Take a Gander, Then a Gambol: The Gamble House

– Photo by Alexander Vertifkoff

Book ‘The Gamble House: Building Paradise in California’ Invites Readers Inside

Hot Off the Presses, 200 Pages Packed With Stunning Photos

By Courtney Blackburn

The design of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel mimics it. William Morris’ “Arts & Crafts” movement inspired it. Japanese, Italian Renaissance, and English gardens surround it. It’s the historic Gamble House in Pasadena, completed in 1909 for Proctor & Gamble magnate David Gamble and his family. Combining sunny summer cottage and rustic hearth into 8,000 square feet of living space, the Gamble House is an American icon.

“For more than a century the Gamble House has stood on a promontory overlooking the Arroyo Seco, a thin riverbed that meanders down from the San Gabriel Mountains through Pasadena, California. For much of that time the house has been open to the public. More than a million visitors have toured the home since it became an architectural site in 1966 … Visitors to the Gamble House often comment on its unpretentious pose. … Many are struck by its dynamic expression of structure in the hundreds of beams and rafters that reach beyond the limits of its walls, porches, and eaves. Few visitors leave unmoved or uninspired by the richness of detail, materials, and craftsmanship.”

NW Exterior, the Gamble House. – Photo by Alexander Vertifkoff

So opens The Gamble House: Building Paradise in California, a new work of serious first-hand research on the creation of this historic home. Jam-packed with excellent photography, the book goes over the life stories of the people, places, and time period that made the Gamble House.

Starting with a preface explaining what the book hopes to accomplish, half the body of the book is composed of four essays of various sizes and topics covering the Gambles, their architects, and their eponymous house. Each essay – covering the rise of David and Mary Gamble to the innovation of Greene & Greene to a discussion of architecture as fine art and memories of a curator – is well-written, pleasant, and a veritable fount of information. Based largely on first-hand study of personal correspondence from the players involved, the essays are also accompanied by historic portraits, advertisements, and photos from a time gone by.

Kitchen, the Gamble House. – Photo by Alexander Vertifkoff

Want a look at Westmoreland Place as it was, covered in cypress and pittosporium trees, not a house in sight and the San Gabriels faint in the distance? Look no farther than page 47. How about the original gardens of the house in 1909? Page 75 will show you.

But the other half of the book – the crown jewel of the Crown City’s newest coffee-table book – is the lush, beautiful photography of the Gamble House today. Photographed by Alexander Vertifkoff, these views cover the grounds of the Gamble House—inside and out. Detail shots of stained glass, furniture, and pull-backs of the whole house and garden splash across the pages in full, rich color.

Released Sept. 1, 2015, this book sells for $60 and is available at fine bookstores, online, and at the Gamble House itself. A crisp 200 pages full of historic photos, engaging facts, and gorgeous photo spreads, this book really is worth buying simply for the pictures.

Dining Room, the Gamble House. – Photo by Alexander Vertifkoff

“In these pages, we hope to address essential questions about patronage and the transformative power of architecture … Was the Gamble House conceived as a romantic evocation of the past … or a spirited expression of its own era?” The goal of the book is lofty, but anyone can enjoy it as a work of art and piece of California—and American—history.

And you can visit the Gamble House, too.

The Gamble House: Building Paradise in California is published by The Gamble House/USC School of Architecture and CityFiles Press. For more information, please visit www.GambleHouse.org. The Gamble House is located at 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena, CA 91103.

Boys’ Bedroom, the Gamble House. – Photo by Alexander Vertifkoff

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