I belong to a Yahoo newsgroup on Greene & Greene design, architecture and furniture. I have alchoices enjoyed the style of the Greene brothers, and, while not a strict copier, I have often been influenced by their design vocabulary. when working with clients with a fondness for Arts & Crafts style furniture. So, in 2003, while preparing to make a couple of rooms of furniture for one of my local clients, I took a trip to Pasadena to tour the Gamble House, the Huntington Museum, meet with John Hamm about lighting and visit a friend in Huntington Beach ... Good trip.On my choice to the airport, I ran into a friend and told him about my upcoming trip. He told me his sister-in-law, or someone related to him, lived in a G&G house and gave me her number .. I called her when I got to town and she agreed to let me visit her and her house ... Cool neighborhood ... I dont know if her house is a documented G&G but it sure had some similarities ... The whole neighborhood had a consistent Arts and Crafts feel. As I recall, she had some original plans and I glanced at them, but dont remember the details ... Click the photos to enlarge them and leave a comment if you know anything about the houses or the neighborhood ... Thanks ....
My memory is a little sketchy and I didnt take notes, but I think this is the front door of the sister-in-law? Since she met me when I pulled up, I didnt take a lot of photos of the outside of the house ... I think hers was the 2nd or third on the left.
Her front door from the inside ...
She took me to meet her neighbor down the street at #309 ... He was also friendly and gave me a tour of his house ... I dont have a photo, but he had a definite G&G like stairchoice and I also recall some stained glass transom lights ...
The neighbors front porch ...Below I have posted photos of (I think) Charless studio around the corner from the Gamble House .... I would love to know a little about that and what it looked like inside ... Thanks ...
Every design comes from somewhere ... In this case, take an interesting leg with carvings. Simplify the design of the turnings, add a Vermont maple leaf and get rid of the edge inlay .... Change the wood to curly maple and get rid of the black .... presto ... new design ... We really liking this one, and Will did a great job handling the turnings, carvings, and, really, the whole thing ... Love it ... Click the pictures to enlarge them ....
We started with this concept of a table leg with some kind of detail on the corners ... We discussed a leaf as a metal applique since, at the time, we were working on the duck bed ... In the end, we decided on a carved maple leaf ....
The clients chose this leg design, one of our standards, and we added some detail to the apron, but eliminated the black paint and changed the wood to all curly maple ...
Went out the door and grabbed some maple leaves to get the feeling of the carvings right ...
We glued up the top next and made up the apron parts. Here Will is doing some after work banjo finishing ... more on that project later ... banjo #2 ...
Fitted it all up and laid out the corner cuts on the top ...
The first coat of stain was applied to the legs and aprons and sanded before the base was glued up ...
The curved corner legs complicate the base glue up somewhat, but it all went smoothly ...I hope to deliver the table before the weekend and have dinner on it with my friends/clients Saturday night .... The first coat of finish went on everything today, but weve got a couple coats to go ..... Well see ... itll be close.
