Greene, Charles Sumner( 1868 – 1957 )
Greene, Henry Mather( 1870 – 1954 )
Rough sketches of window details, G. Lawrence Stimson House, 1907 , Avery Architectural
and Fine Arts Library, NYDA. 1960. 001. 03708 , 12. 4 10. 2 cm, Pencil on paperBuildings by the firm of Greene and Greene, Charles and Henry, are some of the best examples of
Arts and Crafts architecture in the United States. Born outside of Cincinnati, the brothers’ early edu-
cation involved the crafts of woodworking, carpentry, metalwork, and tool-making at the Manual
Training School of Washington University, St. Louis. After finishing a two-year course at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in 1891 , they both entered architectural apprenticeships in Boston.
Following their parents’ move to California, they arrived in Pasadena in 1893. In the course of their
trip across the United States, they attended the Columbia Exposition and saw the replica of the
Ho-o-do of Byodo-in Temple at Uji (Current and Current, 1974 ; Makinson, 1977 ). This example of
Japanese architecture would be later reflected in their use of woodwork joinery.
Their most celebrated project was a house for the David Gamble family ( 1907 – 1909 ). Completely
designed and furnished by the architects, the house was constructed almost entirely of wood. The roof
features shingle shakes and large eaves expressing exposed wood joists. The wood interior revealed the
Greenes’ concern for craftsmanship, with built-in cabinets and intricate joinery construction of the
staircase.
Consistent with other architects of the Arts and Crafts, the Greenes worked closely with their
craftsmen and builders. The abundance of forests and woodworking traditions in the United States
facilitated their almost spiritual use of wood. The architectural theorist Reyner Banham stated that
Greene and Greene represent craftsmanship to the extreme, considering every joint was articulated
and the interior was ‘like a cabin of a wooden ship’ (Makinson, 1977 , p. 22 ). Although suggesting an
element of socialism, these houses were expensively crafted for the rich.
This page (Figure 5. 11 ) demonstrates the Greenes concern for details and joinery. It is a series of
studies for a window frame, sash and sill, where numerous section sketches explore the interrelation-
ship of materials. Calculations have been scattered across the sheet, written from various sides of the
page, and notes show down the margins. This may suggest that the sketch was passed between several
people as a dialogue or the sketches were worked on intermittently. Most likely this sketch reflects
Henry’s hand, since he was the partner most interested in the tectonics of building. The crowding of
the notes point to a search for an empty space in which to write, where the architect was concerned
with the proximity to the visual description. Without the aid of a scale or straight edge, the specific
numerical measurements imply a certain precision. This may suggest that the window detail could
have been assembled from this sketch. A window frame was a common detail a contractor could have
easily constructed but this study shows the Greenes’ concern for design of the whole and control
over the process.
With the extensive notes and measurements, this sketch may represent both a memory device and
a medium to work through the construction of a detail. The sill has been rendered in the most per-
tinent place, where several different elements meet. The rest of the window frame uses cut lines only
briefly to indicate the whole sash. The pieces have been identified by various methods in order to
indicate their differences, some have been stippled or textured. The sketch, including both diagrams
(the visual) and notes (the written), magnifies the idea that neither communication would suffice on
its own. Together, they sufficiently describe the complex combination of pieces.H5719-Ch05.qxd 7/15/05 3:40 PM Page 137