• Arroyo’s Edge: Greene & Greene interiors 2012

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    a tour of six Greene and Greene-designed properties in Pasadena’s historic Park Place neighborhood
     
    This coming Earth Day, architecture buffs are in for a Greene and Greene (and green) treat. On Sunday, April 22, 2012, The Gamble House will present Arroyo’s Edge: Greene and Greene Interiors 2012, a rare opportunity to visit six privately-owned properties designed by Charles and Henry Greene between 1902 and 1915. Featuring acclaimed architectural features and design by the masters of the American Arts & Crafts movement, the five private homes and one private garden will be open for touring along Arroyo Terrace and North Grand Avenue in Pasadena, all within easy walking distance of The Gamble House.
     
    It has been twenty years since a “Greene and Greene Interiors” tour featured the interiors of houses in the historic Park Place neighborhood.  On April 22 from 12 noon to 5 p.m. (last entry 4 p.m.), this remarkably intact enclave of the Greenes’ work – once known as “Little Switzerland” for its woodsy, chalet-style structures – will once again be the focus of a tour to benefit The Gamble House, a National Historic Landmark designed by Greene and Greene in 1908 and operated by the University of Southern California School of Architecture as a public site since 1966.
     
    Thanks to the generosity of six property owners, the Arroyo’s Edge tour will feature: the Duncan-Irwin house(1906-08), the Mary Ranney house (1907), the F. W. Hawks house (1906), the Van Rossem-Neill house (1903-06), the Louise T. Halstead house (1905-15) and the James Culbertson garden (1902-14), and will give participants a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Greene and Greene interiors that are rarely, if ever, opened to the public.
     
    tour details:
    date: Sunday April 22, 2012
    hours: noon – 5 pm (last entry at 4 pm)
    general admission: $85 per person; $50 for children under 12
    member admission: $75 per person (to join Friends of The Gamble House visit gamblehouse.org or call 626.783.3334 x16)
    Off-street parking is available to ticket holders. We regret that these private homes and gardens are not wheelchair accessible. Visitors should plan to wear sturdy walking shoes.
     
    proceeds benefit The Gamble House, a National Historic Landmark in Pasadena, CA
     
    about The Gamble House: Built in 1908, the Gamble House is the most complete and best-preserved example of the work of renowned Pasadena architects Charles and Henry Greene. The Gamble House is an internationally recognized National Historic Landmark in the style of the American Arts and Crafts movement. Owned by the City of Pasadena, the Gamble House is operated by the University of Southern California School of Architecture.
     
    The Gamble House is open for public, docent-led, one-hour tours Thursday – Sunday, noon – 3 pm, closed on national holidays. For more information, visit gamblehouse.org.

    photograph: Exterior detail from the Duncan-Irwin house (which is part of this tour). Photograph by Alexander Vertikoff.

  • more library card catalogs & other storage – craigslist

    Filecabinets

    I know people love these things. I do too … I just don’t have anywhere to fit more furniture in my house, especially not with the step tansu that I’d like to wedge into the living room somehow. Here are several I’ve found this week on Craigslists around the country:

    west coast

    midwest

    east coast

    • petite tabletop 6-drawer card file in Ithaca NY: $50enormous, ex-built-in 19th-century dark wood
    • 72-drawer library card file near Boston MA: $1200
    • 14-drawer library card file (5×8 cards) with two missing drawers in Browns Mills NJ: $45

    south & southwest

    • tabletop 2-drawer Remington Rand oak card file in Crawfordville FL: $80
    • wood and plastic 60-drawer & 3-shelf library card file in Jacksonville FL: $650
    • two large four-drawer wooden file cabinets from Library Bureau SoleMalers, early 20th century, near Orlando FL: $335 each
    • 15-drawer, 2-shelf tabletop library card file, includes table, near San Antonio TX: $200

  • Blackstar Construction Group

    Santabarbaraporchcolumns

    Santa Barbara-based Blackstar Construction Group (probably not named after my favorite Radiohead song) is a general contractor specializing in Mission / Craftsman woodwork, interior architecture and detailing.

    While their website does show off some very appealing jobs, many more of their projects are up on Flickr for the world to see, photographed by their friend Justin Wagner – I’m actually surprised more craftspeople don’t take this approach – and it’s easy to tell that they really take pride in the quality of their wood and skill. Some of my favorites:

  • wanted: dining room table

    wanted: Attractive & sturdy Craftsman-style rectangular dining room table with 2 leaves – capable of seating 8 or 10 with the leaves in, 4-6 without – for under $500. Something that will stay sturdy and last at least two generations. Any suggestions?

  • tools for everyone!

    I’m the first to admit that I am not the handiest handyman. However, maybe it’s a gender thing, but I love tools. All kinds of tools, gadgets, anything that will enable me to accidentally do more damage to my house while attempting to switch out a light fixture or thermostat or something else equally simple.

    As we all know, it’s important to have the right tools for the job, and in the interests of making sure you all have the right tools (as well as a jillion useful knicknacks that will come in handy on a regular basis), I’ve added a tool section to our Amazon Astore, replete with a coupla dozen near little doohickeys that you had no idea you needed – but now must have.

