202 – The Thorsen House, A Greene & Greene Ultimate Bungalow

Video - May 21, 2013

The Thorsen House is one of the Greene & Greene ultimate bungalows located in Berkeley, California, one of the only ultimate bungalows in the northern part of the state. Built in 1909 by Hall and Ott and designed by Charles and Henry Greene, the house contains all of the detail one comes to expect from a Greene & Greeene masterwork.

The house is currently owned by the Sigma Phi Society of California and is a California historic landmark. While the house looks great in video, it is actually in need of repair and restoration. Leading the restoration effort are the Friends of the Thorsen House. Curious what needs fixing? Check out the list! If you would like to donate to help support the restoration effort, you can do so here.

I’d like to thank Darrell Peart for giving us the tour and the Friends of the Thorsen House allowing me to film on location.

The video gives you an extensive tour of the interior and exterior of the home, but here are a few images for you to enjoy as well:

Resources

Discussion

muddlermike May 21, 2013 8:05 am

Pretty awesome, if you ask me. I didn’t care much for Greene and Greene style initially, but have grown to appreciate it greatly. Their attention to detail in both style and function was remarkable, but the way they blended both was incredible. Never more evident than in this house. Thanks for the video, Marc.

Reply
Steve Greenberg May 21, 2013 8:25 am

Totally awesome. And very timely. Last weekend, I toured the Gamble House in Pasadena – another Greene & Greene Bungalow. I took what was called “Behind the Velvet Ropes Tour”, which lasts approximately 2-1/2 hours, and the docent takes down the ropes that normally keep you from getting up really close to all of the fine details. It was a very cool tour; if you are in the LA area; highly recommended.

Reply
marty May 21, 2013 9:55 am

Very,very interesting video.I wish,i had the opportunity to visit this awesome house,one day.

Thank you Mark.

Reply
Stan P May 21, 2013 11:05 am

I could easily have watched for an hour or more. That house and the others are just so beautiful. The craftsmanship, the design, and the details are incredible. Thanks Marc for bringing it to us.

Reply
Ryan Mulford May 21, 2013 1:17 pm

Absolutely amazing stuff. It’s hard to imagine how they were able to accomplish all those details without the power tools and CNC machines that we have today. It seems like it would would have take decades to build a house like that 100+ years ago. It just goes to show just how many skilled craftsman it took to get those houses done

Reply
Ross P May 21, 2013 2:58 pm

Great Video Mark. I am a Rabid Cal Bears fan and after we get the crap kicked out of us at home games I like to walk by the Thorsen on the way back to my car from the stadium. It always makes me feel like everything is going to be ok.

Reply
Kevin May 21, 2013 8:52 pm

Parallelogram plugs on the stairs… not much demand for parallelogram hollow chisel mortiser chisels, eh?

Reply
Tom Buhl May 21, 2013 9:31 pm

oh, man, now you’ve done it.
I was going to take some time for skill development
and working on component development
but now I want to make something.

Love the bookshelf detail. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Reply
Mark Singleton May 21, 2013 9:32 pm

Marvelous. Loved it. Except one glaring act of utter stupidity. Whoever put that twisty bulb in the wall lamp needs to have their head examined. Uck.

Reply
- Marc Spagnuolo May 22, 2013 5:48 am
  
  Keep in mind that students actually live in that house. They have to make the same decisions about light bulbs that all homeowners have to make.
  
  Reply
Mark Loughran May 22, 2013 6:44 am

Thanks Marc for the amazing video tour, really nice to have the details explained so well by Darrell Peart, they make much more sense when explained. Nice to see the house is in relatively good condition, and not much rot in the exterior wood, which shows the skills of the makers also. Wish the exterior wood on my house was in as good condition, and its only 16 years old :-)

Reply
Barron Bail May 22, 2013 8:17 am

Great video. It highlights their ability to work with a client and yet still install a consistent vision into their work. The shelf detail would work in a lot of styles to lighten the look while providing strength. I’ll have to try that.

As someone who wears a hat (not a cap) frequently, I think the top hooks are for the hat, and the lower hooks are for the coats, utilizing the ‘hanging loop’ many quality coats used to come with.

Really inspiring! Thanks!

