The Gamble House: A Craftsman Masterpiece

story and photos by Kayte Deioma

Front view of the Gamble HouseYou can’t decide at the spur of the moment that you’d like to tour JPL, but you can look at those rain-bearing clouds and opt for an hour inside the cozy confines of the Gamble House. You don’t really visit the Gamble House to learn about the history of the Gamble family, of the Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble Company, who summered here. The Gamble House is a masterwork of architects Henry and Charles Greene, who also built many other Arts and Crafts Movement houses in the area.

The back view of the Gamble HouseCommissioned in 1907 by David B. and Mary Gamble, the Gamble house incorporates Swiss and Japanese aesthetics and an Arts and Crafts philosophy into a quintessentially California structure. Long eaves shelter the house from the sun. Sleeping porches take advantage of cool evening breezes. Natural redwood shakes covering the exterior were designed to blend with the rustic Arroyo setting that surrounded the house before the area was developed.

In 1966 the Gamble House was given by the Gamble heirs to the City of Pasadena and the University of Southern California School of Architecture. The structure remains unchanged almost 100 years after its construction. A conservation project in 2004 spruced the place up a bit and added some invisible protection, but left the original architects’ work essentially intact.

The Gamble House Tour

Front door of the Gamble HouseHour-long docent-led tours begin on the side terrace and take you through the three-panel front door. The panels are adorned with leaded stained glass patterned with oak tree trunks and ginkgo leaves designed by Charles Greene, the more artistic brother. Charles also designed most of the furnishings in the house.

Foyer and stairwayThe first thing you notice inside the house is how dark it is. Although the house was built with electricity, the bulbs are very dim and the walls throughout are of dark wood. Our guide uses a flashlight to point out the smooth joinery and the rounded corners and edges on all the Burma teak features and furnishings in the entry hall.

The tour takes you through the guest room, with its custom nickel silver beds and floral motif lanterns.

The kitchen is probably the brightest room in the house with light-colored clear and birdseye maple cupboards. The woodwork here, as The Dining Roomin the neighboring butler’s pantry and servants’ dining porch show just as much attention to detail as in the parts of the house inhabited by the family.

In the dining room, San Domingo Mahogany woodwork is accented with ebony pegs in the walls, built-in cabinets and dining set. Stained glass windows with a nature motif reflect the colors in the glass box light suspended over the dining room table.

The Living RoomThere are two single beds in the master bedroom and one double bed in the boys’ room. The boys are reported to have slept out on the sleeping porch, since they only visited the house on summer breaks from boarding school.

A stairway leads from the upstairs hall to the attic, now used as a conference room. A locked door leads, we’re told, to private rooms, formerly the servants’ quarters, which have been used since 1970 by two USC architecture students in the Scholars in Residence program who receive a 12-month rent-free furnished living space and studios.

Gamble House BookstoreThe tour exits downstairs through Mr. Gambles den and back out to the terrace, from where you can explore the small garden or make your way to the Bookstore in the former garage. A walking tour map of other Greene and Greene houses in the neighborhood is available for purchase in the Bookstore.

The Gamble House
4 Westmoreland Place (a private drive off of Orange Grove)
Pasadena, CA 91103
Phone: (626) 793-3334
Bookstore: (626) 449-4178
Note: Tour tickets are sold in the bookstore.
www.gamblehouse.org

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