Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Access Points
Biography
Scope and Content
Project Index
Related Collections
Descriptive Summary
Collection Title: Charles Sumner Greene Collection,
Date (inclusive): 1862-1956
Collection Number: 1959-1
Creator:
Greene, Charles Sumner, 1868-1957
Extent:
21 boxes, 1 card file box, 1 flat box, 3 flat file drawers
Repository:
Environmental Design Archives.
University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley, California.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in the collection should be discussed with the
Director.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Charles Sumner Greene Collection, (1959-1), Environmental Design Archives. College of Environmental
Design. University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley, California
Access Points
Architects--California.
Architecture--California.
Arts and crafts movement--California.
Architect-designed furniture.
Architecture, Domestic.
Greene & Greene.
Greene, Henry Mather, 1870-1954.
Flamm, Roy.
Biography
Charles Sumner Greene was born October 12, 1868 to Lelia Ariana and Thomas Sumner Greene in Brighton, Ohio. A year and a half
later on January 23, 1870, Henry Mather Greene was born. The family later moved to St. Louis where Charles and Henry attended
Calvin Woodward's Manual Training School, a revolutionary school with a curriculum based largely on the ideas of John Ruskin
and William Morris. This early training is considered to be the source of the brothers's focus on tools, materials and craftsmanship.
After finishing high school in 1888, the brothers enrolled in the architectural curriculum at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, but in 1890, dissatisfied with the classical emphasis and rigid structure of the program, both brothers left
with Certificates of Partial Course. Instead, the Greenes found apprenticeships with the successor firms of Henry Hobson Richardson:
Charles with H. Langford Warren and Henry with Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge.
In 1893 the Greene brothers traveled west to visit their parents in Pasadena, probably stopping at the World's Colombian Exposition
(and its Japanese pavilion) in Chicago on their way. Fascinated by the landscape of Southern California and lack of established
architectural tradition and motivated by a small commission, the brothers decided to practice on the West Coast. During these
early years, the Greenes had not yet developed the style which would later make them famous. They designed in styles of the
day in keeping with the training they had received while apprenticed.
In February of 1901, Charles married Alice Gordon White, and the couple embarked on a four month honeymoon to England (Alice
White's homeland), Scotland and Continental Europe. This was an important time in Charles Greene's professional life as well
as personal; the tour of Great Britain is believed to have intensified Charles's interest in the English Arts and Crafts Movement
and hastened his adoption of many of the movement's ideas, motifs and materials.
The years between 1902 and 1909 were extremely busy for the firm, and the commissions (mostly residences) during these years
are considered the finest examples of the Arts and Crafts style, the architectural movement the brothers are credited with
fathering in the United States. Their work during these years is known for its fine craftsmanship, Asian, English and Swiss
influences, and connection to nature through material such as clinker brick, arroyo stone, split shingle and wooden beams.
Although natural in appearance, the Greene's buildings were anything but unrefined. The brothers chose rare, beautiful and
expensive materials and worked intensively with skilled craftsmen to create intricate wood joinery. The two believed everyday
objects could and should be art, or as Charles Greene later explained their goal was to "make necessary and useful things
pleasurable." (Tabby, 21).
By 1904, the brothers had begun to design furniture for their houses thereby uniting the exterior, interior and furnishings
into a complete and integrated design. The Greenes's work received much acclaim and was highlighted in popular magazines such
as The Craftsman, House Beautiful, The International Studio, Country Life in America, House and Garden, Good Housekeeping,
and American Home and Garden. These were also their most prolific years as architects--most of the approximately 150 designs
by Greene and Greene were commissioned and designed during these years.
After 1912 the Greenes's practice began to decline. The brothers, spoiled by wealthy clients and generous budgets, gradually
gained a reputation for going over-budget and over-schedule. These faults, which had been overlooked in the previous years,
were weighty considerations in the difficult economic times of post World War I. In addition, Charles and Henry's interests
seemed to diverge and in 1916, Charles Greene and his family moved to Carmel. In 1918 Charles began work on the D. L. James
house, a project which would continue for decades. Henry Greene continued to work in Pasadena before and after the firm's
official dissolution in 1922. Charles obtained commissions sporadically, mostly for additions and renovations for past clients.