Reply
John May 23, 2013 9:28 am

I visited the Thorsen House in the late 80’s. My friends wife was at UC Berkley taking architectural history. She also took me to the library where I was able to see the original velums which I found fascinating.
At the time of my visit the ‘frat’ boys had really trashed it and there where beer bottles and cans everywhere….it was a sin at the time and I can see the house is even in worse shape now.
Comparing this to the Gamble House in Pasadena which I toured numerous times in the 80’s and 90’s (before the velvet robes) it is a sad lesson in not realizing what a jewel they had and how they let it deteriorate

Reply
Harry Randles May 24, 2013 8:28 am

Last year My Wife and I were on our Holidays in Calafornia so I dropped in to The Gamble
House in Pasadena Loved every minute of the Hour Long Tour Kicking my self did not
now of the Thorsen House Next time if my Wife Lets me will stop of again and take a look for self. Thanks to Darrell for Doing the Tour and Marc for placing the Video on his Site

Reply
Jim Hall May 24, 2013 9:50 am

Thank you for giving us that very good insight into the green and green designs. I do not believe that i am related to Peter hall, but i am a woodworker with roots in West Virginia and live in Michigan.

Reply
Mike Tinsley May 24, 2013 4:31 pm

Just fabulous. A couple of years ago my wife (a non-woodworker) and I took the “Details & Joinery” tour at The Gamble House in Pasadena. What a treat! The highlight of the tour was meeting one of the finest human beings I have ever encountered, Jim Ipekjian. If you are ever in Pasadena I recommend the tour and you will have memorable experience interacting with Jim.

Reply
Adam Muhle May 25, 2013 4:34 am

Marc,
The HD Download is not the Thorsen House Video. I think it was the G&G Picture frame you did as a Guild Build a while back.

Reply
- Marc Spagnuolo May 25, 2013 5:47 am
  
  Hey Adam.
  Hmmm, I think you might have gotten the file confused with one already on your system. I just downloaded it and it gives me the correct file. The mirror frame project video doesn’t even live on that same server so It shouldn’t be possible for that happen. Let me know what you find out just in case its a weird bug.
  
  Reply
  - Adam Muhle May 25, 2013 6:16 am
    
    Yeah, you are right. My mistake. Sorry for the confusion.
    
    Reply
Hugh Reeves May 28, 2013 11:49 pm

Am I the only one who looks at G&G design and gets reminded of Mario Brothers 3?

http://www.capsulecomputers.co.....enshot.jpg

http://blog-imgs-56-origin.fc2.....lans-2.jpg

Reply
John Lowell June 2, 2013 4:46 am

Back in the mid 90’s, I worked on a 1950’s steam research vessel, sailing from the Arctic to the Antarctic. All the doors to the staterooms had curtain rods and a mid weight fabric for a curtain. The curtain was used when working in the warmer climates, it allowed some privacy and good air flow. The ship did not have AC when built, and the installed system did not work very well. Many folks simply hooked the door open at the start of a leg, and used the curtain all the time.

Nice house; great design, detail and workmanship. tks.

Reply
Greg June 4, 2013 7:14 am

Very nice. I had never heard of Greene&Greene until I started reading this website and didn’t like it at first but it’s growing on me.

I love visiting custom homes like this. I’ve been to a couple of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings and am always envious of the quality and well-designed customizations even though I don’t really like the overall style of Wright’s work.

I always end up getting back to my house and thinking what a dump it is by comparison. I need to get over that. Even after doing some customizations of my own (which I am pretty proud of), it still feels like a dump after watching something like this.

Reply
Chris June 6, 2013 6:38 pm

I guess I am the only one that hates the G&G style. I love arts & crafts architecture, but really dislike the roundness and over-done layering that was present in G&G design.

Reply
- Brandon August 25, 2013 6:37 am
  
  Agreed. But I do appreciate the amount of skill and effort that goes into it.
  
  Reply
Kevin F November 15, 2013 9:36 am

My speculation about the “chin-up bar”:

Mrs. Thorsen was prone to forgetting to put clothes on when she left her bedroom, so she would hang her clothes for the next day in front of the door so she wouldn’t forget :)

Beautiful house though!

Reply
Jakub Danik December 25, 2013 2:04 pm

It’s a beautiful house and furniture inside it.It looks like early twentieth century was time, where so many interesting and inspiring woodworking styles were created.Talking about styles, I was really impressed with quality and craftsmanship established by Highlanders in south of Poland . Wooden houses, furniture and craft been carried on until nowdays and are in a process of developing.I would like to see your comments Marc about it.best regards from polish carpenter .

Reply

Cookie	Duration	Description
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional	11 months	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy	11 months	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

202 – The Thorsen House, A Greene & Greene Ultimate Bungalow

Resources

Advertisers