The Gamble House was built by hand. Every beam was shaped, every joint fitted, every detail carved by craftsmen who believed that the way you make something matters as much as what you make. This summer, children will learn that same lesson on its grounds.
Camp Build, a new week-long summer program from Side Street Projects in collaboration with the Gamble House, will bring hand-tool woodworking instruction to the 1908 National Historic Landmark at 4 Westmoreland Place. The camp is open to children ages 5 to 15 and runs two weeks — July 27 through 31 and August 3 through 7 — with morning and afternoon sessions each day, according to Side Street Projects’ registration page.
The pairing is not accidental. The Gamble House, designed by architects Charles and Henry Greene, is widely considered one of the finest examples of American Arts and Crafts architecture in the country, according to the Gamble House Conservancy. Its philosophy — that craft and design are inseparable — is the same philosophy behind Side Street Projects’ woodworking curriculum.
Each day, campers will spend two hours in Side Street Projects’ mobile woodworking classroom, where they will use hand tools to build projects from start to finish, according to the organization’s program description. A third hour will be devoted to art and design activities inspired by the architecture and natural surroundings of the Gamble House. Over one week, each camper will log 15 hours of camp time.
The program differs from Side Street Projects’ regularly scheduled free woodworking classes, according to the organization. The extended time will allow students to use and become comfortable with more complex woodworking techniques and tools.
Side Street Projects, a Pasadena-based nonprofit founded in 1992, teaches woodworking out of renovated buses and trailers equipped with individual adjustable workbenches, hand tools, and safety equipment, according to the organization’s website. The mobile classrooms allow the organization to bring programming directly to communities, according to Side Street Projects.
The camp uses a four-tier sliding-scale tuition structure. Four spots per session are free for families who qualify through public school enrollment and SNAP participation. Six spots are available at a reduced rate of $325. Five spots are offered at $500, which Side Street Projects describes as the actual cost of the program. One spot per session is priced at $650 for families who want to subsidize access for others. Revenue from Camp Build supports Side Street Projects’ free youth and community programming year-round, according to a statement from the organization.
“We have really increased our public programming to welcome the public in,” said Sheryl Scott, director of communications and operations for the Gamble House Conservancy, in an interview with Pasadena Weekly. The Gamble House, built for David and Mary Gamble of the Procter & Gamble Company, is owned by the City of Pasadena and operated by the conservancy.
Camp Build: A Week of Woodworking & Creative Discovery runs Monday through Friday over two weeks — Week 1, July 27 through 31, and Week 2, August 3 through 7 — with two sessions offered each day: Class A from 9:00 a.m. to noon and Class B from noon to 3:00 p.m. Tuition is on a four-tier sliding scale: free for qualifying families (four spots, requires public school enrollment and SNAP participation), $325 reduced rate (six spots), $500 full cost (five spots), or $650 pay-it-forward (one spot). Camp Build takes place at the Gamble House, 4 Westmoreland Place. Free parking is available on Westmoreland Place in labeled spaces directly in front of the house, with additional parking on Orange Grove Boulevard and West Walnut Street, according to the Gamble House website. For more information, call (626) 798-7774 or visit sidestreet.org/classes/camp-build-26.
The house was made by hands that knew what they were doing. The camp is betting that smaller hands can learn.
