Gamble House Celebrates Its Centennial
Photo/Tim Street-Porter
Completed in 1908 and occupied in 1909, the Gamble House today is an icon of Craftsman architecture. Deeded to the City of Pasadena in a joint agreement with the USC School of Architecture in 1966, the house is open to the public and welcomes approximately 30,000 visitors every year.
In the 2008-09 academic year, a series of exhibitions in Southern California and around the country – timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the landmark residence – will celebrate the Gamble House and its architects Greene & Greene.
On Saturday, the exhibition “A New and Native Beauty: The Art and Craft of Greene & Greene” will open at the Huntington Library in San Marino, before traveling in 2009 to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in Washington D.C., and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. “A New and Native Beauty” is the first major exhibition of the work of Greene & Greene on the East Coast.
In addition, both the Pasadena Museum of California Art and the Pasadena Museum of History have exhibitions during the centennial year about the work of Greene & Greene.
Part of a large migration of wealthy patricians who wintered in Southern California or sought dry air to combat the effects of tuberculosis, David and Mary Gamble commissioned the Gamble House in a then-unfashionable part of town from brothers Charles and Henry Greene, themselves transplants from the Midwest.
Today a protected National Historic Landmark, the Gamble House has been called the “ultimate bungalow” and contains all of the original furniture and fixtures designed for it by Greene & Greene. Painstakingly hand-finished natural materials, organic shapes and Asian motifs complement scenic views of the outdoors throughout the home, which features more than 10 types of wood.
During an extensive exterior conservation effort in 2004, rot and diseased wood in the exterior beams and 262 Douglas fir rafter tails were removed using handheld instruments such as dental tools.
The house was almost sold in the 1940s, until Louise Gibbs Gamble chanced to overhear a prospective buyer talk about painting the interior wood white. The house was taken off the market.
For more information about the 100th anniversary celebration of the Gamble House – including a full-day conference at the Huntington Nov. 8 – visit http://www.gamblehouse.org/centennial. The full-day conference is preceded by an evening plenary lecture by Rosalind Blakesley of Cambridge University Nov. 7.
Also at the Huntington Library, Edward R. Bosley, director of the Gamble House and co-curator of “A New and Native Beauty,” will present the lecture “Greene & Greene: An Arts and Crafts Conundrum” Nov. 19.
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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