Popular Woodworking 2008-08 № 170, страница 52

Awakening of a style.

BY DAVID MATH I AS & ROBERT W. LANG

Q !

* ie hundred years ago, two brothers were in the midst of an amazing period of creative success. The result was a unique, enduring style that is instantly recognizable. The brothers were Charles and Henry Greene, and the style is a synthesis of Arts & Crafts with Asian influences, a casual California sensibility and obsessive attention to detail.

Few understand the work of Greene & Greene better than Jim Ipekjian. While visiting a Greene & Greene home with him, he pointed out a difference in two details at the stairs. After more than a decade in the house, the home's surprised owner had not noticed the subtle distinction. This is likely common as the Greenes put considerable thought and effort into details that few would notice, or have the opportunity to see.

Greene & Greene's earliest commissions were modest but well executed homes in the style of the day. Within a decade of opening their practice, they were working on more substantial homes and began designing the interiors as well.

Drawings froml903 depict rooms incorporat ing bu ilt-ins and St ickley

The Greene & Greene slyle. Rich woods bathed in sunlight are an integral part of the style. Charles Greene considered the Robert Blacker house (right) his masterpiece. It isn't difficult to imagine why. With an interior in which every detail has been treated with care, the house is breathtaking. The best-known Greene & Greene work, the David Gamble house (above) is similarly stunning. The period details are intact, and the house transports visitors to 1908. The Freeman Ford house (far right) is less well-known, but it is a beautiful demonstration of the Greenes' versatility and the Hall brothers' craftsmanship.

66 ■ Popular Woodworking August 2008