(Reprinted with permission from Our Heritage magazine, published by Save Our Heritage Organisation, Volume 40, Issue 1/2)

By Curtis Drake, LEED AP

The green movement encourages us to use less (which is easier said than done) or to turn to technology to increase the efficiency of our cars, appliances, and homes. Some of these technological changes are fairly simple.
A new energy-efficient refrigerator provides real energy savings. Yet when it comes to our historic homes, we feel compelled to leave them as they are because we recognize they were built in another time, under a very different set of rules. Many of us understand the intrinsic value in the charm and antiquity of the older house and wonder if we can have our green cake and eat it too.
In answer to this question, a great starting place is simply recognizing that with your historic homes you already have a big head start. 

The materials it took and labor to assemble your home years ago continue to serve essential needs for shelter, materials like solid, old-growth wood, copper, lead, and brass. These materials are not only durable and beautiful, but they are increasingly rare and costly in today’s marketplace. 

Such an idea is referred to as embodied energy: the energy required to grow, harvest, and manufacture the materials used to build the shelters we call home. Based on this calculation, we are actually ahead of the energy game.
We must keep in mind that calculating the worth of these older homes is not simply limited to its wealth of embodied energy. We must also consider that most of our older homes are located in residential urban areas built at a time when two miles from downtown was considered a long way out.
Even a mid-century home can often claim a modest commute of less than 20 miles. These homes are often adjacent to public transit, which can save a lot of unnecessary miles on the car. Finally, most of our older homes are more modest in size and pack more quality space in a smaller footprint than today’s average-size bloated home.
Faced with these facts, we cannot simply accept the increasingly popular illusion that the state-of-the art new “green homes are the only or best way to live sustainably. Our historic homes are not only more durable, they also offer many opportunities to incorporate energy saving features of the most advanced homes today.
Technological advances are becoming more affordable and more accessible to the homeowner than ever before. 

So what will allow us to retain the historic fabric of the home while making some changes to substantially reduce our carbon footprint? 

First, take stock of the features around your house that are already contributing to energy efficiency. Perhaps you have recently updated kitchen appliances and light bulbs with Energy-Star rated equipment. If you have installed a new heating system or water heater recently, you know these systems are significantly more efficient than either were even as few as 10 years ago.
Or perhaps your home has passive design features such as broad roof eaves or awnings that shade the windows from direct sun during the hot months of the year. 

Second, most homeowners can seek low-cost, quick pay-back measures to reduce energy use to offset the increasing electricity and gas costs. Start with your utility. SDG&E offers a reduced energy fee if you allow them to regulate your water heater and air conditioning.
Or consider installing a programmable thermostat allowing the air conditioning or heat to idle when you are away at work, turning on again just before you get home. 

If you live in a cold area of San Diego County, you may want to consider adding a layer of attic insulation of R-19 (about 6 inches) or R-30 level (about 10 inches) which can result in a huge increase in efficiency if the house has little or no insulation. Unfortunately, walls are another story and cost more to insulate. Keep in mind the heat loss through walls is considerably less than through roofs.
If you’ve already made a few of the simple changes, you may now be ready to spend a few dollars. Before you ponder replacing the windows, remember that few things negatively impact the historic fabric of your home as much as window replacement. The windows in a historic home are primary to the historic appearance and, replacements are never as graceful as the originals, especially since dual glazing normally enlarges the size of the wood pieces between the glass panes and can look heavy.
Further, that wavy glass and those leaded glass transoms are irreplaceable. Only 10-25 percent of the home’s energy is lost through the windows.
Consider the following list of options that can actively reduce your energy costs and not harm the appearance of your home:

• Solar Hot Water – Usually on the back of the house.
• Solar attic fan – Wall or rooftop units are small and reversible.
• Interior storm windows – Invisible from the outside.
• Water heater – Blanket and pipe insulation.
• Wood stove or fireplace
• Wind Generation – In a discreet or rural location.
• Window weather-stripping – New or upgraded

These are but a few modifications available that are discreet or are reversible in the sense that they can be removed and the original character of the house is still intact. Most high efficiency homes incorporate no more than these types of equipment. In the last five years many residential-scaled items on this list have been developed and are more affordable than ever before.

Once historic homeowners take a moment to consider the many options for improving energy efficiency, we realize we can make significant changes without harming the historic fabric of our historic homes. The key is to methodically assess and to improve low cost areas before moving up to the more costly improvements, always keeping the integrity of your home in mind.

