I recommend this tour heartily. Kurt is so impressively knowledgeable about design and architecture…read moreand he adds interesting side stories about the former residents of famous persons. I didn't take many pictures because I was enthralled by my guide.

It was great, the weather was beautiful but a little too hot but in all the place was great.read more

Not much on display. A few fashion photos, no architecture. Cheeky volunteer. No place to sit…read more Bathroom was fine fine

As a valley resident, I had a wonderful time on our tour learning about modern architecture. There…read morewere locations that I never even knew existed, let alone the history of those buildings. Our tour guide Tommy made the experience one of a kind. His passion and expertise kept me engaged throughout the 2.5 hour tour. I want to thank our driver Tammy as she made sure we all stayed on course and on time. I would highly recommend everyone to try this tour and see what Palm Springs has to offer.

Pasadena Heritage lecture "Tribute to Julia Morgan, Architect", was held January 21, 2012 in honor…read moreof Julie Morgan's 140th birthday, the 35th anniversary of the founding of PH and to raise awareness for the possible preservation, renovation and restoration of JM's YWCA (1921) located at Marengo and Holly in Pasadena which has been listed on PH's most endangered list for many years. This was a very informative, well attended presentation on the City's historic civic center plan, JM's bio and body of work, architecture and construction of the YWCA as well as the past and present function of the structure and possibilities for reuse. The second part of this program may be scheduled in the Fall of 2012. Julia Morgan, California's first licensed woman architect, is known for her work at Hearst Castle, in addition to her work in SF, Oakland, No. California and for the design and construction of YWCA buildings throughout California, Utah, Arizona, and Hawaii including 14 structures at the Asilomar Conference Grounds (originally YWCA) in Pacific Grove. Bernard Maybeck was her mentor.

For the past 16 years, Pasadena Heritage has been hosting the annual Craftsman weekend, which…read moreaccording to their website is "the largest and most comprehensive celebration in the Western United States." Throughout this weekend, you can take both bus and/or walking tours of historic neighborhoods, but the highlight of the weekend is the Craftsman House Tour where you get to visit six distinctive period homes, Not only do you get to see the interiors of these beautiful homes, you'll also have trained docents inside who will give you historical facts and architectural info about the home itself. So if you have a love of the American Arts & Craftsman movement, than why not take advantage of being local to a part of the country where you can see beautiful examples of this distinct architectural and design style. I certainly did last year and with Annual Craftsman Weekend coming around again in October, you can too. To see the pics I took while on the 2006 Craftsman House Tour, check out the link below: http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594566541113/

This was a fantastic find on Yelp. My wife and I enjoy finding out historical information on…read morecities we visit and have taken many tours over the years. David Jensen does a terrific job as your guide and host. We made our reservations online, very easy. David showed up on time. He covered everything he describes on the information and more. Carlsbad as well as the general coastal area have a fascinating history that David took the time to describe. The walk and pace are very easy and David does a great job being loud enough for people like myself to to hear. You cover the history of the area. Visit key sites where building still stand or once stood. You learn about the regions flower/apprentice industry and about an unlikely "historian", city benefactor. Yes, this was a very enjoyable tour, well worth the low cost and if you are in Carlsbad, we would highly recommend David Jensen's tour!

From the owner: Enjoy a 90 minute tour by a professional tour guide that will explain the history of Carlsbad…read morestarting from the 1880's . You will stroll through historical buildings and the Village as you learn about the past that shaped this iconic beach town with history. Learn about the famous mineral water and how the city was named and founded. Along the way, we will point our great restaurants, shops , and things to do in Carlsbad. Don't miss this tour on your visit!

Great tour! Fantastic guide! Comfy van! Can't go wrong with this tour. You get all the highlights…read morein a short time.

