The Gamble House

David and Mary Gamble of Proctor and Gamble annually left Cincinnati to spend their winters in mild Southern California.  When they retired, they decided to make their permanent home in Pasadena and chose Charles and Henry Greene as their architects to build their new home.  Known for their Craftsman design, the artists worked closely with the owners to build one of the best examples of that unique style. 

We entered through a work of art, the stained glass front door.

 The house and furnishing are of a variety of woods which accent the designs.  The Greenes Arts and Crafts style made jointery an artistic detail rather than something to hide.  Greene & Greene construction features finger joints and a lot of tongue and groove joints. This "scarf joint" is typical.

The Gambles added new features such as closets, each with its own door style and with floor-level drawers for shoes. 

The Gambles traveled the world and collected both the mundane and the exotic.  They spent considerable time in Asian and there is a strong Asian influence in much of the design.  Mrs. Gamble was also a collector of Tiffany glass, vases and flower bowls which are on display.   She was the one who decided the detailed accent colors in a room making sure they blended with the art she placed there.  Their collection is displayed about the house.

Outside each bedroom is a summer porch for sleeping on mild LA nights.  This pond is below the porch of Mrs. Greene’s spinster sister who lived with them and was the last surviving member of the family to live in the home.

The interior is dark because the then new electric lights were of low wattage.  The only “bright” room is the attic which is now used as a meeting room.   The University of Southern California and the City of Pasadena now own the house and are committed to keeping it the way the Gambles and Greenes created it.

Photography is limited to the outside but some of the wonderful details we saw were also part of the exterior. 

This Lego model of the house is a recent acquisition.

After touring the house, we drove around the lovely neighborhood finding more Greene homes.