Finally, recycle as much construction debris as possible. Local landfills provide a list of materials eligible for recycling. 

In the end, we can feel empowered again and have some control over our energy costs. Just remember, take it slow and think twice about any changes when working with historic features. We chose our homes because of their historic features. It is our responsibility to save those features even as we try to save energy.

Curtis Drake is a principle with Heritage Architecture, one of the leading preservation architecture firms in the western United States. Curt is currently serving as President of SOHO. Illustration courtesy the author.

Old Pasadena Walking Tour

Tours of Pasadena’s historic Old Pasadena are offered quarterly by Pasadena Heritage on the first Saturday of the month. The dates for 2010 are Feb. 6, May 1, Aug. 7 and Nov. 6.
Old Pasadena, with its fascinating array of historic buildings, is a National Register Historic District and is one of the best examples of downtown revitalization in the country.
Tours are between 9 and 11:15 a.m. and tickets are $10 per person. Reservations are required. To reserve, call (626) 441-6333 or visit pasadenaheritage.org.

By Kris Grant

In the northeast sector of Pasadena, where the city begins its gentle rise into the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains, lies an amazing collection of some 800 bungalow homes, most of which were built between 1900 and the 1930s.
Many are still intact and many more are in various stages of restoration. Most are modest one- and two-story Craftsman-architecture homes; other styles dotting the district include Queen Anne and Gothic-, Spanish-, Colonial- and English-Revival.
Welcome to heaven…bungalow heaven, that is, a place where dreams are made for anyone interested in the history of the Arts & Crafts movement as well as the history of Pasadena.
As part of the annual Pasadena Heritage Weekend, two-hour walking tours of Bungalow Heaven (its name was coined by a city architect in the 1970s) provided up close and personal stories from knowledgeable docents on the homes, the area and elements of Craftsman styling.
Four homes along the tour route were opened up for interior views and included interviews with architects, homeowners and structural engineers on the right (and wrong) way to renovate properties. Many tour goers traveled from other areas of Los Angeles and neighboring counties to secure tips for renovating their own Craftsman homes.
Bungalow Heaven was the first historic district in Pasadena, designated in 1989, following more than four years of work by neighborhood residents of the four-block area who dedicated themselves to preserving its look and feel. Many of the residents were driven in their preservation efforts after witnessing development of massive condominium projects along Washington Boulevard, now one of the district’s boundary streets, which replaced original bungalow homes and were incongruous with the texture of the neighborhood.
In 2008 Bungalow Heaven was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Last month, Bungalow Heaven received a “20th anniversary” present of sorts: the American Planning Association named it one of America’s Top Ten Great Neighborhoods for 2009 – the only one in California that was cited in the APA’s flagship program that celebrates places of “great character, quality and planning.”
The APA called the Bungalow Heaven conservation plan a “model for citywide restoration policies; the plan strives to eliminated unnecessary demolition, stipulates when restoration or modification requires historic preservation review and stimulates the area’s health.”
Here you’ll find most houses clad in similar materials – clapboard, shingles and stucco – Brick and stone, including Arroyo river-rock boulders used generously on foundations, porches, chimneys and fireplaces and retaining walls. Repetition of gabled rooflines and nearly ubiquitous presence of wide front porches contribute to the neighborhood’s architectural character.
Each street in Bungalow Heaven features a different signature tree – camphor, California live oaks, Mexican fan palms and jacaranda among them – all of which form a dense tree canopy across the front yards, most of which are 50 feet wide with parking in the back of the homes. The result is a rich streetscape, the type you dream of raising a young family on, and during this Halloween month, the pumpkins, ghosts, bats and spider webs were adorning many a Craftsman porch.
Bungalow Heaven was also Pasadena’s fist green district, encouraging recycling and reuse activities and now the community is considering group purchases of solar installations.
The walking tour began at McDonald Park, itself a symbol of what a neighborhood can achieve when working together. In 1980 the north end was filled with water as a reservoir for the city. Drug dealers hung out here. Once the neighborhood took interest in the park, began planting trees and purchasing play equipments, it became a central meeting place. Now the park hosts annual Halloween parties, summer movie nights, puppet shows and community picnics.
Along Mentor Avenue, tour guide Lynn Kolberg, a 20-year volunteer for Pasadena Heritage, pointed out an “art stone” wall.  Art stone, she reported, was sold to contractors because they were mixed and molded on site. Some of it was used in its natural state; sometimes it was painted. Next, Kolberg called attention to retaining walls of Arroyo stone, rounded river-rock stones indigenous to the San Gabriel lowlands.  “It was part of the Craftsman philosophy to use local, natural materials,” Kolberg said.
She pointed to a recently restored home, and a front yard garden of native low-water plants. “This design attracts natural wildlife, another philosophy of the Craftsman movement being to bring nature closer to home,” she said. “You will see the drought-tolerant, native plants in a lot of our newer restoration projects around the neighborhood.”
Kolberg said that the single-story Craftsman design was a perfect choice for Pasadena homes, where overhanging eaves, cross ventilation, sleeping porches, outdoor verandas and wide front porches took advantage of the mild to warm climate.
Working-class families appreciated the bungalows’ livability and built-ins provided more space. Bungalow Heaven was part of Pasadena’s population boom that saw the city’s population quadruple from 10,000 to 45,000 between 1900 and 1920.
The area, which had earlier been agricultural land where citrus was the main crop, was annexed to the city of Pasadena in 1906 and a street grid and houses began filling in the area between existing farmhouses.
