Sam Maloof Workshop Tours: Hours, Tickets & the Shop-Access Tour

The Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation in Rancho Cucamonga, California runs five different tour options of Sam Maloof’s historic home and workshop, from a 45-minute overview to a 3-hour session — but only one, the Master Craftsman Tour, actually walks you into his real woodshop. Book the wrong tour and you’ll see his furniture but never his bench. This guide covers exact hours and address, what each tour includes, and which one gets you into the shop.

How to Visit: Hours, Address, and Tickets

The Maloof Foundation sits at 5131 Carnelian St., Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91701, in the Alta Loma neighborhood about two miles off the 210 Freeway. It’s open Friday and Saturday from 10am to 4pm (gates open at 9:45am) and Sunday from noon to 4pm; it’s closed on major holidays. You can reach the office at 909-980-0412 (Monday through Friday) or [email protected].

Two areas are free to walk through during open hours with no ticket or reservation: Beverly’s Garden and the Jacobs Center gallery. Everything else — the historic home, the workshop, the Library and Treehouse Room — is only accessible on a paid, docent-led tour, and every tour requires a reservation purchased in advance. Tours covering Sam Maloof’s life and work regularly sell out on weekends, so book before you drive out.

📊 The historic home, workshop, and guesthouse sit on a 5.5-acre campus that was relocated three miles from its original site between 1998 and 2001 when a highway extension displaced it — Source: Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation, 2026

Compare the 5 Tour Options

Here’s the side-by-side the Foundation’s own site splits across several separate pages — duration, what each tour covers, and whether it includes Sam’s actual workshop.

Tour	Duration	Includes the Workshop?	Starting Price
Introduction to the Maloof Tour	45 min	No — home overview only	Check current listing
Maloof Home Tour	1 hour	No — home & furniture collection	Check current listing
The Maloofs: Creators and Collectors	75 min	No — arts & crafts objects in the home	$35 adult / $20 senior, military, student / $15 child
The Grand Tour	2 hours	No — adds the Library, Treehouse Room & 2 upstairs galleries	Check current listing
Maloof Master Craftsman Tour	3 hours	Yes — Sam’s actual woodshop & wood-storage room	Limited dates; check current listing

Prices and dates change; confirm current pricing and availability on the Foundation’s own booking page before you drive out.

Members visit free on every tour. Foundation members and group bookings of 10 or more also get discounted rates on the standard tours — worth checking if you’re organizing a woodworking club outing rather than a solo visit.

Why the Book Is Worth Reading Before You Go

The home and workshop you’ll tour aren’t in their original location. Between 1998 and 2001, a highway extension forced the entire Maloof compound — the house, two woodworking studios, guesthouse, and twenty full-grown trees — to be physically relocated three miles to its current Carnelian Street site. Understanding that move changes how you read the buildings on tour.

What You’ll Actually See on the Master Craftsman Tour

The 3-hour Master Craftsman Tour is woodworker-led rather than docent-led, built around a working craftsman’s perspective on Maloof’s shop rather than a general history overview. Past sessions have been led by Dennis Hays, a woodworker whose own furniture is directly influenced by Maloof’s design philosophy. The tour adds stops the shorter home tours skip entirely: Maloof’s actual woodshop and his wood-storage room, where lumber was selected and dried before it ever reached a bench.

Inside the historic home itself — included on every tour, not just the Master Craftsman one — Maloof’s hand skills show up in details easy to miss on a fast walkthrough: a hand-carved spiral staircase, door latches he sculpted by hand, door trim joined with beveled dovetails instead of miters, and window frames built with mortise-and-tenon joinery rather than nailed casing. Docents also let visitors touch selected pieces to feel what’s known on the tour as the “Maloof finish” — a hand-rubbed oil-and-wax build that’s often described as feeling like butter.

“It’s from this voice, Sam’s voice, that my inspiration comes. I spent nearly 30 years working daily, side-by-side with him, and well, he talked a lot.”

If you want to study the specific leg-to-seat joint that makes Maloof’s chairs recognizable before you go, or want the background on the hand tools he actually used, both are worth reading first — the Master Craftsman Tour assumes you already know roughly what you’re looking at.

Visitor Tips: Parking, What’s Free, and When to Book

• Parking: free visitor parking is available in the lot to the left as you enter, plus street parking on the Carnelian side. Never park on Buena Vista — it’s a private street and cars parked there get towed.
• Book ahead: every tour requires an advance reservation and tours regularly sell out, especially Friday and Saturday slots — buy tickets online before you drive out, not at the gate.
• Free without a ticket: Beverly’s Garden and the Jacobs Center gallery are open to the public during operating hours at no charge and need no reservation.
• Best season: the outdoor walking portions between buildings are more comfortable in spring and fall; summer afternoons in the Inland Empire regularly top 95 degrees.
• Group visits: parties of 10 or more qualify for group-tour rates — contact the office directly at 909-980-0412 rather than booking individual tickets.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Sam Maloof house open to the public?

Yes, but only on a docent-led tour. The Foundation is open Friday and Saturday, 10am to 4pm, and Sunday, noon to 4pm, but you can’t walk into the historic home or workshop without a reservation for one of the five paid tours.

Which tour lets you see Sam Maloof’s actual workshop?

Only the 3-hour Maloof Master Craftsman Tour enters Sam Maloof’s real woodshop and wood-storage room. The Introduction, Home Tour, Grand Tour, and Creators and Collectors tours all stay inside the historic house and its galleries.

How much are tickets to the Sam Maloof Foundation?

The Maloofs: Creators and Collectors tour costs $35 for adults, $20 for seniors 65+, military, and students 12–18, and $15 for children 5–11; Foundation members visit free. Other tour prices aren’t published year-round and are worth confirming when you book, since the Foundation updates pricing and availability by season.

How long is a Maloof Foundation tour?

It depends which one you book: the Introduction tour runs 45 minutes, the Home Tour 1 hour, Creators and Collectors 75 minutes, the Grand Tour 2 hours, and the Master Craftsman Tour 3 hours.

Where is the Sam Maloof Foundation, and is parking free?

The Foundation is at 5131 Carnelian St., in the Alta Loma neighborhood of Rancho Cucamonga, about two miles off the 210 Freeway. Visitor parking is free in the lot to the left of the entrance and on the Carnelian side of the street; don’t park on Buena Vista, a private street where cars get towed.

Can I visit without booking a tour?

Partly. Beverly’s Garden and the Jacobs Center gallery are free and open to the public during operating hours with no reservation. Entering the historic home or the workshop always requires a paid, docent-led (or woodworker-led) tour booked in advance.

Conclusion

If seeing Sam Maloof’s actual workbench and wood-storage room is the point of your trip, the 3-hour Master Craftsman Tour is the only ticket that gets you there — every shorter option keeps you in the house and galleries. Book whichever tour matches your time budget online in advance, since Friday and Saturday sessions sell out, and confirm current pricing before you drive out to Rancho Cucamonga.