If you love the Arts and Crafts Movement, decorative arts, or merely artistically and well designed home furnishings, you may want to head over to the Renwick Gallery before this exhibit ends on June 7.

It is a very managable exhibit and can easily be viewed over a couple of lunch hours if you work in the neighborhood.

According to the organizers, this is the most comprehensive exhibition ever undertaken on the work of Arts and Crafts legends Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene — AND, the first such exhibition to travel outside of California.

If you don’t have the time to go, or even just want to see what its about prior to a visit, more information and an online exhibition can be found here>>

If you haven’t been to the Gamble House, go now and while you’re at it, take on all the Greene & Green exhibits in Pasadena.

The Gamble House, 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena. Thursday-Sunday 12 noon to 3p.m. (last tour begins at 3:00). Adults, $10; seniors and students $7. For more information, call (626) 793-3334 or go to www.gamblehouse.org.

“Living Beautifully: Greene & Greene in Pasadena” and “The Art and Craft of Textile Design, 1860-1920” continue until Jan. 4 at the Pasadena Museum of History, 470 W. Walnut Street, Pasadena. Wednesdays-Sundays, 12-5 p.m. Adults, $5; children under 12 free. For more information, call (626) 577-1660 or go to www.pasadenahistory.org.

“A New and Native Beauty: The Art and Craft of Greene & Greene,” continues until Jan. 26 at The Huntington Library, 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino. Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 12-4:30 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays and Monday holidays, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed Tuesdays and major holidays. Admission prices vary. For more information, call (626) 405-2100 or go to www.huntington.org.

“Seeing Green & Greene: Architecture in Photographs” continues until Jan. 4 at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, 490 E. Union Street, Pasadena. Wednesdays-Sundays 12-5 p.m. Adults, $7; seniors and students, $5: children under 12 free. (626) 568-3665 or go to www.pmcaonline.org.

ART: Winter Schedule

Ends 27 December: “Images for Human Rights – Student Voices” @ Pasadena Central Library

The library Web site describes it as :A beautiful exhibition of 25 posters by top students at Art Center College of Design, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. These visual interpretations of the Declaration provide vibrant new perspectives on the universal theme of human rights, and were recently shown at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The exhibition is presented by Designmatters, Art Center’s socials and humanitarian educational initiative, and is made possible through the generous support of the France Los Angeles Exchange (FLAX).

This is well worth a stop, perhaps even more than once. Go through both entrances to get the full impact because there are posters in the glass cases as well as the ones in front of the check-out desk on exhibition boards.

Ends 2 January 2009: Viewing Stones @ Huntington Library Open daily, except New Year’s Day. 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Viewing stones presented by the California Aiseki Kai. At the Friends’ Hall.

Ends 4 January 2009: “Seeing Greene & Greene: Architecture in Photographs” @ Pasadena Museum of California Art.

If you love architectural photography, this is a must see. If you love the Arts & Crafts movement, particularly the Gamble House, then don’t wait. Go immediately. Photos by William R. Current, Johann Hagemeyer, Frances Benjamin Johnston, Frederick Martin, Maynard Parker, Julius Shulman, Minor White, and Morgan Yost.

Ends 4 January: “The Art and Craft of Textile Design: 1860-1920″ @ Pasadena Museum of History.

Ends 4 January: “Living Beautifully: Greene and Greene in Pasadena” @ Pasadena Museum of History.

Ends 4 January 2009: “Romance of the Bells: California Missions in Art” @ Pasadena Museum of California Art.

Ends 4 January 2009: “William Stranger: Second Growth” @ Pasadena Museum of California Art.

William Stranger wasn’t born in Pasadena, but he lives here. His wood furniture shows an appreciation for the natural growth of wood as well as a concern for environment. He often uses wood that might have ended up filling landfills. So much waste! He makes them into sculptural furniture that seductively begs to be touched.

Ends 6 January: “Mingei East and West” @ Pacific Asia Museum.

Begins 10 January 2009 and then twice a month through 28 March 2009: Multicultural Weaving Exposition @ LA Arboretum

You remember those jokes about basketing weaving 101? The Arboretum gives you a chance to learn about a craft with the experts. The 10 January kickoff event allows you to meet the artists at Patrick Dougherty’s “Catawampus.”

