Can a 100 Year Old Home Be Considered Modern? 

Not sure how to reach out but we have a large 1907 build here in Kent, WA in a historic neighborhood. Our house was built by the owner of The Bank of Kent and was mayor twice around 1906. The house is craftsmen and follows rule of 3s and has lots of unique woodwork and stained glass. The entire street was made/founded by city founders. Our hours is on 1/2 acre.

Greene & Greene are in my view the quintessential Arts & Crafts Movement architects. I am so glad they pursuded architecture. Their father, a physician wanted them to follow him into medicine. I’ve not gotten to any of their designed homes, but I have every book I can find on their work.

It’s a landmark example of Craftsman architecture and its interiors are stunning. I’ve toured it (I’m an architect) and the mix of woods and joinery are remarkable. What’s cool is just down the street maybe a couple of blocks away is one of FLW’s modern patterned concrete homes, La Minatura, or Millard house. We wandered by and it was being worked on so we were able to sneak into the back and marvel at the small garden pond which reflects the rear facade.

Great Scott! David Gamble was certainly ahead of his time in designing the contemporary architecture that became the standard in 70's and 80's homes.

I toured the house in 98-99 and wow…the gambles were not playing around with the all that wood. The house was very well made but no pictures will ever show the beautiful craftsmanship that was put into the house. The great thing about a visit to the house is that it’s in Pasadena. I recommend it 100%. P.S try not to think about it being Docs house otherwise you’ll go thru the tour imaging scenes that never took place there. 😅

This house is one of the great landmarks of modern American architecture. Every time I visit L.A. I take a day to visit it. The architects, Greene and Greene, were deeply influenced by Japanese architecture, as too was Frank Lloyd. The staircase, beams and woodwork, beautifully carved, reflect this influence. The great stained glass entrance doors are in effect a Japanese screen lit from without by the sun. The delicately elegant porches and balconies are a pure interpretation of Japanese post and beam construction. Greene & Greene, like FLW, were also influenced also by late 19th century Stick Style and Shingle Style house designs, & the bungalow house movement. They designed this house with broad, low slung horizontal lines, extended eves and horizontal bands of windows, all of which were subsequently reflected in many modernist homes in California in the 20's & 30's and in the simplified Case Study House design movement of postwar CA. But the amazing beauty of the craftmanship in this house is unique and unequaled in American house architecture.

You might mention the japanese-influenced "cloud lift" details in the woodwork.

What a warm and beautiful house, both inside and out!

This house is refreshingly different. It is surprising for the time, and I am happy to hear that the owners didn't care if it met with disdain! It would have been a shame to paint that wood, it must be beautiful in person.

I've been on the tour - Beautiful house although a bit dark inside - Many of the Green & Green houses have been torn down, a real loss ...

I've always loved this house. Thank you for featuring it.

I love that “anti Gilded Age!” house!😊

Thank you for all of the work you put in producing these videos. You're doing a great job.

This is the perfect house for anyone that has an obsession with rulers… straight lines. It is quite the impressive ‘Nature’ home. Thanks for the video.

I've toured this house twice and it is amazing. You could actually live in this one functionally and enjoy it. Beautiful everyone should see the stained glass doors. Incredible arts and crafts. 💕🏆👍

I wondered if you will be featuring any more creepy or haunted houses during the month of October? Great job as always and thanks for reading this!

I live in Southern California & I've visited the Gamble House several times. It's not ornate or opulent but it's craftsman charm is stunning, it's very cozy & comfortable!!! Thanks Ken for showcasing it!! Another jewel of Southern California is Kimberly Crest in Redlands, it was the home of the founders of Kimberly Clark, you may consider reviewing it some day!! 👍👍🎃

What I remember vividly from visiting is a sleeping porch. Growing up in Southern California, I know how hot nights can be, and before air conditioning, sleeping outside had to be a welcome relief.

Lucky for everyone, the heirs refused to sell this gem, it would've ended up as a horrible renovation for every generation, until there wasn't anything left of the true beauty of this wonderous beauty. Great video!

