Later Public Commissions

Refining a Style: Later Public Commissions

Earle C. Anthony House | Los Angeles – 1909-10

The house designed in 1909 for Earle C. Anthony, a Packard automobile dealer and radio station owner, had many of the characteristics of previous Greene & Greene commissions but without expensive materials and elaborate details. The house plan is L-shaped and designed for an urban lot like the Thorsen house in Berkeley, but with spaces to better suit a Southern California lifestyle. The exterior has split-shake cladded open porches and a terrace like the Blacker, Gamble, and Pratt Houses, but with a simpler interior. The living room fireplace has a raised hearth of thick paving tiles and resembles the design used for the Irwin house living room. Off the living room, a small den provides a secluded retreat and French doors offered outdoor access and garden views. A darkroom was included in the original plan but not executed. Additions of leaded art glass, a more expansive sleeping porch and breakfast room was commissioned in 1913. Lanterns and living room mantel carvings were designed at this time but not executed. In 1917, a bath was added to the residence and a garage constructed. Anticipating the sale, relocation of the house, and redevelopment of the expensive Wilshire Boulevard property for a multi-story luxury apartment building, Mr. Anthony asked Henry Greene to design a model and topographical map of the property in 1921. In 1922, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Kerry moved the house to its present site in Beverly Hills.

http://www.usc.edu/dept/architecture/greeneandgreene/105a.html

Earle C. Anthony Automobile Showroom | Los Angeles, California – 1911

The Earle C. Anthony showroom commission of 1911 comprised the design of exterior decoration, entry doors, and interior fittings for a showroom building designed by Parkinson & Bergstrom. Charles Greene designed a plaster relief on the ceiling depicting rays of sunshine radiating out from overlapping automobile radiator grills. Colorful tile was used on the exterior motif and the interior octagonal columns to entice the prospective Packard owner. The mezzanine, balcony, and elevator doors included decorative ironwork that implies both Art Nouveau and pre- Art Deco designs. The showroom was demolished in the 1960s.

http://www.usc.edu/dept/architecture/greeneandgreene/106.html

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