A city that put its townsite on sale in May 1886 makes house painting in Monrovia a job about wood: clapboard, shingle, spindlework and porch trim on homes more than a century old. The local preservation group counts 21 Victorian landmarks built from 1884 to 1910 and 77 Craftsman-family landmarks from 1895 to 1923.
We have painted homes since 1988 and come from Simi Valley to see each house before pricing it. Your estimate lists every prep step on its own line. Final payment comes after a walkthrough of the finished house.
Old Wood, September Heat and Canyon Gusts
Monrovia rises from about 571 feet into the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, between Arcadia and Duarte. The nearest official normals, from Pasadena, put August mean highs at 91.3°F with a 115°F record, and July and August see almost no rain. Long dry spells can open joints in old wood siding, so we caulk and prime those gaps before the finish coats.
Fall and winter bring Santa Ana winds. In the windstorm of November 30 to December 1, 2011, gusts reached up to 100 mph in parts of Monrovia, 150 trees fell and seven buildings had structural damage. We hold off on spraying when gusts pick up and wipe grit from the walls before the next coat.
About two thirds of Monrovia's homes were built before 1970, and nearly one in five dates from before 1940. On houses that old, years of coats can hide soft wood and open seams that only show once the loose paint comes off. The 1991 Sierra Madre earthquake, on a fault beneath the mountains here, left more than a dozen Monrovia buildings uninhabitable.
Wild Rose Tract, North Encinitas and the 1886 Townsite
The Wild Rose Tract Historic District covers the 300 block of Wildrose Avenue between Canyon Boulevard and California Avenue, with 15 contributing homes among its 18 properties. The City Council created it in 2008. The North Encinitas Historic District, created April 4, 2017, spans the 100 and 200 blocks of North Encinitas Avenue between Foothill Boulevard and Greystone Avenue, with 38 contributors among 64 properties.
The original 120-acre townsite centers on Myrtle Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, and the city's oldest standing structure is an 1884 house. In 2018 and 2019, the preservation group placed first houses plaques on 44 homes built before 1888. Above Foothill, streets north of Hillcrest Boulevard and Greystone Avenue were the first named in the city's 2020 fire evacuation plan.
House Painting in Monrovia for Landmark and Foothill Homes
Older Monrovia homes usually need wood repair, careful prep and a color plan together. Here is how each piece fits.
Exterior Painting for Victorian and Craftsman Homes
Monrovia's Victorian landmarks are mostly Queen Anne, with Stick, Eastlake and Folk Victorian examples, while its Craftsman list runs from California bungalows to Airplane and Swiss Chalet variants. Both styles carry many separate trim pieces. Our exterior house painting starts with hand scraping and sanding, so brackets, spindles and rafter tails keep their crisp edges under the new coats.
Color Consultation for Historic District Homes
The Historic Preservation Commission, a seven-member body created under the 1995 ordinance, reviews Certificates of Appropriateness for landmarks and district contributors. If your home is one of them, ask Planning whether a color change needs a certificate before you commit. Our color consultation, available case by case, builds period palettes with body, trim and accent samples on the house.
Dry Rot and Trim Repair Before Painting
Fascia, window sills, porch posts and the bottoms of siding boards take the most weather on century-old houses. As part of the paint job, we probe soft spots, fill small areas with epoxy and replace boards too far gone to save. Our dry rot and trim repair happens only as prep, so new paint goes onto sound wood.
Interior Painting in Period Rooms
Plaster walls, picture rails, built-in cabinets and original doors deserve slower prep than a modern drywall room. We fill cracks, sand trim smooth and spot-prime repairs so they do not show through. Our interior house painting covers walls, ceilings, doors and woodwork, one room at a time or the whole house.
Smoke Damage Cleanup Below the Canyon
The State Fire Marshal's 2025 recommended maps put 2,864 acres of Monrovia, roughly a third of the city, in a Very High zone. In 2020 the Bobcat Fire burned about 278 acres of Monrovia Canyon Park, where the Nature Center and cabins survived with smoke damage. Our smoke damage repainting cleans soot and ash film, then seals stains and odor under a blocking primer.
Monrovia Permits, Landmarks and Fire Maps
The Building Division, in the Community Development Department at City Hall, 415 South Ivy Avenue, handles permits and inspections inside city limits. Planning processes landmark designations, Mills Act contracts and Certificates of Appropriateness. As of January 1, 2024, the city counted 164 properties determined historically significant.
The City Council adopted the updated local fire hazard map on July 1, 2025. Building work in those mapped zones now follows California's Wildland-Urban Interface Code (Title 24, Part 7), which replaced CBC Chapter 7A on January 1, 2026. Ask the Building Division what applies on your parcel before any wood or siding is replaced.
