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Their father was a physician studying the effects of sunlight and fresh air on health, which would influence the indoor-outdoor connections of their designs. While traveling to California, the Greene brothers stopped at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where they saw an exhibit on Japanese architecture. This experience would also significantly impact the architects’ signature works. 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. Stained Tiffany glass windows and carved wood rails remind visitors of Japanese screens and houses, with their simple but impressive interiors.
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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. When the home was initially built, it did not receive any acclaim and was actually the target of harsh criticism among fellow architects, critics, and neighbors. It wasn’t until after World War II that the project was rediscovered and praised by a group of architects who were embracing American design and rejecting European influence. Alongside Frank Lloyd Wright, the Greene brothers' architecture regained newfound popularity in the 1940s and inspired the American-centric Modernist movement.
THE GAMBLE HOUSE – ARCHITECTURE AS FINE ART
Henry Greene stayed in the Los Angeles area, but was not able to get the attention he did in the early 1900s when working hand-in-hand with his brother Charles on the iconic residential properties like those of Gamble House. Among these are the personal residences of Myron Hunt and of Charles Greene, whose house evolved between 1902 and 1915 as his family grew and his design ideas matured. The tour will also visit the elegant Greene and Greene-designed portals and gates of Westmoreland Place.
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The property boasts multiple porches, including three large sleeping porches that jut from the second level of the home, off the family's private bedrooms. The first level of the home's exterior includes handmade brick and terra cotta terraces that flank the walkway up to the front door of the home. This interior-exterior living is a highlight of the California Bungalow style.
The Gamble House uses teak, oak, maple, mahogany, and cedar to incorporate contrasting colors, grains, and textures. Wood details include custom built-ins, inlays, and an exposed interlocking joint staircase. The brothers studied metal and woodworking at the Manual Training School of Washington University in St. Louis and graduated in 1888. In 1893, their parents moved to Pasadena, California, and asked their sons to relocate.
The Gamble House holds significance in several areas and stands out as a masterpiece surviving from Greene and Greene's architectural work in the Los Angeles area during the early 1900s. Of course, the home is architecturally significant as an exquisite example of the Arts and Crafts movement. The home also highlights the unique design specifications of the California Bungalow style.
The woods, the low and horizontal room shapes, and the natural light that filters through the art glass exterior windows coexist with a relatively traditional plan, in which most rooms are regularly shaped and organized around a central hall. 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. Craftsman architecture features many hard-carved wood millwork details, including trims, columns, and decorative elements.
Organic Architecture
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If his last name sounds familiar, it is because his family was connected to the Proctor and Gamble Company. The Gambles lived most of the year in Cincinnati, Ohio, and their love of the outdoors motivated them to commission and build this home in an attempt to get out of Ohio during the cold winter months. The Gambles had visited Pasadena many times prior to commissioning the home, and they often stayed in the luxury hotels that surrounded the area. They purchased the lot on Westmoreland Place in 1908, where the Gamble House would be constructed. This was not the most popular place in town to build during the period, and the Gambles chose it specifically instead of the much more posh neighborhood of South Orange Grove, which was referred to in town as Millionaires' Row.
The Gamble House is one of the best examples of the American Arts and Crafts style. Specifically, the home is often referred to as American Craftsmen or California Bungalow due to the unique exterior features of the home. One of the wooden panels in the entry hall is actually a concealed door leading to the kitchen, and another panel opens to a coat closet.
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The home was gifted to the City of Pasadena by descendants of the Gambles following a sale that was called off in 1966 after the prospective buyers admitted they planned to paint the iconic interior woodwork white. Not just popular architecturally, the home has specific pop culture relevance appearing in the 1985 film Back to the Future as the setting for Dr. Emmett Doc Brown's home and workshop. The Gamble House, designed by Charles and Henry Greene, is regarded as one of the finest examples of Craftsman architecture in the United States, employing architecture as fine art. Over one century later, our country is experiencing a revitalization of the Craftsman movement. We find a renewed interest in handcrafted details, warm colors, and nature-inspired elements in the Craft Revival style trending for 2022. So, it only seems appropriate to go back and analyze one of the most popular homes constructed in the style.
In the Gamble House, the two brothers could explore the full possibilities of this vision for clients who appreciated and could afford it. That their work was no longer in demand by 1915 is as much due to changing fashions (including the rise of interior decorators), as it was to the wartime economy and the high cost of materials and labor. Charles moved with his family to Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1916, where he continued some design work, though at a slower pace.
Contractors used over seventeen different types of wood in the house and the furnishings. Wood panels were installed using scarf joints, which wedged the panels together instead of screwing them into the walls. The main floor includes a living room and a dining room, while the second and third floors contain the bedrooms and the attic. The interiors show Japanese inspiration, with stained Tiffany glass windows and carved wood rails. All the original furniture is still there, the master bedroom containing walnut dressers inlaid with semiprecious stones.
The roofing materials were also replaced using replica materials crafted specifically for this important project. Charles Greene and Henry Greene were selected by the Gambles to build the Gamble House. The work of Greene and Greene was unparalleled, and the architects were well known in the area of Park Place for their exquisite attention to detail. Greene and Greene worked hand in hand with the Gambles to design their winter getaway. They broke ground in March 1908, and the construction of the home began. The Gamble House was commissioned in early 1908 by David and Mary Gamble to be used as a winter retreat.
The living room was designed without any entry doors so that the room would be as open and inviting as possible. 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.
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