The Gamble House in Pasadena Celebrates Milestone

January 14, 2016 marked the 50th Anniversary of the gift of the Gamble House from the Gamble family to the City of Pasadena and the University of Southern California. The Gamble House is the most complete and best-preserved example of American Arts and Crafts style architecture. The house and furnishings were designed by famed architects Charles and Henry Greene in 1908 for David and Mary Gamble of the Procter & Gamble Company. The house, designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1978, is owned by the City of Pasadena and operated by the University of Southern California School of Architecture. The Gamble House is open for public, docent-led tours and for specialty tours and programs.

On January 14, 1966, members of the Gamble family, the City of Pasadena, and the University of Southern California signed a formal gift agreement, and in September of that year the doors of the Gamble House were opened to the public. In the half century since then, The Gamble House has become one of the most beloved premier historic sites in America.

A series of celebratory anniversary events will take place throughout September 2016 including an invitation only dinner for major donors; a fundraising reception to kick-off a new endowment campaign to raise funds to continue to protect the Gamble family’s generous legacy gift to the public with another decade of conscientious preservation; a reception to recognize the contributions of Gamble House docents through the years; an Alumni Day Open House for former Gamble House Scholars in Residence and the USC School of Architecture; and a 50th Anniversary public celebration on Sunday, September 25, with self-paced tours and family-friendly activities and entertainment.

Visitors continue to visit, week in and week out, from around the world to marvel at the beauty imbedded in every square foot of The Gamble House. They come to experience what Charles Greene called “architecture as a fine art.” Hailed by the American Institute of Architects as “formulators of a new and native architecture,” Charles Sumner Greene (1868–1957) and Henry Mather Greene (1870–1954) designed houses and furnishings a century ago that established a new paradigm for the art of architecture in the United States. Drawing on the skills of outstanding craftsmen, as well as their own polytechnic training, formal architectural education, and natural artistic sensibilities, Greene and Greene created legendary living environments that were beautiful, functional and modern.

The flowering of the Greenes’ careers together was brief and typically benefited a discriminating and wealthy clientele. They produced their most characteristic work between 1906 and 1914, primarily in and around Pasadena. Of their fully coordinated houses with interior furnishings, only the Gamble House survives intact.

For more information on the Gamble House and their 50th Anniversary please visit www.gamblehouse.org.