Archival drawing of a plant stand designed for the William Thorsen house, Berkeley, c.1910. Charles Sumner Greene Collection (1959-1) Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley. Used with permission.
During the first decade of the 20th century, Charles and Henry Greene, together with Peter and John Hall and a small army of workers and craftsmen, created five Ultimate Bungalows. Or four. Or possibly six. The answer depends less on one’s ability to count than on what constitutes an Ultimate Bungalow. Until the International Standards Organization speaks to the matter, there will be some disagreement. Whatever the final number, everyone we can find near universal agreement that these houses constitute the culmination of a prolific and all too brief period of intense creativity that included the design of many other remarkable homes before, during and after the construction of the Ultimates.

The William Thorsen house in Berkeley is the last of the Ultimate Bungalows. The Thorsens lived in the house until their deaths in the early 1940s. At that time, the house was purchased by the University of California chapter of Sigma Phi. Now 100 years old, the house is in need of some restoration work, not least a seismic retrofit to ensure that it remains standing when the “big one” hits. The post below is the first of several by my friend Joe Johnston who is involved with an effort to bring to the house reproductions of furniture designed by the Greenes for the Thorsens. As with all aspects of the restoration effort, brothers of Sigma Phi are actively involved.

A Great Opportunity

Being in the right place at the right time has its advantages. Consider Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg from the technology world. They were both in the right place at the right time with a product everyone wanted. They both just happened to make a fortune in the process.

From my perspective, being in the right place means living within 15 minutes of the Thorsen House, one of the five “Ultimate Bungalows” designed by Charles and Henry Greene.

When I received an email from Darrell Peart a couple of months ago, I felt that I truly was in the right place at the right time. When he asked if I would be interested in helping some of the student members of Sigma Phi Society reproduce some of the smaller tables at the Thorsen House, I jumped at the chance. I thought, “Wow, I just might get to photograph, measure, draw, and reproduce an actual piece of Greene and Greene furniture - this is the chance of a lifetime!”

The Thorsen House has been owned by the Sigma Phi Society since 1943. Several of the alumni are active in the preservation and restoration efforts at the house. I met with Dave Munroe, one of these alumni, and we agreed that it would be great if we could find any original drawings that might exist for the furniture. Dave set up an appointment at the Environmental Design Archives at UC Berkeley where many of the original Greene and Greene drawings are archived. Use of these archives for the purpose of furniture reproduction is normally not allowed. We were only granted access because the project was a restoration effort for the house itself.

Like kids in a candy store, we searched through all of the material related to the Thorsen House. Lo-and-behold, we found a small 1 ½” scale drawing of the Thorsen “plant stand”. Interestingly enough, there was some pen & ink handwriting on the drawing calling out mahogany as the material for construction. Knowing that the actual piece was made of teak, we tried to envision what the design process might have been. Since the Thorsen taboret, a similar piece, was made of mahogany, we guessed that this drawing was some sort of hybrid representation from which both pieces had evolved.

A hands-on experience

Since drawings are not necessarily the final word in the evolution of a project, Dave and I decided that it would be best to examine the pieces in person, if possible. By doing this, we could get exact measurements and photographs, rather than merely relying on the drawing. Knowing that the plant stand had been on display at the Huntington Library in San Marino, we had hopes that the taboret was also there. Dave set about to try to arrange a viewing for us. Dave was able to set up an appointment through the director of the Gamble House, Ted Bosley. He confirmed that both tables were entrusted to the museum and were either onsite or in offsite storage. Ted, Dave, and I visited the Dorothy Collins Brown Wing of the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art where many Greene and Greene pieces are on permanent display. Upstairs, in temporary storage, we found the taboret and plant stand. We had about 1 ½ hours to measure, photograph, and take notes. Dave and I donned our cotton examination gloves and set about measuring the pieces with a cloth tape measure.

Dave and I thanked Ted as we left the museum. We were both extremely grateful for the opportunity to examine actual Greene and Greene furniture pieces.

Furniture reproduction

Writing this piece now, I am well into the process of reproducing both the taboret and plant stand. The plant stand reproduction is a collaborative effort with a couple of the students, Zach Wong and Adam Hoagland, and the process is being documented for the Thorsen House blog. Both students are enthusiastic about the reproduction process and are very capable woodworkers. The taboret reproduction is an effort I chose to undertake myself. I feel extremely honored to be involved in any part of the restoration effort, and this was my way of contributing to that effort.

You too can contribute to the Thorsen House restoration effort. You can visit their web site (www.thorsenhouse.org) to learn more about the restoration and make a contribution to this worthy effort. I would encourage every Greene and Greene enthusiast to help the Sigma Phi Society with this effort to help preserve one of the five beloved “Ultimate Bungalows”.