whenever i visit somewhere that i've been, i always try to visit somewhere new.
so, during a recent weekend getaway to los angeles, CA, i finally visited the gamble house, greene & greene's arts and crafts architectural masterpiece in pasadena, CA.
greene & greene | the gamble house | pasadena, CA | 1907-1909
photo credit lisa walsh | innerspace
several years ago, i collaborated with one of my interior design clients on a craftsman style renovation. houses designed by charles rennie mackintosh, mackay hugh baillie-scott, frank lloyd wright, and charles & henry greene inspired the architecture and the interiors.
the gamble house is the most complete greene & greene residence still in existence, and the only one now open as a museum. the original paneling, cabinetry, stained glass, fixtures, and furnishings, custom designed for the house by the greene brothers, still remain.* the walls are still painted the original colors. and, the furniture is still in the original location.
so of course, i booked the behind the velvet ropes tour of the gamble house to take advantage of the opportunity to closely examine the architecture and the interiors.
the gamble house | exterior
the architecture, the interiors, and the landscaping are fully integrated, which seems like a surprisingly modern concept, considering that the gamble house was built for david and mary gamble, of the proctor and gamble company (p&g), between 1907 and 1909.
the gamble house was built as a winter 'cottage'. so, it was designed for indoor-outdoor living. the gamble family used the terraces on the first floor and the sleeping porches on the second floor of the north and west wings of the house as exterior living spaces. the broad, overhanging eaves were designed to shelter the porches from the sun. and, the house was oriented towards the west to capture the breezes from the arroyo seco canyon.
the gamble house | northeast and north elevations
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
for the west terrace, the greene brothers used arroyo boulders and clinker bricks to build a retaining wall, which raised the elevation of the terrace from ground to floor level.
the gamble house | northwest elevation
photo credit alexander vertikoff
they planted creeping fig vines along the retaining wall to ground the foundation. and, they designed the terrace around two trees, which are no longer standing, by notching out the eaves of the overhanging roof, and building a well around the trees. they contoured the water lily and goldfish pond to fit the contour of the tree well. and, they engineered an overflow drainage system for the pond by perforating the stone and brick retaining wall.
greene & greene often used clinker bricks in combination with local stone for foundations, retaining walls, or chimneys. clinker bricks could be considered wasters. but, the imperfection of the distorted shapes and the irregular colors of the over fired bricks appealed to the wabi sabi aesthetics of arts and crafts architects and designers, like greene & greene.
photo credit alexander vertikoff
they planted creeping fig vines along the retaining wall to ground the foundation. and, they designed the terrace around two trees, which are no longer standing, by notching out the eaves of the overhanging roof, and building a well around the trees. they contoured the water lily and goldfish pond to fit the contour of the tree well. and, they engineered an overflow drainage system for the pond by perforating the stone and brick retaining wall.
the gamble house | west terrace
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
greene & greene often used clinker bricks in combination with local stone for foundations, retaining walls, or chimneys. clinker bricks could be considered wasters. but, the imperfection of the distorted shapes and the irregular colors of the over fired bricks appealed to the wabi sabi aesthetics of arts and crafts architects and designers, like greene & greene.
in addition to wabi sabi, arts and crafts architecture incorporated other japanese design principles. for example, the front door of the gamble house has an extra low header and an extra wide door. not only the horizontal proportions, but also the double T shaped teak frame, are references to the torii gate outside the entrance to a shinto shrine.
the gamble house | front door
the gamble house | front door
photo credit alexander vertikoff
the front door has stained glass panes in either a california live oak tree or a japanese black pine tree design. the glass was designed by charles greene and crafted by emil lange, who previously worked for tiffany studios in new york. lange used the copper foil fabrication technique, popularized by louis comfort tiffany, to join the the laminated layers of iridescent stained glass.
torii gate | itsukushima shrine | miyajima island, japan
photo credit unesco | g boccardi
photo credits alexander vertikoff and randell l. makinson & thomas a. heinz
the gamble house | interior | first floor
the gamble house | first floor plan
north>
photo credit library of congress
entry hall
the entry hall integrates the interior of the gamble house with the exterior. if you look at the first floor plan, you will
notice the asymmetrical alignment of the front and back doors. the front door opens onto the porch on the east side of the house. and, the back door opens onto the terrace
on the west side of the house. balanced, yet unbalanced...
the entry hall is paneled in teak with a hand rubbed finish. the wall panels, frieze frames, and ceiling grids divide the surfaces into modular components. the frieze and the ceiling are plastered, and covered in painted panels of stretched canvas. on the south side of the entry hall, the wall panels conceal access to utilitarian spaces, such as the coat closet and the cellar stairs.
