Los Angeles has always welcomed multiculturalism, and it’s most evident in its architecture. Only in L.A. can you find Victorian homes, Swiss chalets, a Greek Revival cathedral, Spanish Mission columns, Dutch Colonial buildings and Japanese gardens in the same vicinity. These styles represent early settlers who wanted homes that reminded them of home – whether the East Coast, the Far East or Europe.
An influx of newcomers came in the late 1800s as accounts of a seaside Garden of Eden spread across the country. And none were disappointed with the unspoiled beauty and wild spirit they found. Many more followed for the warm weather. Charles and Henry Greene came to Los Angeles in 1893 to visit their parents, who had set up a vacation home in Pasadena to avoid winters in St. Louis. They fell in love with the place and, like many of us, never left.
Bolton House (1906)
Intricate woodwork, clinker brick, glass panels, low-pitched roofs and horizontal lines are characteristics of Greene and Greene's Craftsman architecture.
Chicago Exposition (1893)
Right before coming to California, the Greene brothers stopped by the World’s Fair in Chicago. The Japanese Pavilion featured a Phoenix Temple and gardens representing three distinct periods in Japanese history and over a thousand years of tradition. The timber frame was made from local cypress trees, disassembled, shipped and reconstructed in Chicago. Japanese artisans came with fine arts and decorative elements to complete the pavilion.
Garden of the Phoenix
Jackson Park's Japanese garden is a recreation from the 1893 World's Fair and set on the location of the original pavilion.
It was the first time a large Western audience was exposed to authentic Japanese architecture, and everyone marveled at the beauty and simplicity of its interlocking woodwork, exposed beams and intricate carvings. The use of natural materials integrated seamlessly with the gardens. Stained glass, delicate screens and sparse yet well-crafted fixtures added to the elegant aesthetics that the Greene brothers would incorporate into their own designs.
The Arts and Crafts Movement
With industrialization came mass-produced factory products, a decline in design standards and inferior craftsmanship. Beginning in 1850s Britain, the Arts and Crafts Movement sought to reestablish artisanal cultures and the importance of handcrafted, well-made materials. Prominent members, including social reformers John Ruskin and William Morris, spoke out against factory conditions and the capitalism they believed were a step back from creating a more equitable society.
Gamble House
Greene and Greene's handcrafted furniture and Morris-inspired leaf and floral motifs.
In the U.S., their ideals were echoed by Gustav Stickley, a furniture maker who founded The Craftsman magazine in 1901. In addition to championing the movement and Morris’ philosophies, it included articles on design, furniture, architecture and urban planning. Stickley published blueprints so other builders and furniture makers could follow the Craftsman style. The Arts and Crafts Movement in the U.S., which started in Boston, where the Greene brothers had studied at MIT, gained popularity.
Greene and Greene Architecture
The first Greene and Greene designs had the Richardsonian Romanesque elements they were exposed to in Boston. But they quickly shed the heavily colonial motifs when they built the Duncan House in 1900, a simple one-story bungalow with an inner courtyard. The following year, Charles Greene took a trip to England and brought back arts and crafts ideals they would apply to architecture, marking the birth of their Craftsman style.
Duncan-Irwin House (1901, 1906)
The home was later expanded with a second floor and additional bedrooms after Katherine Duncan sold the house.
The Culbertson House (1902)
Built on a bluff overlooking Arroyo Seco, the Culbertson House used cobblestones taken from the river bed below and featured a rectangular design with a large porch and wooden pergola. The Japanese influence is apparent in the interlocking beams, wall engravings and lead-pane windows that would become signature elements of Greene and Greene’s architecture. A fireplace alcove and Stickley’s handcrafted furniture complemented the harmony of its interiors.
Culbertson House (1913)
A second, larger commission from the family featuring a pergola and "tamed nature" garden.
The California Bungalow
Pasadena grew into the preeminent resort town. In 1903, Greene and Greene began building redwood cottages – simple, inexpensive homes accommodating part-time residents. They chose redwood for construction because it’s local to California and has a lasting quality and earthly color. They developed a structural system where the walls were fabricated on the ground and lifted into place. Roof trusses were also built on-site and hoisted up as soon as the walls were in place.
