EVERGREENE
RESILIENCE
OUR COMMUNITY PERSEVERES AS MANY STRIVE TO REBUILD HOUSES AND TO REESTABLISH A SENSE OF SAFETY AND COMFORT THAT FEELS, AGAIN, LIKE HOME
I AM WRITING this message five weeks after our community was struck by the devastating Eaton Firestorm of 2025. The neighborhoods of Altadena and east Pasadena, just a few miles from the Gamble House, have suffered incalculable losses, including the complete destruction of 9,400 homes, schools, houses of worship and businesses. Eight of our docents lost their homes and everything in them. Another lost a garage. Several more are still unable to occupy their homes because of smoke and ash damage and proximity to the toxic remnants of neighbors’ homes. Our Pathway and Junior Docents also suffered losses. Some lost family homes, others’ schools burned. One hundred of their teachers and administrators lost their homes.
Amidst the trauma there are signs of rebirth. Most of our displaced docents have found temporary housing nearby. Many have already started plans to rebuild. Some are considering other options, but no one is stagnant. Recovery is a bumpy road. There are the negotiations with insurance companies, FEMA, new architects and contractors. But there is also the task of remembering and replacing all the things that make a home a home. Each step takes grit and stamina, reconciling and mourning loss while moving forward.
At the recommendation of long-time docent Michael Murray, the Docent Council and The Conservancy formed the Docent Support Committee. The diverse committee includes docents, staff and a Conservancy board member. As of this writing, we have collected over $36,800, to assist docents who have lost everything. The first distribution will be made shortly.
We recognize that while money is a necessity in times like this, more important are the human contact and friendship that help heal trauma and repair each member of our community. Each person will heal in their own way, but we want to be here to provide support, an ear, or a shoulder to cry on. Every docent who was affected by the fire may take a leave of absence,
SUSAN POWERS
DOCENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT
if they choose. We encourage all, regardless of leave status, to visit the Gamble House and take advantage of the healing environment. Pop into the house to look at the things that first made you gasp in awe. Chat with your fellow docents or staff. Attend an event. Sit in the garden and watch the hummingbirds [see page 5]. Read a book.
Finally, the printed 2025 Docent Council Roster will be delayed a few months to ensure we have updated contact information for all docents, including those who are displaced. Requests for leaves of absence should be made to Susan Powers, (626)429-4777 or president@ghdocentcouncil. org. Donations to the Docent Support Fund are being accepted in any amount via Zelle to president@ghdocentcouncil.org or by check made out to Docent Council of the Gamble House with a note in the memo Docent Support Fund. Checks can be mailed to the Gamble House, 4 Westmoreland Pl., Pasadena, CA 91103, attn: Docent Support Fund, or left in the treasurer’s box in Mr. Gamble’s Den.
JENNIFER TROTOUX
DIRECTOR OF COLLECTIONS AND INTERPRETATION
6 PROTECTING OUR
A FEW DAYS AFTER the start of the Eaton Fire, I had to go out of town for a family event. Though I was in Oregon, I found myself surrounded by former Altadenans who spoke of little besides the fire and all the roots that our families were losing. I assured folks in one conversation after another that our house was not in danger. But what was really on my mind was the Gamble House, and it didn’t seem right to blurt out, “I’m more concerned about my responsibility for a National Historic Landmark!”
“WE COULDN’T JUST LEAVE EVERYTHING AND DO NOTHING, SO WE WERE COMPELLED TO DO WHAT WAS IN OUR POWER AT THAT MOMENT.”
Just two days before, the Gamble House staff had faced a magnified version of a crisis that thousands of others faced: should we really evacuate collections from the house? How much time do we have while it’s still safe? What can we transport in the vehicles on hand? And where will we put these things when they’re evacuated? Not to mention: what other crises do I have to attend to right now? Recall that some staff members’ own homes and families needed similar attention at the same moment!
The morning after the start of the fire I had a houseful of evacuees, but I arrived at the Gamble House at 10 a.m. Sheryl and Alex were already gearing up to move things out of the house. I retrieved the plan I’d prepared that imagined a very different type of fire event, in which first responders and many other hands were available to assist. This consisted of floor plans of the house with important objects marked on them for evacuation. It was helpful in the moment to have already gone through that exercise, but as a “plan,” it simply didn’t apply in this
situation.