At the first house on the tour in the 800 block of Mentor, Ben Gonzalez of Classic Architectural Wood Restoration, gave a quick show-and-tell on the right and wrong way to strip wood. “I strip wood from walls in the same way you would strip it from an antique piece of furniture, Gonzalez said. “First, I remove layers of paint with a heat gun, not wire brushes.  Then I use steel wool, not wire brushes.
Gonzalez shows a section of wall that had been stripped by another contractor using sander.  He pointed out the leopard-like contrast of dark and light patterns of the wood – the dark being where the wood’s sap left darker impressions, and the soft wood became far light, more susceptible to the sander.  Gonzalez plans to go back and restrip the wood.
As the group began to walk up Mar Vista Avenue, Kolberg explained that the street name is Spanish for “ocean view” and that, indeed, in the early days of development before the trees matured, one could see glimpses of the Pacific from the elevated foothill district.
She pointed out a Greene and Greene home, the only one in Bungalow Heaven, with a “No comment, reach your own conclusion.” She said it was one of the Greene brother’s earliest works and has been extensively altered over the years, ahem, “prior to the governance of the district.”
At an interior stop at a home on Mar Vista, Kolberg noted that it was one of about 10 homes built by W. A. Waldock. The original 1908 sales price: $1,800. The home is a 1 ½ story with a steeply pitched side-facing gable roof, a full front recessed porch, an Arroyo stone chimney, clapboard siding with shingles in the dormer and gable peaks. Decorative dentil courses across the gable ends that separate the upper and lower stories, and Craftsman frames around all windows and doors.
The house was repossessed by the bank in the 1970s and many inappropriate changes were made to “update” its style; then the house was resold and sold again in 1984 to Mary Gandsey, who owns a wood stripping and painting firm, the Dynamic Advantage. She demonstrated to the group how she is painstakingly renovating and matching paint colors. She too, removes paint with a heat gun, then chemicals, then hand-sanding, then staining and finally, varnish. She works with several pigments which she mixes with DAP putty. Gandsey demonstrated how she would put a bead of three colors on the side of her hand then cover nail holes with the appropriate mix.  “Another problem I’ve had that comes with a house settling are big cracks in corners between built-ins and the walls,” she said.  “Here I used a clear caulk that I mix with a super saturated stain.”
And then Gandsey turned her attention to the granite fireplace. “It was painted white,” she told the group to the sound of gasps. “And so I stripped it.”
But, she confessed, she wasn’t happy with the results. And so she climbed up on the roof, with her painter’s palette in hand, to examine the same stones used in the chimney and to capture their colors.
“And so I painted the fireplace,” she explained to an amazed crowd.
“You mean it’s a faux fireplace?” asked one tour goer.
“Yes,” Gandsey said.  “I used French tapered brushes to get into the edges. I even painted the grout. And because granite has sparkly specks in it, I used just a little gold glitter.”
Kolberg calls the group’s attention to a 1910 home that is in the process of achieving national historic registry designation on its own. “So much of the original structure remains,” she explained, including an L-shaped porch, elephantine posts and a pergola over the driveway. The home is for rent:  two bedrooms, one bath for $2,600 a month.
The homeowners, Joe and Molly Stephens, are eager to show off their 1910 Craftsman, built by Edward Zube, who built about a dozen homes here. The Stephens purchased the home this past March and are in the early stages of restoration. On the front porch they note metal poles that the previous owner had apparently installed to present the upper balcony from sagging. Instead, they’d prefer to remove them and replicate the side columns.
Inside, the Stephens has refinished the floors, but they have much work left to do on the walls, which they say was covered in wall-to-wall paneling of the ’60s era and covered most of the brick fireplace. “We didn’t even know we had a brick fireplace ‘till after we bought the house and removed the paneling,” said Holly.
Although the original casement windows are intact, said Joe, they have all been painted shut. “So we’re very safe,” Holly chirped.
The home yielded more discoveries for a couple young enough to be able to see their way through many happy years of future remodeling.  “We found ghostliness showing us where bookshelves and colonnades were. And we know there was a bay window in the dining room and we will rebuild that,” said Joe.  “And we found some of the original bathroom tile in the back yard.”
The couple didn’t realize that they had a walk- through closet until the former owner removed all their belongings.
Joe, who works for Yahoo, and Holly, an artist, say their next projects are to open those casement windows up and install the bay window.
As the tour proceeds along Michigan Avenue, Kolberg notes a “Boulder Bungalow” home by Coast Construction Co. Here, massive Arroyo stones form the porch foundation between piers of boulder and clinker brick.  “It has a strong rustic effect,” she said.  “Complete with a front porch deer.”
Coast Construction of Los Angeles secured 10 permits to frame bungalows on Michigan Avenue. Each was sold for about $2,900. And each home was somewhat different in is craftsmanship, allowing for individuality and an always interesting mix of residence on the same street.
Kolberg stops by a Hollywood bungalow apartment complex in the district. Although not a Craftsman style, Hollywood bungalows, she said, shared the simplicity of design feature and sense of community.  “These were perfect for single residents or young couples, particularly people who were just getting situated in this area.  Typically, Hollywood bungalows would have a central gathering area and maybe a room in the back for parties. They created, in essence, their own little community.”
At a final stop, Kolberg points out a 1920 bungalow, where a second story pops up like an airplane cockpit on a 747 and has been dubbed an “airplane bungalow.” “Of course, the house was built before airplanes were widely known of,” said Kolberg. “So the name came into being sometime later.” z