When visiting Palm Desert in mid-February, the concierge recommended the Legends & Icons tour with…read moreFive Star. We met up with Annette and her sprinter van which was packed to the gills! We got the very last seats in the back with our friends. It was an unseasonably cold day with pouring rain. PS gets 1-4" rain per year, and received 1" of that on the day of our tour! Annette said the heat was on (and I did feel it further upfront when disembarking), but I was freezing the entire time in the last set of seats. The tour itself was good - Annette was full of stories and very entertaining. We were glad we opted for a guided tour like this versus a self-guided walking tour. It lasted close to 2 hrs and costs $130/person. Note that the tour did NOT include the tour of the Rat Pack Hideway specifically listed on their website tour description spelled out below. The asterisk they added just lists the people who partied and played, and the elongated plus sign was probably meant to be a disclaimer that we may not see this property, but there is no such disclaimer or explanation of that symbol anywhere that I could find on their site. "The Rat Pack Hideaway: Tour the private property of The Rat Pack Hideaway, where Frank, Dino, and Sammy partied and played.*† ( We are the only company given access to exclusive movie star properties.)" Regardless, the tour was good with lots of info and recommendations for places to eat and explore further (although covered so quickly the none of us could recall specifics after we left!) It was hard to see much of some homes, hidden behind gates/landscaping. A tour of an actual home, such as the Rat Pack hangout, would have been awesome.

Annette is an extraordinarily gifted tour guide. My 92 year old aunt and I loved every minute of…read morethe information packed, Tour #1, "Legends and Icons" We saw Palm Springs through the eyes of longtime resident, Annette, who shares her deep affection for her town and its people, history, and unique geographic features. We actually felt genuine pathos as she shared the little known and very touching details of each location along the tour. The way it works is to travel in a super modern luxury van while Annette drives and comments and stops at points along the way. This is not a walking tour. This is not a go-inside-the homes/businesses tour. This is a thorough overview of the Palm Springs area including parts of adjoining locals. The brochure is clear and accurate. What I can add to it is that Annette makes the experience really special and makes you feel like she really cares that you have a great tour. It's proof of the old saying, "nobody cares how much you know unless they know how much you care." Annette cares a lot about Palm Springs and about her business of giving tourists an outstanding tour of the area. We are so glad we took this tour.

Great company! Five Star creates wonderful experiences for people...the tours are interesting and…read morehelpful and their dinner events are entertaining!! Great company with wonderful people.

Signed up for a haunted walking tour at night. My group was the only one that signed up for that…read morenight so we got to choose our own walking pace. We went through mostly old town Pasadena. The guide, I forgot her name, was wonderful and knowledgeable. I've lived in the area most of my life and learned a lot about Pasadena's history during the tour. Was hard to hear at some points because of the cars passing by. It did run a bit long so be aware if you get tired early like me. Overall great experience.

The host was somewhat engaging, if hard to hear. The Pasadena ghost tour was maybe 15% ghost…read morestories. The one hour tour turned into two hours by the time we took ourselves back to the starting point. Correct, the tour ended 1/2 mile away from the starting point. No, I would not recommend this tour.

I hired Schram Designs to produce some renderings for a real estate development project my company…read morewas bidding on. He did a really great job for us. Jason is easy to work with, knowledgeable in Sketchup (which was our preferred program for this project), and well priced. Our company will definitely hire him again. Highly recommend Schram Designs!

I used Schram Designs to provide renderings for a high end cosmetics store and was blown away! I…read morebriefly provided some finish details and a basic layout and Jason took it far beyond what I was expecting. The renderings and textures were such high quality and impressive that it wasn't far from a real image. Beyond that his communication and work ethic made the overall experience very enjoyable and seamless. Highly recommended!