He secured his last project in 1929. The Greene and Greene firm's reputation met a similar decline and was almost forgotten;
the firm was no longer mentioned in architectural history texts.
During these later years Charles studied Eastern philosophies and pursued his interest in fictional writing. He and Alice
were particularly intrigued by the teachings of George Gurdjieff whose writings and lectures combined features of Eastern
religions. Finally in the 1950s the work of Greene and Greene was rediscovered by the architectural press and critics and
was celebrated as a uniquely American style in opposition to the international style of Europe. In 1952, the brothers were
honored by the American Institute of Architects, and their work was included in a centennial exhibition of the American Institute
of Architects at the National Gallery of Art. Charles S. Greene lived to see his work receive renewed acclaim, but after years
of failing health died on June 11, 1957 at the age of 89.
Sources:
Bosley, Edward R. "The British Connection." The Tabby. July-August 1997, 6.
"Historical Remembrance." The Tabby. July-August 1997, 2.
Makinson, Randell L. "The Adelaide Tichenor House." The Tabby. July-August 1997, 23.
"Greene and Greene: The Architecture and Related Designs of Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene: 1894-1934." Los
Angeles: Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, 1977.
Lee, Sharon. "Greene and Greene, 1976" TMs [photocopy]. Environmental Design Archives, U.C. Berkeley.
Scope and Content
The Charles Sumner Greene Collection contains a wide variety of materials documenting Greene's life, both personal and professional.
The records, which cover nearly a century, represent almost every period of his life and work but are not complete. The collection
is organized into four series: I. Personal Papers, II. Office Records, III. Project Records (including furniture), and IV.
Additional Donations.
Although the collection was created by Charles Greene, his brother and partner, Henry Mather Greene is also represented in
correspondence between the two brothers and project records from the Greene and Greene firm.
Series I, C.S. Greene's Personal Papers, includes correspondence with family members, family photographs, educational material
(mostly from M.I.T.), and records of C.S. Greene's travels. Subseries J, Honor Awards and Professional Memberships, contains
telegrams from notable architects such as Bernard Maybeck and William Wurster congratulating the Greenes on the A.I.A. exhibition
of their work in 1948. This series also comprises a significant amount of material documenting Greene's other creative interests
including painting and fictional writing. His closely related interests in Eastern art and philosophies are also well documented.
The second and third series, Office Records and Project Records, document Greene's professional life. Series II contains files
such as professional correspondence (including Frank Lloyd Wright), and standard office material such as time sheets and receipts.
Subseries B which includes catalogs, samples and correspondence with vendors and craftsmen are valuable as records of Charles
and Henry Greene's close relationship with craftsmen and the building process, and their emphasis on fine materials.
Series III is comprised of project records and is the largest part of the collection. The series contains drawings (both of
buildings and furniture), specifications, sketches, photographs and correspondence between the Greenes, clients, vendors and
craftspeople. Comprehensiveness varies greatly by project. The collection represents architectural designs, mostly residences,
from almost every phase of C.S. Greene's professional career: from the Lucretia Garfield residence in 1903 to the D.L. James
residence, a work Greene designed, built and continued to modify from 1919-1945.
The bulk of the material in the Charles S. Greene Collection was donated by the Greene family in 1959. The material had been
housed in Charles Greene's studio in Carmel and consisted of books, which were given to the Architecture Library, and architectural
drawings, sketches, office material, paintings, personal material and photographs, which were given to the College of Architecture.
At this time the college commissioned Roy Flamm to photograph Charles's studio in Carmel. In 1952, the Sigma Phi Fraternity
(the residents of the Thorsen House) donated drawings of the residence to the Library of the School of Architecture. The Thorsen
House records, Flamm photographs and a later donation titled "Personal and Professional Material" are located in Series IV:
Additional Donations.
Project Index
The Project Index list is arranged alphabetically by Project/Client Name and contains information, where available, about
the location, date, project type, collaborators, and formats for each project in the collection.
