Marguerita-Bushnell, Alhambra, CA

Marguerita-Bushnell covers the northwest corner of Alhambra, and its streets hold some of the city's best-kept Arts and Crafts houses, including a few Swiss Chalet designs that surprise first-time visitors. The area joins two old subdivisions, La Marguerita-Souders and Wuest-Bushnell. The first honors Marguerita Graffen, whose father owned the original tract. Homes here are mostly early twentieth century Craftsman bungalows and chalet-style houses with deep porches, exposed rafters and wood siding, mixed with later Spanish and postwar homes on the blocks that filled in afterward. Many front porches still face the street the way they were meant to. Alhambra Park is the anchor for outdoor time, a full city park with open lawn and a water playground that fills up on hot afternoons. The Alhambra Historical Society Museum sits on Alhambra Road inside the neighborhood, which suits a place where so much of the original housing survives. Food leans classic. Twohey's Restaurant is the old-school coffee shop for burgers and a booth, and the In-N-Out a few doors down covers late cravings. Over on North Garfield Avenue, Wa Sushi and Izakaya and Pharos Burgers sit a few doors apart, and Spanglish Kitchen on North Atlantic mixes Mexican and Spanish plates. Daily errands take a short drive. Big grocery runs usually head south to the supermarkets on Main Street downtown, a few minutes away by car, and Atlantic and Garfield are the main routes in and out. Huntington Drive is the quick connection toward South Pasadena and Pasadena. The honest downside is that few shops or cafes sit within walking distance of most houses, so errands start with the car keys. What people get for that is a stretch of Marguerita-Bushnell where the porches, rafter tails and old street trees still line up block after block.