Gamble House, an Arts and Crafts architectural wonder located on Westmoreland Place in West Pasadena, has reopened its doors for one-hour docent-led interior tours four days a week – Tuesdays and Thursday through Sunday.
And in another type of in-person event, on Thursday the front steps of the historic Craftsman home built by architects Charles and Henry Greene in 1908 for David and Mary Gamble of the Procter and Gamble Co. will serve as a stage for Lineage Performing Arts Center. Lineage will be giving an encore performance of “Next to Normal,” the story of how a suburban household copes with crisis and mental illness, with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt.
Winner of three 2009 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Score, and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize, “Next to Normal” was also chosen as “one of the year’s 10 best shows” by critics around the country, including The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone and The New York Times.
Audiences will be able to enjoy lawn seating in front of Gamble House on either a chair or a blanket, and use sterilized headphones that will be provided upon arrival to listen to the show. Guests can bring their own wine, picnic baskets, lawn chairs and blankets.
“Next to Normal” is on from Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 7. For specific times and ticketing information, visit https://gamblehouse.org/upcoming-events/.
When it comes to tours, after months of offering virtual experiences only, and later exteriors-only tours due to coronavirus restrictions, the Gamble abode appears prepared to pick up where it left off at the start of the pandemic. However, restrictions will still be imposed during these tours in order to ensure the safety and health of all staff and guests.
One such requirement is guests must attest to being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before proceeding with ticket purchases. Another is visitors over the age of 2 will be required to wear a mask covering their mouth and nose while on the Gamble House premises.
If you have purchased a ticket but are experiencing any symptoms of illness on the day of your tour, you should stay home and call Gamble House to cancel the visit. In such a case, you may choose to donate the cost of the tickets to Gamble House or request a refund.
During a tour, which begin around noon, a docent will lead visitors through an exploration of the home’s rooms lined with rare woods, and featuring handcrafted details, fixtures, and furnishings designed by the Greene brothers, whose firm contributed significantly to Southern California’s early 20th century artistic heritage.
Realizing its artistic and historical importance, the Gamble family deeded the house to the city of Pasadena in 1966.
Today, 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. It is stewarded by the Gamble House Conservancy, assisted by its support group, the Friends of the Gamble House, which is composed of individuals, corporations, and organizations dedicated to the financial support of this historic Pasadena asset.
To reserve your tour, visit https://114058.blackbaudhosting.com/114058/page.aspx?pid=213&tab=2&txobjid=c0ac1381-1042-4e93-8c64-4274b9f09ffc and choose your tour date.
Along with the in-person docent-led tours, Gamble House has also partnered with Glessner House in Chicago for a series of events designed to introduce these two premiere home museums and the many commonalities and fascinating contrasts between them.
In these online events, collectively called “Of Time and Place: The Gamble and Glessner Houses,” experts will explore the quintessential responses of these two significant landmarks in the history of American domestic architecture to their respective surroundings: the western, suburban landscape of Pasadena, and the urban neighborhood of Prairie Avenue in Chicago.
On Saturday, Nov. 6, William Tyre, executive director and curator of Glessner House, will tell of the history of this significant Chicago landmark designed in 1885-1886 by Henry Hobson Richardson. The house is known by its rusticated stone exterior, which presents a very different face to the outside world than do its rich and warm interiors, filled with the furnishings enjoyed by Glessner family members during their 50 years living in the house.
Tyre is familiar to Gamble House members from his 2020 presentation on the historic Arts and Crafts treasure trove of Chicago’s Second Presbyterian Church.
On Sunday, Nov. 14, following the presentations of each of these National Historic Landmark houses, a panel discussion will feature Tyre and Jennifer Trotoux, director of collections and interpretation at Gamble House, joined by moderator John Waters, an architect who has the distinction of having served as a docent at both houses.
On Saturday, Nov. 20, Travis Culwell and Ted Bosley will lead a virtual discussion on “The Spirituality of Charles Greene” starting at 11 a.m. on Zoom. This will explore Charles Greene’s second half of life, when he focused his creative talents to combine spiritual exploration with the craft of design.
From his retirement from Pasadena practice in 1915 until his death in 1957, Charles Greene carved a spiritual path through Buddhism to Theosophy and ultimately to the teachings of Russian mystic George Gurdjieff. Theosophical ideas resonated with Charles Greene’s own evolving spiritual philosophies, manifesting in several ways, including group discussions held at his Carmel studio by the late 1920s. How they also found form in design explorations later in his life will be the topic of the next lecture in this two-part series.
For more information on these virtual presentations, visit https://gamblehouse.org/upcoming-events/.