10 January 2009: Meet the artists, 1-5 p.m.
24 January 2009: Freeway Lace Guild
14 February 2009: Los Angeles Basketry Guild
28 February 2009: Leigh Adams – Coiled Baskets
14 March 2009: Lynne Everett – Mini-gourd Beachcomber Necklace
28 March 2009: Southern California Hand-Weavers Guild

Ends 11 January 2009: “The Offering Table: Women Artists/Activists from Korea” @ Pacific Asia Museum.

Ends 26 January 2009: A New and Native Beauty: The Art and Craft of Greene & Greene @ The Huntington Library. See it now before it travels to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. It’s final stop will be the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Ends 27 January 2009: “Confucius: Shaping Values Through Art” @ Pacific Asia Museum

Ends 2 February: Vermeer’s “A Lady Writing” from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; @ Norton Simon.

Ends 5 February 2009: Holiday Art Show @ Descanso Gardens Open daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Exhibition of art works by Miriam Balcazar, Kathleen Ballard, Catherine Cowles, Alyce Cox, Belinda Del Pesco, Rick Drobner, Linda Du Pas, Miriam Ellis, Shirley Flynn, Trish Kertes, Fong Lai, Frank Lennartz, Margot Lennartz, Gail Martin, Debi McDonald, Gerane Mooney, Karen Sill, Jeanne Tannhauser, Laura Wambsgans, Karen Winters.

19 February to 9 August: “The Samurai Re-imagined: From Ukiyo-e to Anime” @ Pacific Asia Museum. Like swords, battles of honor, ritual suicide and cartoons? Never a majority of the population, but the samurai captured the public’s imagination–in the West and the East. See how old tales of military men invade popular culture today.

Ends 2 March: “Under the Influence: Art-Inspired Art” @ Norton Simon.

Ends July 13: “On the Enlightened Path: Jain Art from India” @ Norton Simon.

Back to the Future  has always been one of my very favorite movies, so when I found out that the interiors of Doc Brown’s house were filmed at a home in Pasadena, I had to run right out to stalk it.  The exteriors of Doc’s house were also filmed at a home in Pasadena, a very famous Craftsman style home named the Gamble House.  The Gamble House was built by the famous Greene & Greene architecture firm for the Gamble Family (of Proctor and Gamble).  Formerly the Gamble family’s summer home, the Gamble House is now a museum which is open daily to the public.  But I’ll save the history of the Gamble House for another post.  Being that no filming is allowed to take place on the inside of the Gamble home, producers had to find a similar home to shoot the interiors of Doc’s house.  The home they chose is called the Robert R. Blacker Home and it is considered by many to be the finest example of Craftsman architecture ever built by the Greene Brothers.

Built in 1907 for more than $100,000, the Blacker House was originally situated on over seven acres of land and included a seperate garage and a caretaker’s home.  Originally built for Robert Rowe Blacker and his wife Nellie, sadly the home and its land was parceled off and sold after their death.  While the caretaker’s house and the seven acres of land are now gone, the Blacker House still sits on a significant amount of property and it is absolutely breathtaking to view in person.  Besides being featured in Back to the Future, the Blacker House also shows up in a deleted scene from the movie Armageddon, as the location where Bruce Willis says goodbye to his father before going off to save the world.  I highly recommend stalking the Blacker House if you are at all a fan of Back to the Future  or architecture in general.  The house is absolutely striking in person and pictures simply do not do it justice.

On a side note, last summer, while vacationing in San Diego with my family, we stopped in at the Lodge at Torrey Pines for a bite to eat.  I could not believe my eyes as we drove up to the resort as the exterior is the spitting image of the Blacker House.  The concierge was shocked when I asked him if the hotel was modeled after the Blacker House – he said that no guest he’d ever talked to in the two years he’d been working at the hotel had ever even heard of the Blacker House.  Apparently he didn’t realize he was talking to a stalker.    LOL  The Lodge at Torrey Pines is a beautiful hotel and another breathtaking example of Craftsman architecture.  Although no movies have been filmed there, I highly recommend stalking the hotel if you find yourself in the area.

 Until next time, Happy Stalking! 

Stalk It:  The Gamble House is located at 4 Westmoreland Place in Pasadena.  The R. R. Blacker House is located at 1177 Hillcrest Avenue, at the corner of Hillcrest and Wentworth Ave., also in Pasadena.  The Lodge at Torrey Pines can be found at 11480 North Torrey Pines Road in La Jolla.