    So, should another equally disaster-prone handyman or handywoman in your home require that special holiday gift, look no further.

  • fine furniture on Etsy.com

    Speaking of buying handmade gifts this holiday season, I took a quick look at Etsy.com, a site which lets all sorts of craftspeople market their wares easily, and found that plenty of talented woodworkers are selling some really nice furniture:

  • buy handmade this holiday season

    There are plenty of reasons to buy only handmade gifts this holiday season, chief among them that handmade objects have more soul & personality than even the finest machine-made mass-produced goods. Of course, there are also environmental and social reasons: money stays in the craftperson’s community, and doesn’t (as often) go into the coffers of WalTargetMartEtc. or another international conglomerate that cares not at all about its customers or the quality of the products it sells. From buyhandmade.com:

    Buying Handmade makes for better gift-giving.

    The
    giver of a handmade gift has avoided the parking lots and long lines of
    the big chain stores in favor of something more meaningful. If the
    giver has purchased the gift, s/he feels the satisfaction of supporting
    an artist or crafter directly. The recipient of the handmade gift
    receives something that is one-of-a-kind, and made with care and
    attention that can be seen and touched. It is the result of skill
    and craftsmanship that is absent in the world of large-scale
    manufacturing.

    Buying handmade is better for people.

    The
    ascendancy of chain store culture and global manufacturing has left us
    dressing, furnishing, and decorating alike. We are encouraged to be
    consumers, not producers, of our own culture. Our ties to the local and
    human sources of our goods have been lost. Buying handmade helps us
    reconnect.

    Buying handmade is better for the environment.

    The
    accumulating environmental effects of mass production are a major cause
    of global warming and the poisoning of our air, water and soil. Every
    item you make or purchase from a small-scale independent artist or
    crafter strikes a small blow to the forces of mass production.

    There are plenty of ways to do this. Visit one of the many hundreds of folks selling their wares on etsy.com, for instance, or your local artists’ guild, or contact a local community or technical college and find out who your neighborhood’s cabinetmakers and furniture carpenters are. Either way, down with plastic and up with real gifts!

  • Mission Hills Development in Northern California

    Missionhillsrosenhouse
    "Mission Hills Development builds finer homes that
    are based on the Arts and Crafts movement from the early 1900’s.
    Featured architects are Henry and Charles Greene of Pasadena, CA.,
    circa 1900 to 1920."

    These are indeed "finer" homes – finer, by far, than most of the new development I see, and at first glace at least look to be far better designed and constructed than even the chicest McMansion.

    Sebastopol, CA – "the World in upheaval" is the site of Mission Hills
    Development’s current project. Situated on 5 acres in a valley between
    rolling hills, this 6200 square foot house is part Gamble House and
    part Blacker House. Build with the same detail as these two famous
    Greene & Greene homes in Southern California, it encompasses five
    different hardwoods for its central hallways and grand rooms.

  • DIY Networks’ Wood Works: a mission-style ottoman

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    From the episode abstract:

    Based on the design motifs of the Arts and Crafts style of the 1920s, the Mission-style ottoman in this Wood Works
    project features strong lines, mortise-and-tenon joinery and a natural
    wood finish. Precisely milled wood and subtle details such as the
    beveled through-tenons suggest strength and fine craftsmanship.

  • Architectural Salvage VI

    Given the seemingly endless popularity of the DIY movement, awareness of green practices and recycling as parts of the design/build process and the high cost of new materials, salvage businesses continue to thrive:

    and in the UK, where architectural salvage is a way of life:

    • Cheshire Demolition "offers one of the biggest salvage and reclamation yards in the North West. They offer everything from reclaimed doors to fireplaces."
    • The Salvage Doctor specializes in the "reclamation and restoration of cast iron architectural salvage and antiques," and carries an extensive range of radiators (cast iron, school- / hospital- /column- style, etc.), fireplaces & surrounds, woodburning stoves, rainwater systems (guttering, downpipes & fittings), gates and railings. They are located in Horsham, West Sussex.
    • In Situ trade out of their Manchester ex-pub warehouse and studio. They keep a large stock of the usual – with attention to fancy pavers, lighting, glass, flooring, entryways and doors / door furniture.
    • Cox's Architectural Salvage has operated their 12,500 sq ft covered warehouse in Moreton-in-Marsh since 1992. They are one of the largest Victorian ironmongers in Britain, and also refinish and sell their own line of nickel plate and brass hardware.
    • Toby's Architectural Antiques has shops in Exeter and Newton Abbot. They carry a wide range of exterior detail – gates, ironmongery, roofing, slate, stone, water features – as well as kitchen materials, doors, light fixtures etc.
    • Park Royal Salvage at the Lower Place Wharf in London sells everything from building materials, doors, windows and reclaimed plumbing to doors, windows, fireplaces and other old house parts.
    • Robert Mills Architectural Antiques are one of the more specialized shops of their kind, with an especially large stock of architectural woodwork, mainly panels, columns, balustrades, mouldings and friezes, window frames, etc.