It was the birth of the California Bungalow, and it came from a synthesis of styles, including Queen Anne and Swiss cottages, Japanese woodwork and gardens, and Anglo-Indian homes designed with tiled roofs to protect from intense sun and heat (the term bungalow was derived from Bengali).
Bentz House (1906)
- A modest design for middle-class families. This was the first built in Prospect Park, a neighborhood of historic homes, including the Millard House by Frank Lloyd Wright.
At that time, Ladies Home Journal was publishing a series on “Model Homes at Moderate Costs.” It included building plans, specifications and examples, and its circulation skyrocketed to one million readers. The newly built residences in Pasadena garnered the most attention and were named the “Prettiest Country Homes in America” in 1904. The California Bungalow was replicated throughout the U.S. and reached as far as Australia and New Zealand by 1913.
The Tichenor House (1905)
Across town, the Greene brothers built the Tichenor House on a narrow strip of land overlooking the ocean in Long Beach. In contrast to their past designs, the narrow garden was designed to temper the colder sea breeze and served as a visual transition from the living room to a reflecting pool and bridge outdoors. The pitch and design of the green-tiled roof and terrace railing helped attain its Japanese tea house appeal.
Tichenor House
The only property on the hill when it was first built, Tichenor House was almost demolished in the 1980s so that condominiums (like the one beside it) could be built on this prime real estate. It was saved by a preservation committee and now protected as a historic home.
The Greene brothers learned carpentry and metalwork in trade school, and while they had designed assorted pieces of furniture in the past, Tichenor House was the first commission that allowed them to test their designs and ideas more broadly. Sketches from conception to configuration were done on fixtures, lanterns, benches, door panels, room dividers, stained glass windows, writing desks, a bedroom dresser and a complete dining set, and they were made for the home.
Finding Master Craftsmen
Unfortunately, many of the pieces for the Tichenor House were poorly made by the manufacturers the Greenes used. This prompted them to seek out more experienced craftsmen. Among them were John and Peter Hall, master woodworkers who worked for the Pasadena Manufacturing Company before branching out independently. Peter designed stairs for prominent clients, and John had a reputation as an excellent furniture maker.
Greene and Greene’s woodwork, pegging and joinery were flawlessly applied to the furniture the Halls built for them. The superior craftsmanship heralded an even more refined design aesthetic for the Greenes. Both teams were as obsessed with detailing, textures and inlays, and their work embodied arts and crafts ideals. For glass and lighting, the Greenes worked with Emil Lange from the Tiffany Studios in New York and the local Judson Studios, which specializes in fine arts and stained glass and still operates today.
Gamble House
Fireplace alcove with furniture built by the Hall brothers and lighting from Judson Studios.
The Blacker House (1907)
The most elaborate of their designs was the Blacker House. Commissioned by a lumber magnate with access to exquisite materials, it was constructed with a combination of Burmese teak, Honduras mahogany, Oregon pine, Douglas fir and redwood. The Greenes had over a hundred sheets of drawings for the layout and construction, and they designed as many pieces of furniture and lighting fixtures exclusively for the home.
Blacker House
The elimination of screws and nails is another signature Greene and Greene process. Instead, square wooden blocks and small darker pegs are used for joinery and exposed to create a subtle pattern.
They would be some of the most refined furniture they had ever created, including built-in chests, teak benches, and matching dining room and kitchen sets. Lanterns hung from polished leather straps connected to wooden beams. They chose ancient Persian carpets to complement the furniture.
Stained glass oriel windows feature flower patterns that mimicked the vast gardens and lotus pools surrounding the property. The rich greenery extended to what was then an undeveloped oak forest.
Casa Barranca(1909)
Set on the rural hills of Ojai, the Casa Barranca estate allowed Greene and Greene to design within a completely natural setting. Stone was collected on site and set in concrete to use as part of the foundation, boulders and gardens. The landscaping left wild growth and trees as part of the setting.
