FRIENDS OF THE GAMBLE HOUSE SUMMER GATHERING
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to tour a Greene & Greene home
Saturday, July 12, 2025 • 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Event begins at the Gamble House
Event program includes: A buffet lunch; updates from Executive Director, Alex Rasic; and presentations by Jennifer Trotoux and Kelly Sutherlin McLeod, FAIA; followed by a tour of the Duncan-Irwin house (Greene & Greene, 1906-08)
$40.00 per person (please reserve your tickets by July 7th)
Please note:
• Advance pre-paid reservations only.
• This is a Friends of the Gamble House members only event.
• Please wear broad, flat-heeled shoes to protect the rugs and floors.
• We regret that the tour site is not wheelchair accessible.
About the house:
The Duncan-Irwin house, one of Greene and Greene’s most important and distinctive works, stands on the edge of Pasadena’s scenic Arroyo Seco. Rarely open to the public, this privately-owned home represents an important milestone in the architectural evolution of Greene & Greene’s work, predating The Gamble House. After years of careful stewardship, the Duncan-Irwin house stands today as a proud example of the best of the Greenes’ classic era.
In 1906, the Greenes were brought in to redesign a modest one-story shingled cottage on a bluff overlooking the Arroyo Seco, had been moved to the site by seamstress Katherine Duncan in 1901. Working for the new owner, Theodore Irwin Jr., a collector of art and rare books, the brothers reinvented the home, doubling the size and adding a second story. The architects’ unmistakable style is evident in every corner, yet tantalizing vestiges of the original Duncan cottage still remain. The creation of an interior two-story courtyard with a fountain and water lilies, framed by a rustic pergola-like screen overhead, is one of the Greenes’ most inspired architectural devices. Dramatic in scale, yet intimate in feeling, it allowed moonlight to shine into the center of the home, to the delight of the Irwin family. Charles and Henry Greene’s deft references to the historic California rancho courtyard, coupled with inspiration drawn from Swiss chalets and Japanese temples, blend seamlessly in a home of sublime beauty and elegance.
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