the gamble house | entry hall
photo credit greene & greene virtual archives (ggva)
more storage compartments are concealed beneath the seat of the settle, which is built into the stair alcove.
the gamble house | entry hall
stair alcove
photo credit ggva
the teak staircase is a complex cascade of exposed joinery.
the gamble house | entry hall
staircase
photo credit mark fiennes
in addition to emil lange, the greene brothers collaborated with other master craftsmen, including brothers peter and john hall. peter hall built the stairs, the paneling, and the woodwork. and, john hall built the custom furnishings that the greene brothers designed for the gamble house.
many of the furniture designs seem quite simple. the materials, the construction, and the craftsmanship double as decoration.
but, many of the construction techniques are quite complex. the honduras mahogany and ebony side table in the entry hall is finished on all four sides. the drawers, which hang from runners, push all the way through the apron of the table. so, the drawers open from either the front or the back.
the gamble house | entry hall
side table | honduras mahogany|ebony | 1908
photo credit ggva
den
the entrance to the den is on the north side of the entry hall. the den is paneled in oak, instead of teak, and has a pressed brick fireplace. did you notice that one brick on the upper right side of the over mantle is set backwards to expose the 'II' maker's mark? perfectly imperfect, like the clinker bricks...
the den, along with two bedrooms, were originally furnished with stickley furniture.
the den furniture included david gamble's rolltop desk, and his morris chair, plus the filing cabinets that he transported back and forth between
p&g headquarters in cincinnati and the gamble house in pasadena.
the harvey ellis cabinet in the den is the only piece of the original stickley furniture that remains. the rest was donated by the friends of the gamble house.
the gamble house | den
fireplace
photo credit mark fiennes
living room
the entrance to the living room is also on the north side of the entry hall. the inglenook fireplace in the living room backs up to the brick fireplace in the den. grueby tile, inlaid in iridescent stained glass with a trailing vine pattern, surrounds the firebox, which is flanked by a pair of built in display cabinets with stained glass doors and a pair of built in settles.
the gamble house | living room
inglenook fireplace
photo credit mark fiennes
charles greene designed five tree of life patterned rugs for the living
room, including one for the inglenook. he thought that the tree of life pattern created a connection with the tree pattern on the front door. the rugs were woven in bohemia, now the czech republic, by j.
ginzkey, who also made rugs for arts and crafts and wiener werkstatte designers charles francis annesley voysey and josef hoffman.
the gamble house | living room
living room rug design | watercolor on paper | 1908
living room rug | wool pile|linen warp|cotton weft | 1908-1909
photo credits the gamble house and the gamble house
a pair of teak queen post trusses separates the living room from the inglenook fireplace and the seating alcove. both the separations and the furnishings divide the large living room into intimate areas for multiple activities.
the gamble house | living room
seating alcove
photo credit mark fiennes
the custom furnishings include a mahogany and ebony library table, with drawers like the side table in the entry hall, accompanied by two tall side chairs. mary gamble brought the tiffany studios bronze reading lamp, which has a tulip lampshade
and a moth eye shade, from cincinnati
to pasadena in 1909.
the gamble house | living room
library table | honduras mahogany|ebony | 1908
tall side chair | honduras mahogany|ebony|oak|metal|wool | 1908
however, most of the lighting was custom designed for the gamble house by charles greene. the ceiling light fixtures that he designed for the living room are multi-functional. they not only function as down lights, but also as up lights. leather straps, secured with wooden wedges, suspend the fixtures from the ceiling brackets.
the brackets and the canopy are shaped like tsuba, the hand guards on japanese swords. charles greene, who loved japanese art, collected tsuba. part of his tsuba collection is now exhibited on the third floor of the gamble house.
the gamble house | living room
ceiling light fixture | mahogany|ebony|cedar|leather|stained glass | 1908
photo credit tim street-porter
mokkogata tsuba | iron | signed hosinasi toshikage and kao | edo period | 19th c
christie's | south kensington | london, united kingdom | sale 7316 | lot 195 | 7 november 2012
photo credit christie's
even though most of the custom greene & greene furniture is quite simple, some of it is more decorated. an inlaid letter box sits on top of a desk, which is located on the left side of the inglenook fireplace in the living room. on the front, the letter box is inlaid in ebony, ivory, and silver with the crane and rose gamble family crest. two four lobed mokkogata tsuba panels frame the crest. did you notice that a 'gamble crane' is also suspended over the built in settle in the entry hall?
