202 - The Thorsen House Tour - A Greene & Greene Ultimate Bungalow

[@bonnikagarice293]

This was my grandparents home, my father grew up in this house. Never have seen the inside, so thank you for the tour. My grandparents were william and caroline Thorsen.

[@canan4433]

hey ,if anyone else needs to find out about valet woodworking plans try Jadonite Wood Blueprints Buddy ( search on google ) ? Ive heard some interesting things about it and my brother in law got amazing results with it.

[@honkybear666]

Thank You for sharing the information. It truly is a work of art.

[@killersugar6816]

I’d say that’s a pretty obvious curtain rod over Mrs Thorsens door, yeah?

[@jban4457]

@@killersugar6816 it's a Japanese Noren pole to hang fabric. Arts and crafts were originally created with a very strong relationship to Japanese design. The light fixture next to the Noren pole probably hung a Japanese style lantern originally.

[@Art-is-craft]

@@jban4457 While arts and craft in the US had Japanese influences such as lanterns and certain architectural features much that is seen in this house is of western influences.

[@fixcasa58]

I’m going on a tour through Berkeley Architectural Heritage on Sept 18th. I can’t wait!

[@dalecouch1995]

I think the chin up bar is for a portière, or door curtain. Probably had some meaningful tapestry panels that allowed for easy passage.

[@daniellebenstein8772]

Thank you Daryl Peart for educating us about one of the finest homes in America!

[@chris7662]

I could watch stuff like this all year long! Beautiful...

[@ndabox17311]

My wife and I went through the house last summer. It is amazing.The students let us just look around as some even joined us as we shared some of our Greene and Greene knowledge.

[@mattprzybylski4422]

I can't even begin to imagine how long it took them to build this place, especially considering the tools available at the time. The amount of detail in everything is astonishing.

[@davebasch5995]

It only took a year or 2! They built 4 or 5 of these in just a handful of years

[@tad3900]

The craftsmanship is just stunning. The attention to detail and imagination marvelous.

[@traditionsHome]

A classic home, an important milestone in American architecture.

[@bigdaddyd4jc]

Nice. Huge fan of that style. For those of us on teh Eastern part of the US, it is a nice tour. The coat rack: the bottom was for coats and the top was for hats.

[@chris101505]

I was thinking maybe it was for those summer nights so the door could be open and a curtain could be hung for privacy while still allowing a breeze!

[@jban4457]

Arts and crafts and Japanese style strongly connected, it's no wonder there are so many Japanese elements INCLUDING the Noren pole over her bedroom door to hang fabric... lovely touch next to what would have likely been a Japanese style lantern hanging next to it where the newer fixture is now.

[@randallthomas5207]

The Cloud Lift, on the top of the hallway drawer sides, would prevent visible wear on the top of the drawer sides, particularly if there is a rise at the back or the drawer side which would ride on a runner above it.

[@evermore8888]

Awesome building, ....grandeur, strength, elegance, intricacy, style....and timeless...Thanks WW

[@olivier2553]

Despite what is being said in the comments, curtain in front of a door is not uncommon as it helps preserve the heat inside the room.

[@craftsman513]

Beautiful. Greene & Greene make us all look like amateurs.

[@1oftheonez]

I would say the chin up bar is for her quilts ....not clothes. Not efficient for clothes . However the rack is proportioned to fit the size of a neatly folded blanket of some kind ?

[@FelishaWild]

Thanks so much for sharing Marc. I love looking at the design and implementation of things like this. There is just so much to look at in a place like this.

[@1oftheonez]

Green and Green seems to be a sort of a testimony to the quite merging of the highest forms of art...from culturally adverse origins and showing that although sometimes 1,000's of miles apart in time or space they all still aspire to that same greatness of becoming the self solution to the environmental condition of your surrounding . When form follows function beauty is its repercussion when beauty is attained in the functioning form ..the form has mastered its environment .

[@woodwhisperer]

That was the Gamble House in Pasadena. And I believe the interior of the Blacker House was used as well.