I like this house because it is rustic. I love the large bedrooms.

NEVER NEVER NEVER paint the wood!!! OMG I'm sooooooooo glad it was not destroyed by the brush! Thank you for doing these. I love learning about these old lovely homes!!

When I lived in Hollywood friends and I would go over to see this awesome home many times.

Joe Says: I thought this one looked pretty cool from the initial (exterior) images... but Then I began to see the INTERIOR Shots, and I was AMAZED! I LOVE THIS ONE 😀!!!

How cool! 😎 I always liked the light post house number on the front walkZ

My favorite part of the house has always been the front doors, however parties on the back terrace are very pleasant.

The Gamble House is my favourite house in the world. I've been, and it's spectacular. The thought and detail that went into every aspect of it is astounding. The Greene Brothers studied the air currents of the arroyo the land sits next to, and used them to cool the house off with cleverly placed small window set high in the walls for optimal cross-ventilation. It gets very hot in Pasadena, so this was important. These were the first sleeping porches I'd seen. Hadn't ever heard of them before and have always wanted one. If you ever get the chance to visit and take the tour, go. You won't be disappointed.

I visited. I mostly enjoyed the parklike outside settings. USC students reside in the house for maintenance if they are exceptional architectural students. When the house was built, there was yet to be inside electric lights, hence the reason for much dark ambience. There are many tiffany lamps throughout and the spacious kitchen has clean lines and bright white tiles. I highly recommend taking a flashlight when you go, as the guide will be pointing out murals and wood inlay details that are difficult to see without additional lighting. Also if the price of the tour was not prohibitive, I would gladly visit again.

You speak so well. It really compliments the architecture. Thank you!

I’ve toured the Gamble house, and it is one of the most beautiful pieces of art. I have seen well worth a look.

The most beautiful modern house ever. My father would have been absolutely delighted with this house! I love its warm atmosphere, practicality, and simplicity. And the multiple porches making it easy to enjoy and interact with the natural environment. Love this house!!!

I looked upon that house for 5 years when in College, because there is a very old and famous college in Pasadena's hills that in itself is an architectural wonder it's name Art Center College of Design!

I toured there a few years ago. One interesting feature is that it was one of the earliest houses to incorporate electrical lighting, but at very low wattage. Somewhere in the vicinity of 15 watts, if memory serves. They thought that higher wattage bulbs would be harmful

A great video I always wondered what the inside of the Gamble house looked like. Would you consider doing a companion video on another Charles & Henry Greene designed home the Blacker House where they filmed the interiors of Doc's mansion for Back To The Future? I'd love to hear more about that house as well. Thanks!

Nothing wrong with a simplistic house or life! It is such a beautiful home, and to think this house was in the Back to the Future film is just awesome! For me personally, just because a person has alot of money doesn't mean they should flaunt it....

This is your best video in a long time.

I toured this house decades ago and need to do it again. Thanks for the inspiration and interesting background. Compared to homes nearby on Millionaires Row, such as the Wrigley House, I can see why it was a let down to many, but I think it's gorgeous and we have patterned our own home interior furniture with this house in mind!

I noticed the Gamble House has sleeping porches... Maybe a video on that particular feature of houses of that era would be interesting?

This house has been in many movies. The Brady Bunch house was inspired by the Green and Green house.

I love the Gamble house. It’s strange because I’m in love with the style and philosophy of arts & crafts architecture, but I would never choose it for myself. I don’t know why. (as I flip my feather boa!)

My 100 year old house was built by a genius (also bootlegger and speakeasy operator in what is now my separate cottage). I even found a secret room, by chance. Plus, all kinds of hidden places, one that almost killed me when I pulled some strange contraption. I have a "feeling" he was prepared in case the Eliot Ness' people showed up, in our town in the middle of nowhere. Has a huge cystern that I found by pulling a lever in the basement. A lot of orginal Art Deco features. Will NOT sell it for any amount of money. I bought it sight unseen, for a fraction of what it's worth. LUCKY!

