1868-1957
Architect

Craftsmanship.

Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene were the foremost American proponents of the Arts and Crafts movement. The movement, which had started in the middle of the nineteenth century in England, promoted the handcrafting of household items out of wood, metals, and textiles. The Greene brothers were deeply committed to the use of craftsmanship in architecture and furniture design during their twenty-one-year joint architectural practice in Pasadena, California. They were also influenced by Japanese domestic architecture and the wooden houses of Switzerland. These interests came together in their exquisite bungalows.

Early Life and Training.

Born in Cincinnati in 1868 and 1870, respectively, Charles and Henry Greene grew up in Saint Louis. They attended a high school sponsored by Washington University, where they received training in handcraftsmanship. From 1888 to 1891 they were trained in the Beaux Arts tradition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They established...