272 S Los Robles Ave
Pasadena, CA 91101, USA

Ernest W.Smith House (E.W. Smith House) - National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance

The Ernest W. Smith House, built in 1910, is a fine example of the Craftsman style as developed by Charles and Henry Greene. Designing over 500 buildings during their 28 year collaborative career, the Greenes' work contributed to the development of the Craftsman movement and to the Craftsman style of architecture in Pasadena and throughout the country. Their unique style combined a sensitivity to detail and materials, and attention to fine workmanship. Their unique style developed out of a sensitivity to materials and the desire to integrate the site form with massing and scale while using high quality craftsmanship. In a city well known for the Greenes' architecture, only a few remaining examples of their residential work are as intact as the Smith house. Though the Greenes are probably best known for their five "ultimate bungalows,"^ including the Blacker (1907) and Gamble House (1908) both in Pasadena, this home combines the simple, orderly lines on their earlier work (1903-06) with their mature design philosophy. It was one of the last Craftsman residences to be built by the Greenes, signaling the end of an era due to high construction costs and a shift in public interest to Mediterranean style architecture. It is significant as one of the last works produced by these master architects of the Craftsman style, and is an excellent example of the style they perfected and for which they and Pasadena have been given national recognition.

Charles and Henry Greene were greatly influenced by the English Art and Crafts movement and vernacular American traditions. Though educated at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, they tended to shun the academic design vocabulary taught them. Rather, they looked to more unconventional sources for inspiration, such as Swiss Chalets and the design traditions of the Orient. To achieve their unique style, the Greenes incorporated native materials, exposed structural members and paid careful attention to details. As their work matured, they began to capitalize on the warm Southern California climate by incorporating outdoor living spaces into their designs. Their master works seem to grow from the ground, stressing horizontal lines.

After a brief internship in Boston, Charles and Henry Greene came to Pasadena on a visit and ended up staying, opening an architectural office in 1894. During their lengthy and prosperous career, they became known for their unique Craftsman style, which is well suited to the local climate. The Greenes stood for the best in Craftsman design and their houses became the California ideal. In 1948, Charles and Henry Greene were awarded a medal of merit by the Southern California chapter of the American Institute of Architects. They received a national citation in 1952 from the American Institute of Architects for their contributions to American residential architecture.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene moved to St. Louis, Missouri just before they were to enter high school. There the boys attended a newly founded school, the Manual Training School of Washington University. The curriculum was supplemented with required courses in carpentry, woodworking and metalworking. This provided them with basic knowledge that helped them eventually achieve their Craftsman ideal. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology rounded out their formal education. In keeping with the age, their first designs were Victorian and Shingle style. Charles' 1901 trip to England was to prove the turning point in their career. He had the chance to study the Arts and Crafts movement where it originated. In 1902, the Greenes' style changed drastically and the brothers began to design not only buildings but accompanying furnishings and landscaping.

The E.W. Smith House returns to the simplicity of their early designs and includes their mature design philosophy. Ernest W. Smith, an assistant trust officer with the Crown City Trust and Savings Bank, the original owner, was not as affluent as some of the Greenes' previous clients such as David Gamble or Robert R. Blacker. Hence the return to the more regular plan and to less expensive interior finishes than were used in the Greenes| masterworks. High quality craftsmanship and high-quality materials (but not extravagantly expensive ones) were combined with such Greene and Greene hallmarks and scarf joints and pegging. The basic design vocabulary of the ultimate bungalow appears in the Smith house: the use of native stone as the foundation and lower portion of the chimney, wood shingles as the exterior cladding, a single gable running in each direction, the wide front porch and back sleeping porch and the prominent use of large carved beams. The Craftsman style wood detailing is found around the window openings and on the porch, railings incorporate the Greenes' famous "lift" carving technique on the beam ends. The plan has a clear plan has a clear, straightforward order to it having a central hall on both floors. The second floor contains the bedrooms and the important Greene trademark, a sleeping porch, as a direct response to the Southern California climate.

The interior is finished in oak. The highest quality detailing and craftsmanship was used, and the design of all decorative elements, interior and exterior, is appropriate in terms of scale, richness and quantity to the size and form of the house.

It has been noted that the Ernest W. Smith house is less elaborate than the "ultimate bungalows," or masterworks, of the Greenes. It stands, however, as an excellent example of the Greenes' mature style and illustrates their flexibility as architects and their uncompromising commitment to quality craftsmanship, materials and their aesthetic ideals.

Summary

Designed by nationally recognized architects Charles and Henry Greene in their mature Craftsman style, the E.W. Smith House is significant on the local level for its architecture, as an example of the work of master architects, for its association with the development of an architectural style associated with Pasadena, for its place in the context of the Greenes' works and the development of American domestic architecture and as one of the last bungalows to be built by the Greenes. For these reasons, the E.W. Smith House is worthy of listing in the National Register of Historic Places.