Refining a Style

In 1912, Charles Greene was designing elaborate furnishings in rich materials for the Pratts, Thorsens, and Culbertson sisters. This singularly spare yet supremely functional rooming-house table reflects the contrastingly sober restraint of Henry Greene’s designs. As recently as 2007, the apartment building for which this table was created was threatened with demolition. While one skeptic sniffed, “It is not the Gamble House,” Pasadena Heritage, with preservation-minded citizens, rallied successfully to argue that the city’s remaining Greene and Greene structures are each an important cultural resource worth preserving. Credit is due to the former and new owners of Herkimer Arms for cooperating to relocate the building within Pasadena.