ART : Another Kind of Greenery
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Along with the red tile roofs of Spanish-inspired colonials, the sloping eves of the California bungalow conjure up one of the most popular images of California residential living.
American architects Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene are credited with taking the bungalow from a simple board and batten structure to an art form.
Like the residences designed by their better-known contemporary, Frank Lloyd Wright, the Greenes’ homes incorporate the environment as part of their design, making much use of common organic materials such as wood and stone. Rustic yet elegant, the homes, some of them completely furnished with Greene designs, became showplaces of the California lifestyle.
Through July 23, a photography exhibit in the Thomas F. Riley Terminal at John Wayne Airport records the details that “took the California bungalow and made it high art,” according to Randell Makinson director emeritus of the David R. Gamble House in Pasadena, one of the finest examples of Greene and Greene architecture in the state.
The photographs are by Southern California native William Current, a Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts award-winner who documented the homes over a 20-year period.
The California bungalow didn’t flourish until 1905, when Greene and Greene, then entering the height of their career, showed what it could be, Makinson said. “They took a fundamental and added their artistic genius to it,” Makinson said.
The Greene brothers opened their architecture practice in Pasadena in 1894 and embraced the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement in their work, Makinson said.
As the show demonstrates in more than 100 photographs, the term bungalow-- implying a simple, low-cost home--can be misleading.
The Greenes retained the simplicity and informality of the open, rambling style, but within it they created near-mansions.
The exhibit shows off the trademark multiple roofs and asymmetrical terraces and porches common to Greene homes. Artful black-and-white shots of stairways and roof beams offer glimpses at solid construction details, and glowing color photos show off the lustrous wood interiors.
Photos of the D.L. James house in Carmel, the Freeman A. Ford house in Pasadena, the Charles M. Pratt house in Ojai and other residences demonstrate the Greenes’ attention to residential grounds and furnishings as “architectural extensions” of the homes.
The show also includes copies of some blueprints for the homes, providing an inside look at Greene designs before construction.
What: “Greene and Greene: Architects in the Residential Style” photo exhibit.
When: Through July 23. (The terminal is open daily, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.)
Where: John Wayne Airport, Thomas F. Riley Terminal opposite gates 1 through 4 and 11 through 14.
Whereabouts: Take the Costa Mesa Freeway (55) to MacArthur Boulevard. Follow signs to the airport.
Wherewithal: Free.
Where to Call: (714) 252-5219.
