REVEALED: The Hidden History of the Quiet Pasadena Restaurant Einstein Himself Is Rumored To Have Occupied A Secret Underground Office!

A beautiful tale as old as time...

"An old-school but chic Southern California eatery that offers eclectic European bites and champagne brunch holds rich history behind its doors as it was once home to several scientist laboratories for nuclear weapon research during the Jazz Age and World War II.

Pasadena-based bistro and venue, Madeline Garden, which occupies street space on 1030 East Green, is now a popular spot for a slew of celebratory gatherings such as bridal showers, wedding receptions and high tea parties.

The movie scene-worthy venue was even featured in the fourth episode of the hit American drama series Mad Men.

But the upscale Caltech French building offers more than what meets the eye as the site had been designed back in the 1920's for ulterior purposes.

London-born interior expert, Edgar J. Cheesewright, opened Cheesewright Studios in the late 1920's, which first housed several creative spaces for furniture-making, interior design, showrooms and more, according to laist.

The former Cheesewright Studios home is where the Madeline Garden restaurant currently stands.

Architects Edward A. Hayes and Louis du Puget Millar had designed the 35,000 square-foot and 42-room structure packed with perfectly-detailed decor, wallpaper and accent pieces - some that can still be found in the restaurant.

The oldtime main showroom is now home to Madeline Garden's central dining area space, the local website reports.

In 1936, Cheesewright Studios shut down as the space become the residence of architect Louis du Puget Millar, before it was leased in 1943 to the California Institute of Technology and used as a workspace for scientists who studied nuclear weapon research.

In 1946, the building was occupied by the Navy Undersea Research and Development Center.

According to the Pasadena Star-News, the site was home to the place where scientists created part of the atomic bomb.

Commanding officer at the Office of the Naval Research Regional Office, Dennis Laack, claimed in an excerpt from the newspaper that that 'the trigger mechanism for one of the bombs or devices was fabricated in the garage of the facility.'


Laack reportedly supervised a staff of 60 people in the building for a brief time between 1979 to 1982 as research was conducted.

The basement of the East Green Street building was even rumored to be a laboratory for Albert Einstein around the time he signed the proposal letter in 1939 to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging for atomic bomb research during World War II.

This letter led to the development of the Manhattan Project - which resulted in the creation of the first nuclear weapons.


Claims suggesting Einstein once worked out of the building in mid-1930's are posted up on a residential listing site, which calls the site 'The Einstein Building.'

There is also poster on the second floor of the building which advertises the building as such, according to laist. Madeline Garden even advertises the story in it's Facebook bio and website.


The German theoretical physicist had worked as a professor at Caltech in the early 1930's.

The Einstein Papers Project, however, shut down the claims that Einstein occupied the building - and alleged instead that it was his son, Hans, who worked from an office in the historic Green Street building.

'We have told the owners of that building for many years, it was Albert Einstein's son, Hans Albert Einstein, who worked briefly for the Office of Naval Research in the 1940s in Pasadena,' Caltech history professor and director of the project, Diana K. Buchwald, said, according to the laist.

For several years, the building remained vacant following the death of Cheesewright in 1957. And in 1987, the site 'suffered moderate architectural and structural damage from the Whittier earthquake,' according to a loopnet property listing last updated in 2015.

The Cheesewright building had been sold for $485,000 to the highest bidder, Irshad Ul-Haue, the president of a Pasadena-based brokerage firm, during a 40-minute auction in 1990, according to an article published by the Pasadena Star-News at the time.

Today, the picture-esque Madeline Garden serves as a multi-functional venue with social media reviews nearing five stars.

'Our charming property with 7 large rooms and multiple courtyards is perfect for any party, and we guarantee that all your guests will go home full and satisfied,' its Facebook page reads.

Stunning photographs capture its historic European interior design that has been revamped numerous times over the course of a century." - dailymail.co.uk