to move it very close by.

Caltech wants to break ground on the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Neuroscience Research Building in early 2018, so the bungalow court needs a new home quickly.

The 150,000-square foot neuroscience facility, scheduled to open in 2020, will have labs and offices for researchers, a 150-seat lecture hall and support spaces for the Division of Biology and Biological Engineering.

The buildings name comes Tianqiao Chen and Chrissy Luo, two philanthropists who donated $115 million last year to support the institutes endeavors to better understand the brain.

Chen, a businessman who started games company Shanda Interactive Entertainment, is among the richest individuals in China, according to Forbes.

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To build a $200 million neuroscience lab, Caltech is relocating ... - The Pasadena Star-News