the gamble house | living room
letter box | mahogany|ebony|ivory|silver|oak | 1914
desk | mahogany|ebony | 1914
photo credits the gamble house and the gamble house
the side panels of the letter box, which have tree inlays, conceal triangular drawers.
the gamble house | living room
letter box | side panel | mahogany|ebony|ivory|silver|oak | 1914
letter box design | side panel | graphite on paper | c. 1914
the teak paneling in the living room is also inset with tree and mountain, bird and flower, or cloud and wave decorative panels. the carved and brushed redwood panels have been compared to rama carvings, which are part of the frieze construction of a japanese house. since i have studied asian art, i think that a stylistic comparison could also be made between the carvings and japanese screens. interestingly, the greene & greene virtual archive (ggva) describes some of the scenes as seagulls, beaches, and waves. could the carvings be california coastal scenes, instead?
the gamble house | living room
carved redwood frieze panel
photo credit mark fiennes
pair of six-fold paper screens | ink and color on a gold ground | japan | edo period | 18th c
gregg baker asian art | london, united kingdom
photo credit gregg baker asian art
dining room
the entrance to the dining room is on the southwest side of the entry hall. i shouldn't have been surprised that the rose patterned stained glass screen above the built in mahogany sideboard in the dining room is illuminated by soffit lighting. after all, the gamble house was built with all of the modern conveniences, including electricity, central heating, and ensuite bathrooms.
the gamble house | dining room
built in sideboard
photo credit tim street-porter
tsuba inspired decoration predominates the dining room. lobed pendants subdivide the frieze above the sideboard, the windows, and the built in china cupboards that flank the fireplace, which has a motawi tile surround. the canopy, brackets, and cap of the ceiling light fixture, custom designed by charles greene, also have re-entrant corners. even the expandable base of dining room table, expertly engineered by henry greene, has lobed corners.
the gamble house | dining room
ceiling light fixture | mahogany|ebony|metal|leather|leaded art glass | 1908
dining room
base | dining room table | santo domingo mahogany|ebony | 1908
photo credits ggva tim street-porter and ggva
kitchen
the dining room connects to the kitchen through the butler's pantry. in the butler's pantry, all of the upper cabinets have sliding doors. and, one of the lower cabinets is equipped with an extra wide linen drawer, fitted with a roller for tablecloth storage. both the butler's pantry and the kitchen, which connects to the cellar through the service porch or the stairs on the south side of the entry hall, are fitted with custom maple cabinets.
the gamble house | kitchen
photo credit mark fiennes
guest bedroom
the entrance to the guest bedroom is on the south side of the entry hall. this ensuite bedroom is where guests, who were not members of the gamble family, stayed.
the gamble house | guest bedroom
photo credits ggva tim street-porter and ggva
the furniture that charles greene designed for the guest bedroom is more embellished than the furniture that he designed for the public spaces of the gamble house.
the headboards and footboards of the nickel plated brass beds are engraved with trailing vines. and, the maple furniture is inlaid with scrolling floral silver stringing.
the gamble house | guest bedroom
footboard | nickel plated brass | 1908
crest | side chair | maple|figured maple|oak|ebony|silver | 1908
the legs of the desk and the dressing table have silver decorated stiles. the front of the letter box on top of the desk, and the frame of the mirror on top of the dressing table are also inlaid with scrolling floral silver stringing. and, all of the drawers have silver loop pulls.
the gamble house | guest bedroom
desk and letter box | maple|figured maple|oak|mahogany|ebony|silver | 1908
dressing table and mirror | maple|figured maple|vermillion wood|oak|ebony|silver|glass | 1908
even the sconces are inlaid with silver stringing and have silver straps.
sconce | honduras mahogany|silver|stained glass | 1908
photo credit ggva
the gamble house | interior | second floor
the gamble house | second floor plan
north>
photo credit library of congress
hall
the second floor of the gamble house is furnished with
fewer precious materials. the second floor hall is paneled in cedar,
instead of teak. and, the paneling is only chair rail height, instead of
header height. on the east wall, two built in display cabinets are
separated by a window seat with concealed storage compartments. on the south wall, the built in wardrobe has spring loaded handles on the doors. the top of the wardrobe is even stepped like the stair railing.
if you look at the second floor plan, you will notice another interior-exterior connection. the hall has a back door, which opens onto the sleeping porch on the west side of the house.
