We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations.
Fans of Greene & Greene furniture often refer to a trip to Pasadena as a pilgrimage. Pasadena (and the nearby Huntington Museum) is home to the majority of original Greene & Greene work that can be seen by the public. This coming weekend, Pasadena Heritage, a community organization, is hosting an event that to a Greene & Greene fan is like the Super Bowl, New Year’s Eve, St. Patrick’s Day and Mardi Gras combined. The 16th Annual Craftsman Weekend is the one opportunity to see things that are normally kept behind closed doors. If I thought I could get away with it, I’d hop on a plane and go. One of our authors, David Mathias has done just that, and he promises to fill us in on what he sees this weekend.
The picture above is a reproduction that David made of the Gamble House entry table, featured in our February 2007 issue. That issue also featured a second Greene & Greene project, an adaptation of the Thorsen House side table based on drawings from my book “Shop Drawings for Greene & Greene Furniture.” David is also working on a Greene & Greene-inspired bench that will be featured in our February 2008 issue.
One of the highlights of the weekend will be a “Behind the Velvet Ropes” Tour of the Gamble House, hosted by Jim Ipekjian. Jim has been working on repairing and reproducing Greene & Greene furniture and original homes for nearly 30 years, and is probably the most knowledgeable person in the world on original construction details. We featured Jim and his work in our December 2006 issue.
Other makers of Greene & Greene-style furniture will be displaying their work Saturday and Sunday, including Thomas Stangeland and Darrell Peart. Darrel made the table shown above, featured in our November 2007 issue. In addition to the article, there are additional photos and other information online.
To those of you in Southern California who are able to attend, have a great weekend, and let us know what you saw by leaving a comment or sending me an e-mail. For the rest of us, we will have to wait for David’s reports from the field. Sign up for free updates to the blog (in the upper left hand corner of the page) and we’ll let you know when those are posted.
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
Hi Bob,
It would be nice to know about this event next year with a little more advance warning. I live in Las Vegas and it is possible to drive over but some advance notice would be appreciated to facilitate planning.
Thanks
Imre
Bob, my opinion may not count for much, but I thought sending you out to Pasadena on F+W’s dime would be a great idea. In fact, I’ve suggested this kind of writing from you in past surveys. I always appreciate your insights on the Arts and Crafts movement.
Cheers,
Alex