Casa Barranca
The unique V-shape spread of the house allowed for a sundeck and abundant terrace space. Connecting French doors make up the rear wall of the living room, with additional access from the upper bedrooms. The Green brothers also designed the furniture, inlaid with fine wood and silver. Subtle green paint and jade lanterns mimic the colors of the garden outside. Initially commissioned as a winter home for the Pratt family, it now serves as a retreat and winery catering to wine club members.
Casa Barranca Gardens
Grapes are cultivated on the estate.
The Gamble House (1910)
The Gamble House represents the epoch of Greene and Greene architecture. Local rocks were used as stepping stones and incorporated throughout the grounds and garden. Low-pitched roofs and overlapping hanging eaves expand into a horizontal silhouette, echoing the surrounding landscape.
Again, the Greenes’ elaborate woodwork is evident as soon as you step inside. Settees were built into the side of the stairway with exposed pegging and joinery. The wood was hand-treated to give it an almost velvety luster. No detail was left out. Flowerbeds, lighting fixtures, stained glass, area rugs, cabinets and furniture were designed into the whole.
Gamble House
The entryway faces east where the morning sun shines through and bathes it with an ethereal light.
Here, the brothers developed a method for joining glass pieces, wrapping them in copper before soldering them. This gives the effect of fine-aged stained glass while using their own design for each panel.
The Gamble House is the best-preserved of their architecture, with the original furnishings and fixtures intact. It was almost sold in 1966 to a family who planned to paint it white. The Gamble family decided to deed the property to the city of Pasadena instead. It’s been used to house architectural students and is the only one open to the public for tours.
Seaward House (1918)
In 1914, they were commissioned by author D.L. James. The site was on a high, rocky bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Carmel, one of several homes they built in Northern California. Charles Greene built a small cottage close by and worked independently during four years of construction. He made watercolor sketches and drawings with intricate details.
Unlike their wooden bungalows, he mainly used stones – quarried right from the building grounds. He worked closely with two stone masons and designed everything while supervising on-site. The arched entryways, jutting chimneys, splayed walls and tiled roof were treated to blend together perfectly. The natural stone feels as if the house just grew out of the landscape. It’s difficult to discern where the walls end and the cliff begins. Even the overgrown trees shading the house seem to become part of the site the more they are left untended.
Seaward House
This was sold to Brad Pitt, who is a fan of the Craftsman style, in 2022 for $40 million.
Charles was the older and more philosophical of the two. Though he planned the move to be temporary, he decided to stay after construction was finished, preferring the seaside seclusion to the rapidly growing L.A. metropolis. He added a studio to his cottage using leftover brick from the James House and withdrew from their Pasadena practice.
The Decline of Crafstman Architecture
Both brothers had agreed to the separation as work was slowing. While replicas of the Craftsman Bungalow were being built in other places, they were not of the same quality, ideas or construction. Many were poorly built, and the style fell out of fervor by the 1920s.
Because Greene and Greene designs were all residential, they never received much recognition. It wasn’t until the post-WWII building boom that there was renewed interest in unique residential designs and wood construction. Designers and architects began to pay closer attention to the importance of materials, space, integration and craftsmanship, and the Craftsman style experienced a resurgence.
Interlocking Woodwork
Lamp, Stained Glass, Bench
Table Lamp
In 1952, the Greene brothers – already long retired – were recognized by the American Institute of Architects as “formulators of a new and native architecture.” In his acceptance speech, Charles Greene pointed out that in his days as an architect, there was no need for inspections, “A craftsman work was his reputation,” and was sad to see those days were gone.
Back in 1913, another architect, Ralph Adams Cram, foresaw the importance of Greene and Greene’s architecture. In his book, he wrote –
“There are things in it Japanese; things that are Scandinavian; things that hint at Sikkim, Bhutan, and the fastness of Tibet. Structurally, it is a blessing – a wooden style with the force and integrity of Japanese architecture and the elusive element of charm, and, for some reason or other, it seems to fit California.”