The Whaley House Coutroom

Halloween doesn’t come around until Oct. 31, but the Whaley House Museum in Old Town — now operated by the Save Our Heritage Organisation — has schedule several days of spirited special events before that spooky day comes. With extended hours, period lighting and music, exclusive guided tours, a guided tour of Mt. Hope Cemetery, and after-hours ghost hunts, guests will be sure to enjoy frightfully fun times.
The museum’s haunted reputation dates back 150 years to when the Whaley family first occupied the building. “Soon after the couple and their children moved in, heavy footsteps were heard moving about the house,” says an account in The San Diego Union on Oct. 26, 1883. “Whaley described them as sounding as though they were made by the boots of a large man. Finally he came to the conclusion that these unexplained footfalls were made by Yankee Jim Robinson (who was hanged on the property in 1852.)”
“The Whaley House is one of the most actively haunted mansions in the world today,” said ghost hunter Hans Holzer, who wrote more than 120 books on the subject. Its reputation has brought visitors from around the globe and in recent years has lead to numerous televised ghost investigations by shows such as “Most Haunted” and the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” In 2005 Life Magazine declared it “the most haunted house in America.” Spirits believed to inhabit the historic home include Thomas Whaley and his wife Anna, their daughter Violet, their great-granddaughter Marion, their fox terrier Dolly Varden, and of course “Yankee Jim” Robinson.
Robinson, a desperado convicted of attempted grand larceny, was hanged on the grounds where the Whaley House now stands in September 1852, a few years before the building was constructed. Legend has it that his spirit never left the spot where the gallows stood and now roams the halls of the Whaley House.
The Whaley House was built by San Diego pioneer Thomas Whaley to house his growing family and his general mercantile store, and is believed to be the oldest two-story brick building in Southern California. When completed in 1857, The San Diego Union called it the most elegant home in San Diego. The building served at various times as the county seat and courthouse, San Diego’s first commercial theater, a granary, store, kindergarten and Sunday school, party venue and ballroom, polling place, and meeting place for both the City Council and County Board of Supervisors. Former California state Sen. James Mills has said that the Whaley House “has sheltered more history than any other building in the city.”

