Greene & Greene

Charles and Henry Greene created the definitive houses of the American Arts & Crafts Movement. Raised to be architects, the Greene brothers were educated together at MIT, where their natural artistic skills blossomed in concert with an excellent practical education. While they practised architecture jointly in southern California from 1906 to 1922 they achieved a powerful symbiosis, resulting in some of the most beautifully crafted houses in America.

The elegant works of their peak period, such as the Gamble, Blacker and Thorsen houses, are masterful in their design and execution. No detail was overlooked: every element of the interior, including furniture, fittings and glasswork, as well as the building structure (down to pegs, air-vents and bracing) was conceived as an organic whole, and finished exquisitely. No hint of conflict was ever recorded between the gentlemanly brothers, yet their intertwined professional lives ultimately diverged into a physical separation and distinct design vocabularies. Even so, the automatic bond between the brothers was never completely severed, and they continued to consult each other on projects for the rest of their lives.

This critical monograph, which charts the brothers' careers (together and apart), is illustrated with superb new photography and draws on a wealth of previously unpublished archival material.

Edward R Bosley is Director of the Gamble House in Pasadena, California. He has written and lectured widely on the work of the Greenes.