Gamble, David Berry and Mary Huggins, House, Pasadena, CA
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Teak, maple, oak, Port Orford cedar, and mahogany surfaces are placed in sequences to bring out contrasts of color, tone, and grain. Inlay in the custom furniture designed by the architects coordinates with the inlay in the tiled fireplace surrounds, and the expressed, interlocking joinery on the main staircase was left exposed. The Gamble House is an iconic example of American Arts and Crafts architecture, and understanding its floor plan can help you appreciate its design even more.
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They also had to manually remove a toxic epoxy that had filled the wood in the past. Even though this house might look overtly traditional, it was forward-thinking for its day and was even one of the first houses in the area to have electricity. Additionally, an internal intercom system was installed in which members of the household used to communicate with one another.
Interior Photographs of The Gamble House
Shown here is one of the living spaces that’s filled with intricate woodworking and handcrafted furniture. The various spaces of the house are separated by different wood patterns on the floor. The chevron pattern denotes public formal spaces for entertaining, while the linear horizontal flooring presents private, informal spaces where the family would spend their time. The essential nature of architecture by Greene & Greene begins with intense attention to detail and craftsmanship, as their bungalows mark the height of the American Arts and Crafts style. The brothers were inspired by the concept of total design, or gesamtkunstwerk, which was stressed in the German-designed rooms at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase International Exposition in St. Louis. When they met David and Mary Gamble, they already had developed a list of rich couples who commissioned them to design their houses, with generous budgets and relatively free reign.
Visions of Japan: Exploring the inspirations behind the Gamble House
The house, which was designed by lauded architects Charles and Henry Greene in 1908, was constructed for members of the Gamble family, of Procter & Gamble fame. The prominent amount of lush outdoor space and sleeping porches on the property exhibit an appreciation that the Greenes had for nature. Ever since the house was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1978, it’s been owned by the City of Pasadena and is operated by the University of Southern California. Marking the 50th anniversary of the house being gifted to the city, this entire year has been filled with celebratory events including lecture series, tours, family-friendly days, and reunion events. They're also planning to reveal a documentary that's been in the works by well-known film producer, Don Hahn.
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The Gamble House's floor plan is integral to its design, and understanding it can help you appreciate the home even more. Although the Greenes never traveled to Japan, they found inspiration closer to home, frequenting the Japanese Garden at The Huntington with its historic Japanese House and ceremonial teahouse. Although, the style did not fully blossom in their work until Charles visited the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and its Japanese exhibits, which influenced their designs from there on out. The Gamble House, constructed in 1908 as a home for David B. Gamble, son of the Procter & Gamble founder James Gamble, is widely regarded as the pinnacle of the American Arts and Crafts movement. Today the home is a National Historic Landmark and is open to the public for tours and events.
'Upstairs Downstairs' Tour at Gamble House The South Pasadenan - The South Pasadenan
'Upstairs Downstairs' Tour at Gamble House The South Pasadenan.
Posted: Wed, 02 Aug 2017 07:00:00 GMT [source]
It also consisted of a spacious sitting room, which was decorated with five rugs that were designed by Charles Greene using watercolor. Across from the fireplace, there is a window that leads to the terrace, which overlooks the garden. The expansive window was designed to let light brighten the room during the late afternoon. At the far end of the room lie bookcases, a small games table, and a piano to offer entertainment and leisure. The piano was designed by the Greenes to blend into the paneling of the room.
The house is filled with repeated motifs that are regularly found in traditional Japanese design. Along with precise joinery throughout the entire home, our docent tour guides pointed out multiple other influences including overhanging eaves, darkened mortars, and scarf joints. The most prominent motif that's repeated in groups of three is the Suba, a Japanese design that references the protective plate between the blade and handle of a samurai sword.
Because of the Gambles’ attraction to the environment, the Greenes designed the house to complement the rustic setting. The house's design reflected the Gambles' love of nature as flowers and trees were brought to the interior—creating pictures in wood, metal, art glass, and semi-precious stone. The building itself appears enmeshed with the landscape, achieved by a blend of man-made materials such as brick and rough dash-coat stucco and natural materials such as granite river stones and creeping fig that grows up onto the foundations of the terrace and steps.
The Gamble House Looks to the Future of Historic House Museums - Metropolis - Metropolis Magazine
The Gamble House Looks to the Future of Historic House Museums - Metropolis.
Posted: Fri, 14 Jan 2022 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Benefits for National Trust Members
The strong ties to the outdoors are brought to the interior as well, through flowers and trees which are engraved in the windows, doors and lanterns. Indigenous Japanese shapes appear throughout the house, in the contour of the dining room table, the cloud lift in the transom bar of each window, the recessed handles on drawers and the ebony frame of the master bedroom furniture. We offer a variety of in-depth docent-led tours designed to focus on features of the house that we are not able to cover in a regular one-hour tour.These tours are conducted by docents with years of experience and a great deal of passion. These longer tours allow them to share with you their own excitement and knowledge while giving you a behind the scenes look at what make this historic landmark so special.
Although the house is not as spatially adventurous as the contemporary works of Frank Lloyd Wright, or even of the earlier New England "Shingle style," its mood is casual and its symmetries tend to be localized. "On this tour, your docent will lead an exploration of the house and its history through rooms lined with rare woods, featuring handcrafted details, fixtures, and furnishings designed by the architects and unique to the house." The Gamble House was the best known of the Greene Brothers’ “ultimate bungalows,” a Pasadena house type notable for its grand scale, meticulous craftsmanship and range of architectural influences. Similar to the rest of the residences on the tours, a connection to the outdoors is inseparable from the history of the house and to this day, the restoration team is keeping the intention alive. In fact, Isabelle Greene—the granddaughter of Henry Greene and landscape architect—has been working on revamping the garden that has been forgotten for years.
The oft-published houses of Greene and Greene inspired builders of more modest dwellings, and the brothers’ work would soon be conflated in the popular imagination with more modest craftsman bungalows. The Gamble House will open the doors to its servants' hall and rooms for the first time in its history. The early projects of Greene and Greene reflected the traditional tastes of their clients, but in time they achieved recognition for developing the California bungalow to a high art, as well as for creating houses with the quality of fine furniture.
To accommodate a eucalyptus tree that existed on the land before the house was built, the Greenes created notches in the roof line where it could stand. Inspired by Japanese architecture, the Greenes ensured that there were no hard edges to be found on the property. The exterior of the house is lined with Douglas fir and the extended overhanging eaves act as cooling agents while protecting the porch from the rain.
The kitchen is located on the south side of the house and is designed to be functional and efficient. Located in Pasadena, California, the Gamble House is one of the most iconic examples of American Arts and Crafts architecture. Built in 1908 for David and Mary Gamble, of the Procter & Gamble Company, the home has been a popular tourist destination ever since it was donated to the city of Pasadena in 1966.
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