Greene & Greene was an architectural firm established by brothers Charles and Henry Greene in Pasadena, California in 1894. The Greenes are considered masters of the American Arts & Crafts movement. This bench was designed for one of their earlier commissions, the Adelaide A. Tichenor House, a beachfront property in Long Beach, California. Mrs. Tichenor wanted an all-encompassing design from the landscape to the furniture and the aesthetic she requested would influence Greene & Greene’s continued focus on completing every aspect of design for their projects. Shortly after commissioning her home in 1904, Tichenor asked Charles Greene to meet her at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, as she was i spired by the Japanese exhibition at the fair. She asked specifically for Japanese influence in her design, which informed Greene & Greene’s—and more particularly Charles’—later Japanese furniture aesthetic.
David and Mary Gamble with architect Charles Greene (at left), ca. 1907, visiting the site of their future Pasadena residence. Greene & Greene Archives, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
East (front) elevation of the Gamble House. Greene & Greene Archives, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
Stained
glass window design by Charles Sumner Greene. Greene & Greene
Archives, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
Living room of the residence for William R. Thorsen in Berkeley,
California, built in 1909. Greene & Greene Archives, The Huntington
Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
Architects Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene, 1947.
Photograph by Cole Weston. Courtesy of the Cole Weston family. Greene
& Greene Archives, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical
Gardens.
