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10 That Changed America | 10 Homes | Gamble House

5 Gamble House

Pasadena, California
Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene, 1908

The Gamble House is considered an Arts and Crafts masterpiece. Photo credit: Greg Gayne

The Gamble House's aesthetic values nature, simplicity, and craftsmanship. Photo credit: Greg Gayne

Handcrafted interior details create a sense of unity and simplicity; a focus on craftsmanship is evident in the home's extensive hand joinery Photo credit: Greg Gayne

A ceramic tile hearth and inglenook are hallmarks of Arts and Crafts homes. Photo credit: Greg Gayne

Front and rear elevation plans reveal the unity of the home's proportions. Photo credit: Library of Congress

The Gamble House's rear terrace. Photo credit: Greg Gayne

The Greenes were influenced by Japanese art and architecture. Photo credit: Library of Congress

Hand-hewn wood beams support the roof. Photo credit: Greg Gayne

The Gamble House is owned by the City of Pasadena and operated as a museum by the University of Southern California. Photo credit: Greg Gayne

A handcrafted light fixture in the living room. Photo credit: Greg Gayne

A landscaped rear terrace reflects Japanese-inspired aesthetics and restraint. Photo credit: Greg Gayne

The bungalow was growing in popularity; the Gamble House helped propel it to superstardom. Photo credit: Library of Congress

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Gamble House

Gamble House

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Arts and Crafts Movement delivered an antidote to the perceived dehumanization of the Industrial Revolution. In Arts and Crafts homes, natural materials and simple designs provided a serene and artful oasis, worlds away from the mass-produced, impersonal world of industry and commerce.

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So when David and Mary Gamble of Cincinnati - heirs to the Procter & Gamble fortune - sought to build a summer home in Pasadena, they bypassed the mansions of "Millionaire's Row" and found a quieter neighborhood and a less grandiose, more nature-friendly building approach.

They hired architects Charles and Henry Greene, two brothers from Cincinnati.

The Greenes had learned woodworking, metalworking, and tool making in hands-on courses at Washington University's Manual Training School in St. Louis, prior to architecture studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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In 1893, as they traveled westward to California, the brothers visited Chicago and the World's Columbian Exhibition, where they encountered Japanese architecture and art.

All of these aesthetic influences came together in the Greenes' design for the Gambles' summer home. In the Gamble House, they created a sort of "ultimate bungalow." The spacious home incorporates all of the elements of the Arts and Crafts aesthetic: craftsmanship, simplicity, a love of nature, and a unified approach to furnishings, decoration, and building elements.

The Craftsman bungalow appealed to a middle class hungry for honesty, purity, and nature. The bungalow became a dominant housing style in the coming decades - if not quite on the scale of the Gamble House, then in its spirit.

The Gamble House remained in the Gamble family until the 1960s, when it was deeded to the City of Pasadena. The home is open to the public for tours and education.

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A Closer Look
A Closer Look
The Gamble House responded to its owners’ desire for a warm, handcrafted aesthetic in harmony with nature–a direct rebuttal to mass production and the Industrial Revolution.