We took a one hour guided tour in
The Gamble House yesterday. Here is the short history of the house:
The Gamble House was designed in 1908 by architects Greene & Greene. It was commissioned by David and Mary Gamble, of Cincinnati, Ohio, as a retirement residence.
David Berry Gamble, a second generation member of the Procter and Gamble Company in Cincinnati, had retired from active work in 1895, and with his wife, Mary Huggins Gamble, began to spend winters in Pasadena, residing in the area’s resort hotels. By 1907, the couple had decided to build a permanent home in Pasadena. In June of that year, they bought a lot on the short, private street, Westmoreland Place, passing up the more fashionable address, South Orange Grove, known at that time as “Millionaires’ Row.”
The architects worked closely with the Gambles in the design of the house, incorporating specific design elements to complement art pieces belonging to the family. Drawings for the house were completed in February 1908, and ground was broken in March. Ten months later, the house was completed, the first pieces of custom furniture were delivered, and The Gamble House became home to David Gamble, his wife Mary, and two of their three sons: Sidney and Clarence. (Their son Cecil was 24 at the time, and on his own.) In addition, Mary’s sister, Julia Huggins, came from Ohio to live with the family. By the summer of 1910, all the custom-designed furniture was in place.
David and Mary lived in the house until their deaths in 1923 and 1929, respectively. Julia lived in the house until her death in 1943. Cecil Huggins Gamble and his wife Louise Gibbs Gamble lived in the house beginning in 1946 and briefly considered selling it. They soon changed their minds, however, when prospective buyers spoke of painting the interior teak and mahogany woodwork white! The Gambles realized the artistic importance of the house and it remained in the Gamble family until 1966, when it was deeded to the city of Pasadena in a joint agreement with the University of Southern California School of Architecture
I always knew that the American Arts and Crafts style is not my favorite. This house just made my conviction even stronger. It was cold and very-very dark. Lamps, scones, light are on in every room all day. Everything dark and heavy. They must have killed a small forest for the built-in furniture.
They used this house to escape from the East Coast rigid winter. Why didn't they let the California sun into their house??:) They made this house intentionally dark. OK, we are different - we have different approaches.....:) But I DO like the Arts and Craft style ceramics. Clean lines, gorgeous motifs, beautiful colors.
The docent had to use flash light to show them to us.. at 11AM - you can imagine how dark the house was.....:) And outside it was a bright and sunny day. Anyways, it was fun to see it and learn about its architecture and the era.
Tegnap Pasadena-n jartunk a Gamble Haz-ban. A haz 1908-ban epult es az amerikai Arts And Craft stilusnak egy impozans peldaja. Eredetileg a Gamble csalad epitette, hogy a zord tel elol Kaliforniaba menekuljenek a keleti partrol. A haz epiteszei a hires testverparos Charles and Henry Greene volt.
Eddig is tudtam, hogy az Arts and Crafts nem a kedvenc stilusom, ez a haz csak megerositett ebben. :)
Tudatosan sotetre terveztek, minden helyisegben egtek a lampak, -mikozben kinnt verofenyes nap volt,- sotet , hideg, rideg, baratsagtalan nekem ez a stilus. A rengeteg beepitett butorhoz, fa burkolathoz jonehany erdot kiirthattak:(....olyan kulonleges fakat hasznaltak, amirol eddig nem is hallottam.....Nem tudom az ittlakok lelkiallapotara milyen hatassal volt ez az allando sotetseg....az enyemre az 1 oras tura alatt sem volt kedvezo!:) Nehez megerteni, ha valaki a klima miatt tolti itt a teleket, akkor miert nem engedi be az aldasos kaliforniai napfenyt az otthonaba? :) De masok vagyunk, mindenki maskepp erzi jol magat!:)
A kor keramiai viszont tetszenek, a sima formaival, gyonyoru szineivel, geometrikus motivumaival..... A turavezeto zseblampaval vilagitotta meg oket, hogy lassuk valamennyire - gondolhatjatok, milyen sotet volt.....:) ( fotozni nem volt szabadott:))