October Schedule of Events
(Except for special limited tours, no reservations are necessary)

Friday, Oct. 16
Whaley House Ghost Tour
12:30 a.m. -2 a.m.
Join the Whaley House Museum staff and the San Diego Ghost Hunters for an exclusive hour-long paranormal investigation of “America’s Most Haunted.”
Attendance is limited to 20 each night, advance ticket purchase is strongly recommended. $50 per person.
Friday, Oct. 23 and Saturday, Oct. 24
Open 10 a.m.-midnight. Daytime admission $6 for adults; $5 for seniors (55+); $4 for children (3-12); 2 and under are free. Evening admission (5p.m.-midnight) $10 for adults; $5 for children (3-12); 2 and under are free.

Whaley House Ghost Tour
12:30 a.m.-2 a.m. (After museum closes at midnight Friday and Saturday).
Join the Whaley House Museum staff and the San Diego Ghost Hunters for an exclusive hour-long paranormal investigation of “America’s Most Haunted.” Attendance is limited to 20 each night, advance ticket purchase is strongly recommended. $50 per person.

Sunday, Oct. 25
Mount Hope Cemetery Tour
1-4 p.m.
Some of San Diego’s most notable citizens are waiting for you beneath the beautiful grounds and rolling hills of Mount Hope Cemetery. Join historian Alex Bevil as he evokes the storied past of this historic cemetery, highlighting history, mysteries, and scandals involving those who make Mount Hope their final resting place. Attendance is limited to 20, advance ticket purchase strongly recommended. $20 for SOHO Members; $25 for nonmembers. For more details and tickets, visit sohosandiego.org, select Tours & Events from menu.
Monday, Oct. 26 and Tuesday, Oct. 27
Open 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Daytime admission $6 for adults; $5 for seniors (55+); $4 for children (3-12); 2 and under are free. Evening admission (5-10 p.m.)
$10 for adults; $5 for children (3-12); 2 and under are free.

Exclusive Oil Lamp Tours
10:30-11:30 p.m.
A special hour-long, guided oil lamp tour of the haunted Whaley House. Learn about the history and the mystery of one of San Diego’s most historic and most haunted attractions. Interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing are available with two weeks notice. Call (619) 297-7511 to make request.
Attendance is limited to 20 each night, advance ticket purchase is strongly recommended. $25 per person.
Wednesday, Oct. 28
Open 5-10 p.m. Admission $10 for adults; $5 for children (3-12); 2 and under are free.
Exclusive Oil Lamp Tours
10:30-11:30 p.m.
Another hour-long, guided oil lamp tour of the Whaley House. Interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing are available with two weeks notice. Call (619) 297-7511 to make request. Attendance is limited to 20 each night, advance ticket purchase is strongly recommended. $25 per person.
Thursday, Oct. 29
Open 10 a.m.-midnight. Daytime admission $6 for adults; $5 for seniors (55+); $4 for children (3-12); 2 and under are free. Evening admission (5 p.m.-midnight) $10 for adults; $5 for children (3-12); 2 and under are free.

Friday, Oct. 30
Open 10 a.m.-midnight. Daytime admission $6 for adults; $5 for seniors (55+); $4 for children (3-12); 2 and under are free. Evening admission (5 p.m.-midnight) $10 for adults; $5 for children (3-12); 2 and under are free.
Saturday, Oct. 31
Open 10 a.m. -5p.m. Daytime admission $6 for adults; $5 for seniors (55+); $4 for children (3-12); 2 and under are free.

Halloween Nighttime
5 p.m.-midnight. Period music, historic lighting, & tales of paranormal encounters will raise your spirits. $15 per person.