That Thing You Do  has always been one of my very favorite movies.  Liv Tyler could not have been more adorable in that movie!  The scene where she is running down the street screaming with joy while listening to the Oneders song on the radio for the first time is one of my favorite scenes in all of moviedom!  And I do love me some Tom Everett Scott, too.    So when I read on Pasadena’s Filming Website  that a house on Prospect Boulevard in Pasadena was used in That Thing You Do, I, of course, ran right out to stalk it.

I must say that working backwards, or stalking backwards I should say, ie. trying to find the scene in a movie where a certain home or place was featured, proved to be almost as difficult as normal stalking.   I had to fast-forward through That Thing You Do  twice before I spotted the house in a scene.  In actuality only the garage of the home was used, and it was only used briefly in the very beginning of the movie.  The home was featured in the scene when Guy Patterson practices with the rest of the band for the first time.  It is in this scene that Liv Tyler comes up with the name for the band – “The Oneders”.  

I actually had to go back and stalk this house a second time, as the first time I stalked it I didn’t get a photo of the garage, which was the only part of the house used in the movie.  The front of the home is never actually shown.  The clapboard-style residence is super cute in person and was very reminiscent of the Father of the Bride  house, but on a slightly smaller scale.  I am actually very surprised the front of the house was not shown in the movie.  You’d think that since they were already there filming in the garage, they would have taken some stock footage of the front of the house to use in the movie.

The Prospect Historic District of Pasadena, where the That Thing You Do  home is located, is a beautiful neighborhood with absolutely gorgeous homes on tree covered streets.  The neighborhood, which was started in the year 1906, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.  One of the homes on Prospect, number 657, is known as the Bentz House and was built by the famous architects Greene & Greene, with whom Craftsman style architecture is most commonly associated.  Greene & Greene built the Bentz House in 1906 and it still stands today.  Jennifer Lopez’ dream house from the movie Enough  can also be found in the Prospect Historic District.  It is pictured to the left.  According to Pasadena’s Filming Website the Enough  house was also used in That Thing You Do, but I never saw it.  Quite possibly only the interior of the house was used, and therefore I didn’t recognize it, or, also quite possible, the Pasadena website just got it wrong.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 

Stalk It: The That Thing You Do  house is located at 490 Prospect Boulevard.  The garage that was used in the movie is to the left rear of the house and is very visible from the street.  JLo’s house from Enough  is located right around the corner at 445 Prospect Square.  The most famous Greene & Greene home, the Gamble House, is located just off of Prospect Square at 4 Westmoreland Place.   The Gamble House was used as Doc Brown’s home in the movie Back to the Future, but I’ll save that one for a future post. 

Annie Blacker house, Greene & Greene Architectural Records and Papers Collection

If I weren’t convinced that everything I know is already known well by anyone I’d ever want to impress, I’d use Hemingway’s six word novel as a pick-up line. (I’m embarrassed now to even write it, so certain I am that you all have committed it to memory and started either rolling your eyes or nodding maternally). Deep breath, Emmita! Our romance isn’t dead yet:

For sale, baby shoes, never worn.

Entry hall stairway of the David B. Gamble House

Now that I’ve done some brief internet research, I’m starting to doubt Hemingway ever wrote those words at all, or that they haven’t been irreparably bastardized (one example here–infuriating!) by generations of creative writing teachers who thought “artist” was spelled with one rim of their Clark Kent glasses and “quirky” with the other.

Gamble house from the northwest

I ran into my very own creative writing teacher this evening, in the first meeting of my second-to-last Columbia class ever. Her name is Phyllis (as though there were ever any doubt), and if that author photo bears any resemblance to the once-original, she used to be really, really hot. She’s aged, and, I’d guess, gotten more acerbic. At the very least, she seems to have wantonly embraced the professor as muse complex, common to literary men and women who find themselves at the heads of seminar tables before they’ve stopped being able to fill out an oxford. It didn’t take much actual intimacy before I realized I didn’t really need to bed any of those people again.

Rosewood chair, designed by Charles Greene

And yet: I want to write really well for her. I kept being blinded by the glare from the overhead light reflecting on her glasses and so I never knew if she was looking at me intensely or vacantly, and I was never sure for how long I should maintain my end of the eye contact, so my face in seminar was a flickering affair full of eyelash.

These were my six-word memoirs, in this order:

What do you really think, Mom?

I haven’t learned to mop, yet.

Still frequently falling up the stairs.

