Saturday, March 30, 2001

Limit: 47 people

This tour is wheelchair accessible

Our first stop is the 1908 Gamble House, recognized internationally as a masterpiece of the Arts and Crafts Movement in America. Built for David and Mary Gamble of the Procter and Gamble Company, it is the most complete and best preserved example of the work of architects Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene, who made a profound impact on the development of contemporary American architecture. The furniture, built-in cabinetry, paneling, woodcarving, rugs, lamps, stained glass, and accessories were all custom-designed by the architects in the true hand-crafted spirit of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The Greene and Greene Archives are housed at the Huntington (see below).

Pasadena’s wealthier neighbor, San Marino, is our second stop, where lunch will be at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens (Myron Hunt, 1910-1925). The former estate of Henry E. Huntington, the great railway and real estate magnate, the Huntington is a cultural oasis set amidst 150 acres of breathtaking gardens. Three art galleries and a library showcase magnificent collections of rare books and manuscripts, 18^th- and 19^th-century British and French art, American art from the 18^th to the early 20^th century, and a small but noteworthy collection of Renaissance paintings. The Greene and Greene Archives are housed adjacent to the Greene and Greene permanent exhibition gallery. The Library houses an impressive 600,000 volumes; on display are such treasures as letters from George Washington and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. There will be time to wander through the gardens, which include 15,000 varieties of plants. Landscapes include the Japanese, desert, rose, camellia, palm, subtropical, jungle, lily ponds, herb, and Australian gardens.

Our tour concludes at the Norton Simon Museum of Art, which houses one of the most remarkable art collections ever amassed by an individual–Norton Simon, the founder of Hunt Foods. The Museum’s collections include art from the early Renaissance period through the mid-20^th century. Works by Degas, Monet, Rembrandt, Renoir, and Van Gogh, as well as Indian and Southeast Asian sculpture are on exhibit. Built in 1969 as the Pasadena Art Museum, in 1974 it was reorganized, renamed, and established as the home for Simon’s collection. A total renovation of the museum by architect Frank Gehry was completed in October 1999, while noted California landscape designer Nancy Goslee Power transformed the outdoor space into a sculpture garden inspired by Claude Monet’s Giverny.