Greene & Greene: Developing A California Architecture
In the first decade of the last century, architects Charles and Henry Greene developed an astonishingly refined yet simple architecture. They shaped a design aesthetic based upon a straightforward use of materials and motifs that drew from all that California represented: sunshine, the out-of-doors, the edge of a young nation facing the exoticism of the Far East, a place of renewal, and the throwing off of constraints of the East Coast stolidity and conservatism.This book covers the years 1902 to 1906, during the time that the brothers created their architectural vocabulary. It starts and ends with the same house, the Duncan-Irwin house of 1906, which represents the first completely expressed statement of the architectural vision developed by the Greenes. It was with this house, with its serpentine wall of clinker brick and cobblestone, its graceful gabled rooflines with broad overhangs, its rhythmic pattern of rafter tails, leaded art glass and Japonesque lanterns, that Charles and Henry finally wove together the unified fabric that would come to be called the Greene & Greene style.Bruce Smith is an independent researcher and writer who focuses on late-nineteenth and early-twentiethcentury architecture and decorative arts. He is a specialist on the life and work of Charles and Henry Greene. His book on their architecture, Greene & Greene Masterworks, was one of the New York Times Editor’s Choice architectural books of the year. He has also written with his wife, Yoshiko Yamamoto, The Japanese Bath, Arts and Crafts Ideals and The Beautiful Necessity: Decorating with Arts and Crafts, as well as numerous magazine articles. He has lectured  widely. He lives with his wife and children in coastal Washington.Alexander Vertikoff is one of the leading photographers in the United States. Specializing in architectural interiors and exteriors, his award-winning images have been on the cover of every issue of American Bungalow magazine as well as on dozens of covers and in hundreds of articles. Vertikoff’s books include American Bungalow Style, Greene & Greene: Masterworks, The Los Angeles Biltmore, Stickley Style: Arts Crafts Homes in the Craftsman Tradition, and Craftsman Style. His work has been featured in other books, numerous calendars, posters and postcards. He lives in New Mexico.