[@jamestremblett1875]

at 5:05 in the video the presenter talks about the curiosity of having a full tail at the bottom of each shelf joint and a half pin at the top of each shelf joint. It seems that perhaps the reason that the Greene's would begin with a tail at the bottom of each drawer because the bottom of the drawer would add stability at the corner, and work in proportions upwards, cancelling halfway through the final pin to provide adequate strength at the corners which don't benefit from the security of the bottom panel of the drawer. Also It's woodworkers of times past relied more on proportions than accurate measuring tools so Perhaps beginning with a full tail provided a the template for the remainder of the joint. Any comments on this?

[@rpederse]

Awesome - learned so much. Thanks to Marc and Daryl.

[@woodwhisperer]

Since it was in Mrs. Thorsen's room and was over the door between the bath and bedrooms, my guess was it was for staging clothes.

[@jamestremblett1875]

To clarify, cancelling at the top of the joint with a full tail would be inadvisable, whereas cancelling with a full pin would be unnecessary and, particularly in the Greene's case, un-craftsman like. The half pin provides enough strength at the top and as I've said, the bottom of the drawer stabilizes the bottom corners so a full tail is possible. It's basically showing off knowledge and skill. Peacocking even, but still awesome.

[@TheARMendoza]

thanks for the time and the tour of this amazing home that should inspire us all...

[@joecook4282]

as great as it looks on video, its does not compare to seeing it in person...... great job both to you and darrel....

[@thelosttexan1717]

That is a curtain rod above the door. During hot days they would leave doors open for a draft to flow through the house. The curtain was there so the door could be left open but still give her privacy.

[@willnettles2051]

The bar is a Japanese Noren pole, for those spilt fabric curtains in doorways. Interesting the comment about Art Deco. Just about everyone loves Art Deco, yet often when it's used in movies it ends up being dull (but not always). The Oviatt Penthouse, Olive St. Los Angeles 1927-8 I found quite interesting. Architecturally it's wonderful, but it has a lot of Arts& Crafts elements as well making it more transitional. What I think I learned about style from the Oviatt is that styles that are still changing are the most exciting over time. Greene and Greene copied Japanese styles, but not quite, and as you aptly point out about the pulls, how each is a bit different, perhaps they also had the idea that it is transition, variation, variety where architectural detail is at its best. Which is the finest Greene and Greene pull? It's a ridiculous question. They are all wonderful because they are all similar yet different. In about 1982 I was new to Los Angeles and my friends were driving me around Pasadena and showing me some of the Greene and Greene houses. One was open. We went in. Speculators figured out that if they bought the house, striped the Greene and Greene fixtures--sold them off, then replaced them with something similar they could make money. Rotten people.

[@RichieRich845]

It is a shame that people don't build like this anymore, the skills are disappearing. You should have had Brent Hull taking us on this tour!👍

[@Hobobobobo]

I think I found my dream home.

[@woodwhisperer]

Back then a CFL bulb was built to last 100 years. They just don't make 'em like they used to. :)

[@mikeprokop8947]

Neat house very passionate woodworking.

[@jenniferrowan5090]

very nice, amazing all the detail.

[@sarakrystaf3537]

Thank you for the tour. Very interesting. .

[@jamestremblett1875]

basically it's not a curiosity, it's the ideal joint.

[@Jercarp55]

Great video! It wasn't so much about the house itself as it was the details of the woodwork and naturally so because it's a woodworking site. I would love to know more about the other materials, (plaster, wall coverings, tile, metal etc.) that go into a house like this.

[@jeffpower6473]

And to think not a single piece of Festool machinery was used to do any of this work. 😉

[@Whisperhollow]

Could that chin up bar purpose have been where you could hang tapestry for sound dampening?

[@benny42000]

Which was recently torn down ( gamble house). Hope they saved everything they could.

[@trueleyes]

Boy, I'm finding so many things that this guy is missing in his presentation of the design of this magnificent house. Now he tells us that on the wall there is a sconce light fixture of wood, and he says that the curved mark at the bottom is from a light fixture that "Was Swinging back and forth making this mark?" Are you kidding me? What, is it that windy in the house?" nd this guy is a teacher of design?

[@karlholzenthal8021]

GENIUS

[@warehouse321]

o_o....so.much.detail. absolutely amazing!