The Duke and The Duchess of Windsor

By Joe Ditler

She caused a King to abdicate his throne; she changed the course of history. She has been compared to femme fatales such as Delilah, Cleopatra and Mata Hari, but the true story of this Coronado socialite is more compelling than any fiction.
On Oct. 16-19, The Duke & Duchess of Windsor Society will hold its first international conference at the Hotel del Coronado. Noted British historian Hugo Vickers is the featured speaker. He has authored numerous biographies about the British Royal Family and is currently penning a new biography about the Duchess.
Vickers has appeared on numerous national talk shows including “Larry King Live” and Fox TV. He is considered a world authority on the British Royal Family.
“I do think the Duchess is one of the most unfairly maligned women of the 20th century,” said Vickers. “And yet, what man ever gave up so much for one woman? Was it the great love story of our time, or something else?”
The 1936 abdication is pivotal to the world in which we live today. It changed history and the course of British succession. Queen Elizabeth II’s lengthy reign is the direct result of her uncle King Edward VIII’s decision in 1936 to abdicate in favor of his younger brother, King George VI, Elizabeth’s father.
Additionally, it has been well documented that Adolf Hitler’s campaign and strategy, upon the defeat of Great Britain, was to restore Edward to the throne. A film about the King and Mrs. Simpson is currently in the works, according to an article in the London Daily Mail, to be produced and directed by Madonna.
Over the years, rumor and myth have become legend and lore — stories about their sexual lifestyle, whether or not they were Nazi spies, what the FBI files had on the couple, or if they actually first met in 1920 when the Prince of Wales visited the Hotel del Coronado.
One of the goals of the conference will be to examine the San Diego/Coronado legend, and to review Wallis’ time in this area, thanks to the work of local historian and journalist, Dr. Benjamin Sacks, who has investigated and written extensively on the topic.
An incredible array of events will take place during the four-day conference. The society will screen a documentary film by producer Christine Carter (who co-produced “Edward on Edward,” with H.R.H. Prince Edward) titled “The Demonized Duchess.”
Speakers include the Reverend James Leo, the Duchess of Windsor’s vicar in the final years of her life, and Richard Rene Silvin, who enjoyed a close friendship with the Duchess in Paris, following the Duke’s death in 1972.
Actress and producer Lena Farugia will perform select scenes from her play about the Duchess of Windsor, which recently had its European premier at the Finborough Theatre in London. The performance will be part of the Windsor Gala Saturday evening.
The exact meal that was served to the Prince of Wales in 1920 will be prepared and served Saturday night, based on the original menu. The meal will take place in the Hotel Del’s historic Crown Room, the same location he dined in 1920.
A special exhibit on the Duke & Duchess of Windsor will be staged at the Coronado Public Library Oct. 3-Nov. 27. The library also will host an intimate lecture and book signing by Hugo Vickers Friday, Oct. 16 at 6:30 p.m. The lecture is free but advance reservations are required.

The seminar is available to the general public, but advance reservations are required. Tickets are $95 per day (or $135 with lunch), $270 for the entire conference (or $360 with lunches). The Windsor Gala and multi-course historic, 1920 Prince of Wales meal is $185 per person.

The Duke & Duchess of Windsor Society is made up of international writers historians and collectors dedicated to recognizing and recording the historical significance of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor. The organization commemorates its 20th anniversary this year.

The Coronado gathering will launch a conference series at famous Windsor haunts such as Washington DC, New York, London, Paris, Palm Beach, Nassau and even an Atlantic crossing.

Stickey Chair

Legendary Arts & Crafts Furniture Company Continues American-Made Hand Craftsmanship Well into its Second Century

Stickley
Road Show

Featuring Mike Danial, L & J. G. Stickley Corporate Historian

Wednesday, Oct. 28
Wine and Cheese, 6 p.m.
Program, 7 p.m.