Project/Client Name (location, date, project type) Collaborator (role) [Format - Ms=Manuscripts, Dr=Drawings, Ph=Photographs]
- * Abbott, Park ( Oakland , CA ; 1937 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Allen, Mrs. Dudley P. Furniture [see also Prentiss, Mrs. Francis F. and Culbertson, Cordelia A.] ( Pasadena , CA ; 1917 ;
residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Armenian Pilgrims Church ( Fresno , CA ; 1908 ; religious ) [Dr]
- * Anthony, Earle C. Automobile Showroom ( Los Angeles , CA ; 1911 ; commercial ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Anthony, Earle C. ( Los Angeles , CA ; 1909-1910 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Barker, George H. ["Light Hall"] ( Pasadena , CA ; 1902 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Bandini, Arturo ( Pasadena , CA ; 1903 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Bentz, John C. [Louise] ( Pasadena , CA ; 1905-1906 ; residential ) [Dr, Ph]
- * Blacker, Robert R. ( Pasadena , CA ; 1907-1909 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Bolton, W.T. [house #3] ( Pasadena , CA ; 1906 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Bowen, William A. ( Altadena , CA ; 1905 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Bradely, H.K. [Henry K.] ( Pasadena , CA ; 1910 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Bush, Mrs. Belle Barlow, furniture [see also Bolton, W.T.] ( Pasadena , CA ; ca. 1908 ; residential ) [Dr, Ph]
- * Camp, Edgar W. ( Sierra Madre , CA ; 1904 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Campbell, Violet, additon ( Carmel , CA ; 1926 ; residential ) [Ms]
- * Carmel City Hall ( Carmel , CA ; 1921 ; governmental ) [Dr]
- * Chamberlain, Edith, garden design ( Woodside , CA ; 1926 ; residential ) [Ms]
- * Claypole, Edith J. ( Pasadena , CA ; 1903 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Cole Mary E. [John] ( Pasadena , CA ; 1906-1907 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Culbertson, Cordelia A. ( Pasadena , CA ; 1911-1913 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Culbertson, James A. ( Pasadena , CA ; 1902-1910 ; residential ) [Dr, Ph]
- * Darling, Mary R. ( Claremont , CA ; 1903 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Flavin, Martin ["Spindrift"] ( Carmel Highlands , CA ; 1929-1930 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Fleishhacker, Sr., Mortimer, alterations and addition ( San Francisco , CA ; 1929-1932 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Fleishhacker, Sr., Mortimer [Green Gables] ( Woodside , CA ; 1911-1935 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Fleishhacker, Sr., Mortimer ( residential ) [Ms]
- * Fleishhacker, Sr., Mortimer, "Gothic Room" (unbuilt) ( San Francisco , CA ; 1929-1932 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Ford, Freeman A. ( Pasadena , CA ; 1906-1908 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Gamble, David B. ( Pasadena , CA ; 1907-1909 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Garfield, Lucretia ( South Pasadena , CA ; 1903-1904 ; residential ) [Ms, Ph]
- * Greene, Charles Sumner ["Oakholm"] ( Pasadena , CA ; 1902-1915 ; residential ) [Dr, Ph]
- * Greene, Charles Sumner, studio and house ( Carmel , CA ; 1923-24 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Greene, Thomas Sumner, head stone ( Monterey , CA ; ca. 1931 ; funerary ) [Dr]
- * Guyer, George G. ( Altadena , CA ; ca. 1903 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Halsted, S. Hazard [Mrs. Louise T.] ( Pasadena , CA ; 1905 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Hawks, F.W. [Frank] ( Pasadena , CA ; 1906 ; residential ) [Ms]
- * Hollister, Charles W. ( Pasadena , CA ; 1898 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Howard, John Langley ( Monterey , CA ; 1929 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Irwin, Jr., Theodore ( Pasadena , CA ; 1906-1907 ; residential ) [Dr, Ph]
