I’ve just taken a tour of the Gamble House – probably THE icon of American Arts & Crafts architecture.
The Gamble House, Pasadena (Photo:Tim Jones)
Designed and built as David Gamble’s (of Proctor & Gamble fame) winter retreat, this 1908 Charles and Henry Greene designed house in Pasadena is well worth a visit, for both it’s artistic and technological appeal. No interior photography allowed, but here are some pics of the elegant joinery and fastening methods.
Construction is almost entirely in wood, with beautifully simple woodworking joints: lots of scarfs, laps, mortis and tenon (fingers), and pegs.
Our guide, however, put paid to the popular myth that the house is entirely without nails or screws. Brass screws are used in the staircase for example, but cleverly hidden behind mahogany plugs (the tasteful predecessor of those cheap plastic caps that come with IKEA self-assemble furniture).
Scarf joint in the Gamble House (Photo:Tim Jones)
You’d also never guess that inside the supporting pillars are steel inserts that extend into the foundations; one of the first implementations of anti-earthquake measures.
Mortise and tenon joint, with pegs; in Gamble House (Photo:Tim Jones)
In 1908, the house cost $80,000 – roughly ten times the norm for a similar sized property – and took 20 people about a year to build. It looks it.
Gamble House
Photos: Tim Jones and Erin Conel Jones
Since the mid 1980s, I've worked in university and industrial research, as a manager and editor in technology and environment for an international industry association, and held senior business development, strategy, and procurement posts in industry. I hold a PhD in chemical engineering from Birmingham University, an MBA from Warwick University Business School, and an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial College. In 2008, I left industry to focus full-time on my passion for science and technology, and to share that enthusiasm with others as a freelance science communicator. I live in London with my wife Erin.
Contact me at timjones(at)communicatescience.com or through the tab above.
I visited this house on a school field trip. Makes an appearance in the Back to the Future movies!
Hi Michael,
Yes, I heard something about that after our visit….That the Gamble House exterior was used as Doc’s house, and interiors were shot at the ‘Blacker House’ – a privately owned G&G house a block or two away. I’m going to watch the movie closely next time.