I seriously love this house. Thank you Ken and crew.🙂🙂❤

Pasadena CA is full of beautiful old homes

Hey Ken, have you ever heard of the George Lyon Manion on Paradise Point, Bimini (bahamas) It was a really cool mansion that looked out over the ocean, west towards the U.S. It was demolished over a decade ago for a massive casino project. It was a one of of a kind art deco like mansion.

Many exorbitant homes of the old rich have disappeared, been abandoned or sold to developers. The Gambles were smart to go this route. They knew it would stand the test of time and the neighborhood almost remained the same.

What a wonderful house and a wonderful tale to go with it.

Marty McFly: "No, that's John F. Kennedy Blvd." Granddad McFly: "Who the hell is John F Kennedy?" Shout-out to Gamble for going against the grain, (in more ways than one), and to the Colman family for protecting it from people who couldn't appreciate it's historical significance. Such a beautiful home, and WAY ahead of it's time! If someone asked me to guess when it was built, I would have said late forties, early fifties.

I've been there many times and always notice something different. Sometimes it is the docents that point something out. The tours don't last very long but they are affordable so you can go more than once. There are a lot of Greene and Greene houses in the area but most are just private homes. I did get to tour the Blacker House when it it was open as a fund raiser for the Gamble. I guess when critics said the house wasn't luxurious it must have been the lack of tacky French decoration or overwhelming Victorian excess. It's good that the house was saved. The aforementioned Blacker House was bought by someone who stripped out most of the original details, such as lighting, furnitures and windows, and sold them off as a quick cash grab. The current owners had to have much of it recreated at great expense.

I like this house the best of all the ones you have done. I love the simplicity of the design how it looks back to nature for inspiration. I’d rather have this simplicity than a grandiose style of homes you have featured before. I am so glad and grateful that it’s preserved in people can tour it. May stand for many, many years…

This house was the only part of Back to the Future that I really enjoyed.

I believe This Old House visited the home years ago and used some of the stairway details as inspiration for a project they were doing.

Thank you for this vid ....Just fantastic

Gorgeous house! One of my favorites on the channel.

Stunning, I could move in tomorrow...perfect sense of style and form!

That would be a Travistee to paint that wood.

I love this house, been several times. there are also a few other Greene and Greene houses in the area, although not open for tours. Also, the old garage is a great little gift shop.

Love this!

Thank you for the interesting info about the beginning of P&G and all about this home which is beautiful as it was built and intended to be, when I first saw the picture I truly thought it was the PierPont Inn located in Ventura, CA since it looks very much like the architectural style of This house right down to the weathered wood exterior. It was built in the early 1900s and is still operating as a Inn.

Wow! Beautiful home 😍! It is very inspirational 🥰!

The Orientalist influence is present throughout the house in true Arts& Crafts flair--very nice! There's a company that makes a ceiling-light fixture based on the one shown --it's called "Old California Lightning" or something similar--they create a lot of Mission and other period-style lights.

Thats a nice place.When the name Gamble came up, Figured it was "the" Gambles.

I'm so sick and tired of hearing that this house was in that d----d movie. Although, I suppose, the moviemakers paid to use it. We've visited this place a number of times. It's breathtakingly, elegantly simple yet sophisticated, with, of course, a tremendous Japanese influence. Thank heaven it wasn't "modernized!" Incidentally, it's just around the corner from the extraordinary Norton Simon museum. A great place to view Impressionist art, among other works. Also, I suggest the Henry Huntington estate just down the road a piece. You'll get another great video out of it.

I’ve been past the Gamble House, back when I used to live in southern California.

Love this house more than any you have done

Gorgeous home, love it.

The interior is awesome 👍

I love it!! ❤

You can see the Frank Lloyd Wright influences in the design of this home. It's beautiful 😍

Great Scott!

Love this house, I have visited twice.

