Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
1923-24
In 1923, Charles Greene began to build a studio for
himself on the Lincoln Street side of his Carmel property.
He made it as economically as possible by recycling
bricks salvaged from the old Pacific Grove Hotel and
by using free lumber from White Brothers Hardwood
in San Francisco. Marble, left over from the D.L.
James job, was used in the mantel and to pave a bath
and small vestibule. Charles and his son, Patrickson,
cleaned just enough of the old mortar off the bricks
to create a dappled red-and-white effect that formed
a Flemish bond pattern on the exterior walls. The
studio is a simple rectangle with small subsidiary
rooms off the east and south sides. The main living
space is illuminated by a skylight on the north side
of the pitched roof, and French doors open to a terrace
and garden off the south end. The plaster interior
is heavily decorated with motifs from nature. Charles
hand-carved the small wood blocks used to press the
images into the still-wet wall surfaces. Many other
carvings that symbolized portions of Charles’
personal philosophy were created for the house. The
“Law of Rhythmic Diminution,” as described
by Claude Bragdon in his Theosophical text, The
Beautiful Necessity, was represented by a wave
form and spiral shell carvings and the theory of “Lower
Space Systems in Our World” was represented
by tomato vines carved into the entry door of the
studio.
