Planetary Society sells its Greene & Greene house

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After 25 years in a historic Craftsman-style house designed by Greene & Greene architects, the Planetary Society has moved its orbit across Pasadena to new digs.

The Planetary Society, which advocates space exploration, sold the house at 65 N. Catalina Ave. to Architecture for Education Inc. which designs schools. The architecture firm paid $1.7 million for the house, according to real estate brokerage NAI Capital.

The 6,827-square-foot house, built in 1903 for Samuel P. Sanborn, was bigger than the Planetary Society needed, spokeswoman Susan Lendroth said. It was also costly to occupy.

“It is a Greene & Greene, which should be kept to a certain level, and we were not able to put the level of funding in for maintenance, upkeep and renovation,” she said. Brothers Charles and Henry Greene are considered leaders of the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th century. Their Sanborn house was also once occupied by Caltech professor Max Delburck, a biophysicist and Nobel laureate.

The Planetary Society will hand over the keys to Architecture for Education in a ceremony Friday. Its new offices are at 85 S. Grand Ave. in Pasadena.

-- Roger Vincent

Photo: The Sanborn house in Pasadena designed by Greene & Greene