Seaside Home
7509 Girard Avenue,
La Jolla

Seating is limited;
reservations:
(858) 454-0866

By Kris Grant

The story of Stickley furniture begins with three words “Als Ik Kan,” an old Flemish craftsman’s phrase meaning “to the best of my ability.”
Gustav Stickley marked every product with that phrase to assure customers that his furniture was of the finest quality and that each piece was made with integrity and pride.
Gustav Stickley was born in Osceola, Wisconsin in 1858 and in 1901 founded The Craftsman, a periodical which expounded the philosophy of the English Arts & Crafts movement based on the teachings of William Morris. But Stickley refined the philosophy into a distinctly American voice and promoted an organic architecture – architecture that promotes harmony between humans and the natural world. This philosophy carried over to the furniture that was crafted by not only Gustav, but his four brothers – Albert, Charles, Leopold and John George.
All five brothers began making furniture at their uncle’s factory in Brandt, Pennsylvania around 1877. From 1883 to 1918 every Stickley had worked with each brother on at least one venture, though at no time did all five work together.
The L. & J.G. Stickley Company of today was founded in 1904 by the two youngest Stickley brothers: Leopold and John George. Leopold was the founder and guiding force of the company. He started his career as foreman of Gustav’s furniture factory and through his career was known to be an elite cabinetmaker and businessman. Co-founder John George was considered to be the best furniture salesman of his time.
Meanwhile, in 1904, Gustav Stickley visited California and was taken with the simplicity of Mission style design, which he said “proves to be the most genuine expression of American feeling in domestic architecture that has yet appeared.”
Now Seaside Home, with stores in La Jolla, Rancho Santa Fe and Coronado, has been appointed the exclusive Stickley representative for San Diego County. The stores will carry the Stickley Mission line – all 398 items – with many of the pieces on display in unique lifestyle settings at the two-story La Jolla store.
And to celebrate the inauguration of the renowned Craftsman furniture line, still manufactured in large part in its native New York, Seaside Home La Jolla will host the Stickley Road Show.
The stories of the Stickley family and its legendary furniture will come to La Jolla on Oct. 28, when Mike Danial, a 35-year veteran of the company and today its Corporate Historian, will highlight the fascinating history of Stickley furniture. Danial will share his own unique experiences researching the company history, where he uncovered design documents that had not been hidden away in basement cabinets for decades, and stories of families who have been enjoying Stickley furniture for generations.
He will also discuss issues regarding identification, value, care and restoration of original Stickley items.
L & J. G. Stickley Company began manufacturing Arts & Crafts furniture in 1905 and almost immediately became a major influence on American furniture-making. They acquired Gustav’s Craftsman Workshops in 1918, joining the two major Mission furniture lines.
While changing tastes and economic trends wreaked havoc on other companies, L. & J. G. Stickley persevered by adapting to colonial revival furniture through its Cherry Valley Collection and by diversifying to meet institutional needs. By 1950, L & J.G. Stickley was the one remaining Stickley furniture company. The company has been owned by Alfred and Aminy Audi since 1974 (Alfred passed away in 2007).
In 1985, the Audis moved from the century-old factory in Fayetteville, New York to neighboring Manlius, where Stickley furniture continues to be produced to this day.
The original Stickley factory, where craftsmen worked for over eight decades, is now the site of the Stickley Museum. In the old finishing room, visitors can explore an 8,000 square foot exhibit, “A Well Crafted Legacy.”
Some Stickley design features are visible; others have to be discovered, like Stickley’s unique side-hung and center-guided drawers, a Leopold Stickley innovation from the late 1920s. The center guide keep drawers from skewing sideways and the side suspension keeps them level, even when heavily loaded, ensuring generations of smooth operation. The drawers are also dovetailed in all four corners, fully corner blocked on the bottom, carefully fitted, numbered and dated.
Today, the company has 900 employees.
The creation of a Stickley piece begins with the careful selection of the highest grade of solid wood available; one piece door fronts are matched for grain and color, ensuring an exclusively translucent finish. Only Stickley tongue and grooves the boards in its table tops, allowing an almost indestructible glue joint and allowing for nearly 20 percent extra finished thickness on all tops.
Early Craftsmen knew the value of carefully pinned chair joints; Stickley is one of the few remaining furniture companies that still take this extra stop to ensure a lasting product.
Stickley’s legendary finish begins with intensive hand sanding where the pores of the woods are opened and its innate beauty is enhanced by a series of complex applications using dyes rather than pigments. Scores of skilled hand operations including hand glazing and hand rubbing provide a penetratingly deep yet clear finish that is resistant to heat, alcohol and marring.
Back panels on most bookcases and china tops are made of individual solid ship-lapped planks.
Stickley furniture has been called “pure geometry” – simple, linear and proportional – and a powerful departure from the ornate designs of the Victorian era. Stickley called it “honest furniture” in which exposed construction was unhidden of adornment.
Clean lines, the inherent beauty of natural wood, simple construction and honest design have continued over a century to be at the heart of the Stickley’s craft.
“Leopold Stickley would have been considered green before his time,” said Mike Danial, “Like Gustav, he believed in using local, sustainable materials and what is more sustainable than wood? Stickley furniture is meant to last more than one’s lifetime, often being passed from one generation to the next and the next.” . z