Machine Project

In this nighttime event, visitors participate in an exterior architecture tour using only flashlights for illumination. Images capturing this ghostly exchange will be on display in the house for the remainder of the show.

Half-scale replicas of the Gamble House’s famous roof sit upside-down at various points around the lawn. Allowing for a close-up inspection of the roof’s complex construction out of beams, joists and shingles, these inverted mockups also double as lawn furniture for lounging.

A two-story puppet animates the crane and rose of the Gamble family crest. Puppeteers activate the sculpture at regular intervals during Sept 27th, Oct 2nd, and Oct 5th.

The style in which Greene & Greene designed many of their houses came to be known as “ultimate bungalow” — inspired by the smaller structures with which they share a typology but, as the adjective implies, of a different order of magnitude in size, materials, craftsmanship, and attention to detail. ULTIMATE BUNGALOW! is a hand-painted tribute to the ultimate ultimateness of the Gamble House.

The intricately detailed woodwork of the staircase is scaled up and transposed into a two-dimensional image that is etched onto the landscape of the back lawn.

Small wood sculptures echoing the Greene & Greene highly-crafted design appear throughout the house, replete with ikebana arrangements made by the house’s Flower Committee.

In this film by David Fenster, Asher Hartman psychically reads the Gamble House.

Ever wanted to learn how to build your own solar-powered gadgets for use in sustainable installations & outdoor computing? This workshop will provide an introduction to attaching mini solar panels to small motors and other battery-powered...

Saturday, September 20th // 1pm-4pm with instructor Divya Anantharaman Starting with a history of human-plant/aromatic relationships since ancient times, participants will learn plant preservation procedures, including how to create an essential oil fragrance from historically accurate recipes.

Saturday, September 20th // 4pm-7pm with instructor Kaitlynn Redell In this workshop participants will learn the basics of paper cutting while exploring the intricate architectural and interior design motifs of The Gamble House. We will learn a variety of cutting techniques, including how to create a template and work with various papers.

Sunday, September 21st // 4pm-7pm with instructor Mercedes Teixido Using correspondence examples from The Gamble House inhabitants, participants will learn letter writing techniques through both the form (script, paper, envelopes) and content of period specific letter writing.

Using a scale model of the staircase and samples of different species of woods, artist Ryan Taber leads a house tour focusing on the front entry hall, back terrace and upstairs hallway.

Using samples of timber frame joinery from various cultural traditions along with different species of wood. Artist Ryan Taber leads a house tour focusing on the Attic “Billiards” room, the crawl spaces, the upstairs guest bedroom and the master bedroom.

Spaces for tours are limited, advanced registration is required.

This tour will take place after dark and will feature content from the Materiality and Signification Tour and Joinery and Decoration Tours, as well as information about the houses artificial lighting and leaded art glass. A component of this tour will be conducted in the dark, with flashlights.

Machine Project Executive Director Mark Allen leads a tour of The Machine Project Field Guide to The Gamble House.

Using both the analog and high tech methods of historical archaeology this interactive field-work will engage the material and immaterial culture of the Gamble House.

Duran embodies falling water in a solo dance for the staircase, inspired by the hallway’s framed embroidery.

A conveyor belt delivers small bites of Swiss-Japanese fusion cuisine from the Gamble House’s basement. The menu features some of original owner Mary Gamble’s recipes as well as a few other “secret” menu items.

Poets read a single poem to one audience member at a time in the Gamble House’s walk-in closet.

In this ambulatory dance, dancers become sculptures that move through the house and evolve over time. Oscillating between action and inaction, the dancers’ bodies evoke shape, architecture, landscape, matter, machine, animal, robot, and alien.

Eight guests in rotating shifts will animate a Gamble House bedroom with bedtime chatter, while lying in bed. Featuring Mark Allen, Agnes Bolt, Ingrid Calame, Leland de la Durantaye, Josh Kun, Mark Lipson, Brian McMullen, and Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer. Inspired by Bunkbed Conversations, a form of public theater starring pajama-clad intellectuals created by Cabinet magazine.

A late 19th century lightshow simulating an extreme and completely artificial sunset ablaze through the dining room patterned glass windows.

This nighttime installation transforms the Gamble House’s exterior through video projected on various surfaces, mimicking the interior’s bas-relief wood carvings.

A reading of the work of Clarice Lispector, in the form of a tableaux vivant. Performed by a pair of cat-women, as portrayed by Johanna Hedva and Justin Streichman, and accompanied by projected video.

Sunday, September 28th // 11am-2pm with instructors Scout Regalia Workshop participants will build their own edible birdhouse inspired by the architectural elements and detailing of the Gamble House with nuts, seeds, birdfeed brittle, and other aviary accommodating accoutrements.

Sunday, September 28th // 3pm-6pm with the Women's Center for Creative Work. The Women's Center for Creative Work (WCCW) presents an Afternoon Tea hosted by Pasadenans of 1909. Featuring light musical entertainment and a presentation of the history of Women’s Organizations in Southern California, early twentieth century female household staff will serve iced tea and snacks from honored Gamble-family recipes. A special tour will focus on women's spaces and work by female artisans.

Using samples of timber frame joinery from various cultural traditions along with different species of wood. Artist Ryan Taber leads a house tour focusing on the Attic “Billiards” room, the crawl spaces, the upstairs guest bedroom and the master bedroom.

Wednesday, October 1st // 7-10pm with instructor Keith Rocka Knittel Learn how to design a cat dwelling by examining historical references, construction techniques and designs.

Two figures enter and exit rooms of the Gamble House, interrupting the conversations of the assembled crowd and each other.

Saturday, October 4th // 2-5pm with instructor Lisa Anne Auerbach Inspired by the "House That Soap Built" off of Orange Grove Blvd, participants in this workshop will learn how to make cold process soap with a reusable mold and take home their very own Gamble House citrus soap!

Saturday, October 4th // 4-7pm Aunt Julia's Sleeping Porch at the Gamble House Artist, author and embroidery designer Jenny Hart will lead an embroidery workshop in the remarkable attic of the Gamble House.

Free for Kids 17 & Under

The soft sounds of the B&W Readers Chorus travel throughout the Gamble House, while choreographed readings and repeated body movements in each room explore how the human hand and mind interface in the making process.

Children 14 and under must be accompanied by a ticketed adult.

Come take a nap on the Aunt Julia’s sleeping porch while Paul quietly serenades you with arrangements of Ivory soap jingles.

Children 14 and under must be accompanied by a ticketed adult.

In a durational work engaging the body with a nearby hill, Rafa will slide down and climb up the hill continuously both altering the natural landscape and exacting his movement through repetition. The work will be visible only on the Rear Terrace via telescope.

Free for Kids 17 & Under

In this event, the Gamble House’s ghosts (may) express themselves to the living world through drawing machines and tools created by the drawing team: Emily Luce, Gail Swanlund, Anita Cooney, Denise Gonzales Crisp, Arzu Ozkal, and JeanAnn Guette.

Children 14 and under must be accompanied by a ticketed adult.