[@DellAnderson]

Someone who has travelled to Japan multiple times told me that the bar across the top of the door at T=14:50 ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/aarYYolse5ahgtU) more likely is for hanging a "noren" (暖簾), a privacy curtain that hangs part way down and is split in the middle to allow easy passage, especially given Greene's Japanese influence.

[@seanmiland]

got sand paper?... whoa... a polishers dream style.

[@Buchoass]

Thanks for the tour, very cool.

[@bryancassidy4100]

Right. Its not a chin up bar. It wasn't uncommon to hang blanket or quilts over doors to help retain, heat to a room. It's an Old World and Colonial carry over for heating individual rooms rather than a whole house furnace. Mrs. Thorsen probably had cold hands and feet!

[@selectooldave]

The light switch demonstration lol.

[@fouroakfarm]

Beautiful, thank you for sharing. I live in the area and we have a lot of great bungalows (and Victorians)

[@jbkibs]

that's exactly what i was thinking... what's wrong with leaving the door open and having a nice parted lace curtain there? it would give a soft, sexy feel to the bedroom entrance...

[@josephpulliam1351]

The beauty of this house i i i i i love but this guy stutters stutters stutters alot alot alot

[@benny42000]

Good to know, I just saw Gamble house and a full swing tearing through the roof. Now I don't have to yell at anyone, ha ha.

[@Curia__]

All those houses are awesome, the Gamble House is owned by USC I think and top (I think architect) students get to live there for a semester or so. You're not allowed to take pictures in that one though.

[@nicholastinling1022]

No, it is owned by a women's association of Pasadena. USC has been given the use of the upstairs for their students.

[@tiralie]

Great video. Thanks

[@Majoofi]

Next video: Tutorial; Build Your Own Thorsen House.

[@seanjoys7360]

Were routers or table saws of any sort around in the early 1900s

[@TheJimsock]

Very interesting. Thanks.

[@SkynetT800]

I visited the house it was Pasadena California.

[@woodwhisperer]

Wrong Gamble House. You're talking about the one in Cincinnati. That wasn't a G&G creation but it did belong to the Gamble family.

[@andyhastings5950]

That is only a base cut for a cloud lift. Should have 2 or three lifts.

[@FloppyHatPhotos]

Could it have been to hang a damp sheet for a cooling affect?

[@thatznomoon]

Amazing

[@evermore8888]

How painstakingly long and hard would it take to have built this house... with hand tools??????

[@vijaysp4365]

Vaaranam ayiram movie shooting house ❤❤❤

[@1oftheonez]

YES !

[@rjal1973]

Didn't they use this as Doc Emmit's house in Back to the Future?

[@Lazrahh]

06:50 it's one of those old timey CFL bulbs.

[@trueleyes]

REFERRING TO THE FRENCH DOORS

[@ms0099rg]

guild build?

[@stefanmagyar4042]

Not a bad video, but it could have been so much better if you’d used more lighting with your camera.

[@2handsomeforlaw]

Aptly named house!

[@earlprice9375]

Well, I am merely mortal!

[@rendermatt]

Every design implement left me thinking "thats awesome but if I did that it would just look pretentious and ugly"

[@trueleyes]

That IS NOT A BUTT HINGE it is a PIANO HINGE. Butt hinges are the one in your home and everywhere else it is the most common style of here use here in the US THAT MI FRIEND "TEACHER"? IS A PIANO HINGE

[@rozinant1237]

Look closely, it is a series of butt hinges, each “butted to it’s neighbor, all the way down the door. You would not have found a piano hinge that massive back then.

[@Cintromix]

Shame on you for putting a fluorescent bulb in such a beautiful piece of art

[@tianwang1630]

They should use a retro style led we have today

[@Dave38K]

OK, so the world isn't such a bad place after all.

[@croakerchoker504]

That is not a chin up bar, are u joking.

[@croakerchoker504]

The light fixtures are ridiculous!

[@jbkibs]

lol

[@CeeLiberty]

What a shame its in Berkeley. Damn!!! Won't go anywhere near that garbage city!

[@griiiiiiiiiin]

Amazing