Actually in the next cross street stands a Frank Loyd Wright house!

An unmarried sister from the Gamble family, who lived alone in the house until her death, is reported as affecting an upstairs bedroom with poltergeist activity. Well-document accounts of such phenomenon, including that of the Enfield poltergeist (in a govt-subsidized town house near London) more recently or the 1960's magazine account of (and latter book about) actress Elke Sommer's home in Beverly Hills is an often mocked or dismissed facet of a property. So great architects, their sometimes eccentric clients and the supernatural make for great stories of "stranger than fiction"

Awesome home😊

Blacker House next please!

i love this house!!!!

I love it!

superb

I love this house

As far as I'm concerned, this will always be Doc Browns house.

Elegant.

You might like to investigate North st. in Litchfield Connecticut. About 30 Victorian mansions line that street.

Somethng the Greenes achieved was the credo of the the Arts & Crafts Movement-to bring nature indoors, much moreso than FLW. Wright hired subpar engineers resulting in their continuously needing restoration/refurbishment. It should be mentioned that the contractors, John & Peter Hall were also brothers that not only built the house but all of the custom furnishings in this and multiple other homes designed by the Greenes.

I think that house is beautiful

it may have inspired modernist architects but it was built in the ''Arts and Crafts'' style. It's an Adirondak fort on a California scale, lighter airier incorporating that ''indoor outdoor lifestyle'' so prevalent in California. GnG AnC simples. innit.

Google Rietveld Schröderhuis in Utrecht from 1924. Nearing it's centenary!

A beautiful home. I often wonder why the wealthy of the times always wanted to build art museums to live in.

Yes! Truly the choice I endorse, those Gilded Elite Structures were largely Institutional Exteriors and such Victorian-busy Interiors, that they can overwhelm, (they validate Frank Lloyd Wright's statement re: Interior Desecrators, referring to them as *"Interior Desecrators"!)*. The Modern Creative Minds arrived none too early, and we're able to blend the Knowledge of the Elements, Value, and infuse new technology and new products, achieving the delicious Modern and MidCentury Designs that still inspire Architects, Designers, Decorators, and the Home Buyers of this 21st Century. ☘️

I pass by that house every morning when I go hop on 210 fwy

Awsome house , cult movie , and I'm awsome as well..

I will have to watch the video again, You stated that it is open to the public I give no other information about tours, such as when its open and admission price.

Jenny was telling me that an Olive Garden is down in that area I don’t know if he was talking about that particular house that you’re spewing

My favorite gilded age home

It's a beautiful modern Craftsman house. A refreshing break from the dreadful Victorian houses of the 1800's.

Frank Lloyd Wright similarities I see many in this home to his style. Today FLW would be considered quite green. Other than today “wood like” materials would take the place of solid wood in the finishing and siding. But Cement, Stone, glass, mostly locally sourced and no basements or attics with limited storage often no more than a carport instead of a garage all to promote a minimalist existence.

😍

I don't mind the look of the exterior, reminiscent of a swiss chalet, but the interior is dark and boring. Perhaps if the photos were in color the interior would be more interesting. Maybe that's why the prospective owners were contemplating painting the wood white.

It can if it’s Frank Lloyd Wright’s❣️

I think that house is for sale right now.

I visited the Gamble House and I was very disappointed! It's beautiful on the outside, but extremely DARK on the inside. We toured the home on a bright, sunny day. But, the interior of the house did not benefit at all from the sunlight -- it was like exploring a cave. Even though the lights were on, they provided very little illumination. Our tour guide had to light our way with a flashlight. The footprint of the home is simply too large to be properly lighted by the small exterior windows -- that's poor design. I concluded the home should have been built with a large courtyard in the center where additional windows could help bring in some natural light. As it was built, I believe it would have been a very dark, depressing place to live.

Not so much “modern”, as it is timeless and beautiful.

I wonder if anyone honsetly cared about this house that was shown for under 2 minutes in the movie? Odd stuff.