Big City Stories

One of the hallmarks of a big city is the plethora of grand homes. The homes pictured here are just a small sampling of what one can discover when exploring a large metropolis.

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Nestled in the lush greenery northwest of London, stands a grand manor known as The House of Pembrooke. This magnificent estate was owned by a man named Alfred Wilson Pembrooke, who built the home in 1921 when he had attained the age of thirty. Hitting that age unexpectedly sparked a sadness in Alfred that he knew he had to conquer – he was lonely and desperately needed a life partner. And he wasn’t lonely for a lack of trying. For many years he dated obsessively but those dates never turned into anything meaningful.

In the sunny city of Pasadena, just north of Los Angeles, stands a distinctive home known as the House of Deefenbach. The home was built in 1943 by Harrison Deefenbach and designed by the famed architect Joshua Almondo. Deefenbach was a mogul who produced some of the most important movies of his time. When he moved into the home, he was forty-two years old and at the height of his Hollywood powers. He had some of the most important movie stars, writers, and directors under contract, but because of the power he held over the stars, many of them despised him. 

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In 1955, Gregory Gilbert, a wealthy stock investor, hired architect Harris Jefferies to design a home, known at the House of Gilbert, that would stand out even in a city as amazing as Manhattan. The house passed though many hands over the years and, finally, into the possession of Ronald and Sandra Watchman. The life of this family would soon change drastically once they took up residence in their new home. 

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The House of Lamach, located in a far western suburb of Chicago, was designed by an obscure Chicago architect named Holly West. The Lamach family is headed up by Elizabeth Lamach, the founder of an AI dating company. Elizabeth, to her shame, has not been the most honest spouse and it might cost her her marriage.