- * James, D.L. ["Seaward"] ( Carmel Highlands , CA ; 1918-1922, 1938-1944 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Kelley, Mrs. Frank J, addition and alteration. [Louise A.F.] ( San Jose , CA ; 1929 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Kew, Michael [Mary Marston Kew] ( San Diego , CA ; 1912-1913 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Lambert, John (unbuilt) ( Pasadena , CA ; 1910 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Lee, Ralph C., pergola ( Hillsborough , CA ; 1929 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Libby, Arthur A. ( Pasadena , CA ; 1905 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Montezuma Mountain School ( Los Gatos , CA ; 1923 ; educational ) [Ms]
- * Moore, Mary J., furniture ( [San Jose] , [CA] ; 1930, 1931 ; residential ) [Ms]
- * Neil, James W. [alterations to Van Rossem House #1] ( Pasadena , CA ; 1906 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Oaklawn bridge and waiting station ( Pasadena , CA ; 1906 ; transportation ) [Ph]
- * Payne, Jessie H. ( Carmel , CA ; 1925 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Phillips, John B. ( Pasadena , CA ; 1906 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Pitcairn, Robert, Jr. ( Pasadena , CA ; 1906 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Poole, John H. ( Pasadena , CA ; 1919 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Porter, Mrs. L.G. and Miss Marion A. ( Los Angeles , CA ; 1905 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Pratt, Charles M. ["Casa Barranca"] ( Ojai , CA ; 1908-1911 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Prentiss, Francis F. Furniture [See also Allen, Mrs. Dudley P. and Culbertson, Cordelia A.] ( Pasadena , CA ; 1927-1928 ;
residential ) [Ms, Ph]
- * Ranney, Mary L. ( Pasadena , CA ; 1907 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Reeve, Jennie A. ( Long Beach , CA ; 1903-1904 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Reinhart ( Oakland , CA ; ca. 1934 ; residential ) [Ms]
- * Robinson, L.A. [Henry and Laurabelle] ( Pasadena , CA ; 1905-1906 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Rowland, Francis F. ( Pasadena , CA ; 1903 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Schevill, Rudolph. Addition ( Berkeley , CA ; 1922-1923 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Silverberg, J.S., alterations ( San Mateo , CA ; 1912 ; residential ) Collaborator: Meyer, F.H. (architect) [Ms,
Dr]
- * Southern Pine Association, Exhibition Building ( New Orleans , LA ; 1916 ; exposition ) [Dr]
- * Serrurier, Iwan ( Pasadena , CA ; 1905 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Smith, Mary M. [John] ( Pasadena , CA ; 1900 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Thorsen, William R. ( Berkeley , CA ; 1908-1910 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Thorsen, William R. ( Berkeley , CA ; 1908-1910 ; residential ) [Ms]
- * Tichenor, Adelaide M. ( Long Beach , CA ; 1904-1905 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Tolmie, Robert, studio ( Piedmont , CA ; 1923 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Unidentified Projects: designs [Ms, Dr]
- * Unidentified Projects: desk [Ms]
- * Unidentified Projects: photographs [Ph]
- * Unidentified Projects: piano designs
- * Unidentified Projects: residence ( Pasadena , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Unidentified Projects: specifications [Ms]
- * Van Rossem, Josephine [house #3] ( Pasadena , CA ; n.d., 1905-1906 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Walker, Mrs. Willis J., stable design ( Pebble Beach , CA ; 1926 ; residential ) [Dr, Ph]
- * War Memorial ( Carmel-by-the- Sea , CA ; 1921-1922 ; cultural ) [Dr]
- * White, Misses Martha, Violet, & Jane ( Pasadena , CA ; 1903 ; residential ) [Dr, Ph]
- * Whitman, Mrs. Jennie Crocker (unbuilt) ( Pebble Beach , CA ; 1925-1926 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Willett, Charles J. ( Pasadena , CA ; 1904 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Williams, Nathan H. ( Altadena , CA ; 1915-1916 ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Witbeck, Charles S. ( Santa Monica , CA ; 1916-1917 ; residential ) [Ms]
Related Collections
Title: Greene & Greene Archives,
Contributing Institution: University of SOuthern California, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California
Title: Greene & Greene,
Contributing Institution: Avery Architecture and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University in the City of New York