Mariah Carey_Fantasy

She gave each class member individual prompts for next class, which I cannot attend because I will be at Clio’s Sail-a-bration in my boss’s stead. Max is graciously serving as my date for the Parents’ Association fund raiser. When my boss told us to wear “jeans, something casual,” I told Max that, in British English, “jeans” means “seersucker.” His response:

I will be wearing my finest pair of Dungareed short pants! T’would a sandalled shoe be appropriate?

Commenced, of course, a rapid-fire email discourse on the virtues (him) versus the criminality (me) of cargo shorts. It did not culminate until the email copied below, which I wrote in character, did not even send and which languishes as a draft because it is just way too completely ridiculous:

“I hate to do this, because you have a lot of cargo in your trunk, but I just think I have too much cargo from my childhood.”

Anyway, Phyllis assigned me the prompt: “I knew I was in trouble when…”

Seriously. That’s my assignment. It think it means that I am inane and boring. Phyllis had heard me speak an hour earlier as we went around the table introducing ourselves. I’d finished my brief monologue, conveniently forgetting the suggestion that we note what we’d “bring to a desert island,” and she waited a moment and said “Well. You certainly have a checkered past.”

Mariah Carey_Always Be My Baby

Do I? I am going to finish my “in trouble” prompt with an explanation of a certain halting, alternately uneasy and impassioned and frequently drug-fueled affair; this may be the point at which I actually know I’m in trouble, of course, but I actually think she’ll like it.

Charles J. Willet house

[Buy Phyllis here and here, and buy Mariah everywhere, including here.]

[All images are from the Greene & Greene Architectural Records and Papers Collection, housed in the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia. Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene were born in Ohio in 1868 and 1870, respectively. They studied architecture at MIT and moved West, where their work emblematized the Arts & Crafts movement. My parents live in an Arts & Crafts home in New Jersey and I think it's beautiful; all of the above examples were built in Southern California. One of them, Maddy, is in Ojai!]

Most references to “green” construction regard building structures in a manner that is low impact on the environment. 

Back in the day there were two M.I.T. trained brothers whom developed another definition for “green” construction.  With an extra “e” at the end of green these brothers established the architectural firm of Greene & Greene in Pasadena, CA (1894-1922) .   Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene were West Coast contemporaries of East Coast based Frank Lloyd Wright.  Their style was a bit warmer than Franks.   Infused with textures and inlays using the richness of rain forest woods like Mahogany, Ebony and Teak their design had a home grown craftsmanship ethic and sensibility to it. 

The Greene’s and Frank Lloyd Wright shared an interest in Japanese architecture.  Frank Lloyd Wright tended towards the clean straight lines where as the brothers embraced the more shapely pagoda type qualities found in Japanese architecture.  If you look close though you will see similarities between Frank Lloyd Wrights design and the Greene brothers.  The rich artistic design that characterizes a Greene home is recognized as pillars of  “Arts and Craft” or Craftsman and  ”ultimate bungalow“ style of architecture.  

Probably the most famous Greene & Greene home was designed in 1908 for David and Mary Gamble of the Proctor and Gamble company.   The Gamble House remained in the Gamble family until 1966 it is now owned by the city of Pasadena, CA in a joint venture with USC’s school of architecture and is registered as a National Historic Landmark.   Over 30,000 people a year come from all over the world to tour this home. 

The Greene & Greene brothers talent transcends time and place by inspiring builders and architects here in the NW.    A spectacular Greene & Greene inspired home was just completed by Davies Homes.  Built in the Wine Country of Woodinville on Hollywood Hill.   A bucolic 1.6 acres provides a picturesque back drop featuring a peaceful, tranquil pond and an area for a vineyard. 

Woodinville Greene & Greene inspired home

This home is on the market for $2,250,000.  It is over 6,000 sq. ft. and has 4 bedrooms, 6 baths, 4 fireplaces and spectacular craftsman quality finish work that would make the brothers proud. 

Tour this home most Sundays or for a private showing call me at 206-200-9849

To kick things off I thought I would add photos of my most recent completed project – a Greene & Greene inspired coffee table. Built of solid Cherry with Walnut accents, it measures 18″w x 40″l x 19″h.

It features handcut joinery including through-wedged mortise & tenon on the lower shelf, as well as pinned mortise & tenon at all the corners.

The top is attached to the stretchers and aprons with wooden ‘buttons’ which allow it to move with seasonal changes in humidity.

The finish is an oil/varnish mixture which is great because it provides water resistance, and it is easily repaired/renewable.