Group Ride with plenty of style and flair. Location changes. Nice people, nice bikes, crazy city. I…read morewill never forget talk about the 7-11 convenience store someone had built into their monster house somewhere up a hill. You can still glimpse the old website here http://alexamerri.com/design/ride-arc-website/. The new website also very interesting. The new site also sells artistic postcards. The siteis designed in such a manner as to project multiple symptoms of NPD onto its author. NPD (Narcissistic personality disorder) seems prevalent among politicians and sports personalities. (LRB (6 Nov 2014) mentions the Kevins Rudd and Pietersen. Remember Lance Armstrong?) "Overwhelming need for admiration coupled with a complete lack of empathy towards others." Or something like that... The ride should be great. It's just the website that is a bit strange...

This is the annual design show for those of you looking to redo your kitchen, bathroom, flooring or…read moreif you're an interior design professional. I came not being or seeking to be any of the above. I just came to check it out. I found a ton of $5 discounts online, but Goldstar had a deal that knocked the $30 one day pass down to $15+$4 fees = $19. Before you buy your ticket online, check Groupon, Livingsocial, Goldstar, etc. to see if there are any deals. If you're a student you can also get a 3 day pass for only $15! You really only need 3-5 hours to cover all the booths in the South Hall. If you want to see a lot of speakers or presentations, then of course add more time. They do allow ins and outs so you can go to your car and drop off the loads of catalogs you pickup. There are a lot of kitchen and bath manufacturers here. If you're looking for inspiration on a redesign, then this is a great place to get ideas on high end fixtures. There's retro, sleek, modern, futuristic, cubist, straight bling gaudy... it's all here. Just know that some cool designs are not practical at all. There was a bathtub that was so tall and deep and not sloped that it would force you to sit at 90 degrees in the tub and have to rest your arms above your shoulders... not comfortable at all. There are some furniture and lighting designers here, but not too many, mainly smaller independent designers that just have 3-5 models to showcase. No Herman Miller, Phillipe Starck or anything like that. It felt like there were more patio furniture booths than there were regular furniture booths. This year (2014) there were a lot of pre-fab home exhibits, which were cool to look at but mainly felt like an upscale mobile home. A pre-fab home made in a metal shipping container? Yes, there's a company that does that. If you were thinking about going to design school, there's plenty of information on that as most of the major schools in the area were represented in one corner. With all the kitchens on display, surprisingly none of them had any cooking demos going on. The only free samples in the show were drinks... a couple of coffee makers, a sparkling water tap. If you get hungry you'll have to eat the deplorable convention center offerings or step out to LA Live/Nokia Plaza to get some better eats. There was a Coolhaus Ice Cream Sandwich Truck in the middle of the floor. Most of the vendors we talked to were friendly and eager to share about their products and hand me their thick catalogs. There are mini booths for artists and small businesses. Interesting or useless depending on your tastes. Cardboard iPhone speaker amplifier? Concrete table plant pots? Etched aluminum drawings? Heated chairs made out of slabs of rock? Most of the speaking topics leaned towards the future of design or trends in design... more appealing to the design pro than to the common citizen. If you get the VIP packs, you can go on the home tours (visits to area homes, not at the convention site). Favorite giveaway received? Double layer drinking glass from Topbrewer Scanomat. Parking - Pay $15 to park in the Convention Center parking structure or drive around nearby and find an all day lot for $5-$10. I found $5 parking easily. Worth going to? Yes. Would I go again? Yes. Would I go every year? No. I think you only need to go once every 3 or 4 years to stay in tune with some of the new smart home innovations or design trends. $100,000 budget to redo your kitchen and bathrooms and have it look cool? It's doable. :)

I don't understand how they can legally claim this is the largest home show on the west coast,…read morebecause it's not. my first visit to Dwell was back in 2011 and boy have things gone down hill. There is nothing to this show. They tried this year by bringing in "big names" like Karim Rashid and Johnathon Adler, but if anything I kind of felt bed for them- bad press. This show was so dead, in both attendees and exhibitors that it should be free. It has gotten progressively worse over the years. To top it off, the people who work the registration on the phone and over email were rude. Wanting to charge $350 for a trade pass if you're not an architect. I want my money and time back. Not worth the $60 for trade they want to charge. Throw it away!