bedroom
the entrance to the bedroom used by one of david and mary gamble's three sons is on the north side of the hall. amenities include a closet, a fireplace, and built in cabinets on the west wall, plus an ensuite bathroom, and a sleeping porch. like the den, this bedroom originally had stickley furniture.
master bedroom
the entrance to the master bedroom is also on the north side of the hall. amenities include an inglenook fireplace that backs up to the fireplace in the son's bedroom, an ensuite bathroom, a sleeping porch, a walk in closet, and a built in wardrobe. like the hall wardrobe, the doors have spring loaded handles. but, the master bedroom wardrobe also has drawers, concealed in the baseboard, that the gambles used for shoe storage.
the linear band of the carpet repeats the headband and the ceiling band that frame the frieze. with a double banded frieze, the greene brothers often chose three graduated colors for the walls, the frieze, and the ceiling. if the plaster walls weren't covered in painted canvas, they were sanded and washed with a transparent stain.
the gamble house | master bedroom
photo credit tim street-porter
even though they are also decorated, the master bedroom furnishings
seem more similar to the furnishings that charles greene designed for
the public spaces than for the guest bedroom. the master bedroom
furniture is decorated with pierced or applied ebony tsuba that overlay inlaid birds and flowers. the inlays include fruitwoods, metals, abalone shells, and minerals. the tsuba overlays are even outlined with brass pins.
the gamble house | master bedroom
footboard | black walnut|ebony|oak|metal|minerals | 1908
photo credit ggva
but, like the furniture in the public spaces, the craftsmanship seems to outshine the decoration. the construction is quite complex...
did you notice the cross pegged finger lap joints on the ceiling light fixture?
or, the finger lap joints and ebony pegs on the graduated drawers of the chiffonier?
what about the varied sizes of the dresser drawers?
or, the compartmentalized interior of the fall front writing desk?
the gamble house | master bedroom
ceiling light fixture | cedar|abalone|leather | 1908
chiffonier | black walnut|ebony|oak|glass|metal|minerals | 1908
dresser | black walnut|ebony|oak|glass|metal|minerals | 1908
desk | black walnut|maple|ebony|oak|metal|minerals | 1908
bedroom
the entrance to the bedroom belonging to mary gamble's sister, julia huggins, is on the southwest side of the hall. julia huggins had simpler tastes. so, her bedroom has a sleeping porch, but not an ensuite bathroom. and, a franklin stove, which was never installed,** but not a fireplace. she moved her brass bed from cincinnati to pasadena, and commissioned charles greene to design the wicker furniture that she requested for her california bedroom.
the gamble house | julia huggins' bedroom
hall bathroom
the entrance to the hall bathroom that julia huggins shared with one of her nephews is on the south side of the hall. the hall bathroom is actually separated into two rooms, a water closet, and a shower room. all of the gamble house bathrooms are white. so, the water closet and shower room doors have iridescent stained glass on the exterior, and white stained glass on the interior.
bedroom
the entrance to the bedroom used by another one of david and mary gamble's
three sons*** is on the south side of the hall. like julia huggins' bedroom, this bedroom does not have an ensuite bathroom or a fireplace. and, it does not have a sleeping porch. the built in cabinets on the west wall include a chest of drawers and a wardrobe. plus, a sink, concealed in one of the wardrobe compartments. this bedroom also originally had stickley furniture.
service quarters
the service quarters include a linen room, adjacent to the hall bathroom, and two bedrooms, now occupied by students from the university of southern california (usc) school of architecture, who have been awarded scholar in residence fellowships by the friends of the gamble house.
the gamble house | interior | third floor
the gamble house | third floor plan
north>
photo credit library of congress
staircase
the staircase to the third floor is located on the south side of the hall. the stained glass window at the base of the staircase is in outstanding condition because of the protected location. originally, all of the stained glass must have been equally as iridescent.
the gamble house | staircase window
photo credit tim street-porter
billiard room
greene & greene designed a billiard room for the third floor of the gamble house. but, the gamble family used it only for storage.
the gamble house | billiard room
photo credit mark fiennes
now, it is considered one of the most remarkable rooms in the house because of the king post truss construction.
if you look at the third floor plan, you will notice that the billiard room also has a 360 degree view.
can you think of a better way to integrate the interior with the exterior?
*except for one chair, which will eventually be returned to gamble house by the gamble family.
**julia huggins was unsure about the reliability of central heating, so she requested a backup franklin stove.
***their oldest son was already grown when gamble house was built.
Wow! Incredible and Complete. Just the site I was looking for. I bookmarked you. thanx!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love this...was looking for good information on the interiors of the gamble house for a history presentation...thanks a lot!!
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