What was most helpful was the work that I had done to prepare our Collections Management Policy, which we finalized in 2022. That process involved categorizing the collection to prioritize items for display and interpretation and for conservation treatment – or, as it turns out, for protection in an emergency. For example, the category of Greene & Greene furniture is at the top of the hierarchy, while the category of objects given to us at a later date, and not designed for the house or associated with the Gamble family, is a lower priority.
Other prior knowledge that gave us some direction had to do with moveable objects like pictures and art glass lanterns. Some of these we know are readily removable, while others are permanently affixed or exceedingly complicated to remove, as we’ve discovered through watching our electrician struggle to replace a socket! Without wasting time, we knew what we could remove safely and what we could not.
In addition to their significance or relevance to the collection, objects that were small and manageable clearly had an advantage. Some things were easy to pack and transport, while others might be too bulky or heavy or too vulnerable. Did we have a container that would fit a given object (that Lueders lamp in the main hall is bigger than it looks)? Could it be taken apart? Once we ran out of moving blankets, we pressed into service the wrapping and padding materials stashed in my closet, polyester tablecloths we use for events, and unused bedding from the linens room upstairs.
Some staff were on the edge of evacuation areas and had to return home once most of the moving, packing and loading was done. That left two of us and our vehicles available for transport. And where were we going to put these precious things to wait out the danger? I didn’t feel right about putting anything in my garage, and the house was too full of
people, pets, and activity. I called a friend who lives in a spacious house well out of the fire zone and asked if she could provide safe harbor. Not only did she agree, but she jumped immediately into her empty minivan and came to help us. Filling two minivans and my hatchback, we were able to move about 30 objects to her house in one trip. They would stay there for the next week. When I returned home, I sat down with the online collections management system and recorded what had been moved off-site.
What did we take with us? Things that were one of a kind and irreplaceable topped the list, tempered by whether they could be moved, of course. That meant we had to say no to the dining table and yes to a selection of chairs to represent several of the suites of furniture in the house. We said no to nearly all of our art pottery collection, but yes to the two Rookwood pieces that the Gambles brought with them from Cincinnati. Mrs. Gamble’s writing desk was left behind, but two much smaller and lighter desks from the main floor, along with their inlaid letter boxes, came with us. We also considered which objects were on loan and already offsite: one living room rug and two Gamble House chairs are safe at The Huntington, not to mention the Gambles’ chiffonier.
By nature, I am not a sharp responder in an emergency situation. It’s too easy for me to overthink the situation and feel overwhelmed by the futility of what we were trying to do. What kept me going was that the task seemed, at the same time, entirely necessary, despite it all. We couldn’t just leave everything and do nothing, so we were compelled to do what was in our power at that moment. We could only do so much, but in hindsight it seems like a lot of useful action considering the short notice, terrible conditions, and limited resources of every kind.
Two weeks later, we spoke to the leadership of the Eames House, also a National Historic Landmark, which was imperiled at the same
COLLECTIONS
during the Eaton Fire
time by the Palisades Fire. That historic property was close to the Getty Fire in 2019, which director Lucia Atwood told us was their wake-up call for more active emergency planning; she suggested that the Eaton Fire would do the same for us. Now that we have seen first-hand that the threat of fire is not merely theoretical, we will see a similar advancement in our own planning to protect the Gamble House and its collections from future emergencies. But with all the planning one might do, adjustments and creativity are always required in the moment, given that no two disasters are alike. We have shown that we can think on our feet, and importantly, we see how a solid foundation of forethought is essential to that effort.
PUT IT IN THE CLOUD
IN THE WAKE of the fires, there’s increased awareness of the importance of documenting your possessions for insurance purposes. The Gamble House has very good records of everything in our collection, all stored in the cloud. At home, we (myself included!) need to take care of this before the urgency fades and many of us go back to our prior state of mind. You’ve all heard the advice to take video (and store it in the cloud) of the interior of your home, including opening drawers and closets and narrating what you’re looking at for added detail. Let’s resolve to do that, since none of us has a Matterport virtual tour of our interiors like the Gamble House does!
If you have special collections at home, here are two online cataloging resources to consider that you can access and edit from anywhere on your mobile device, laptop, desktop, etc.
FOR YOUR ART/ANTIQUES COLLECTION: The Gamble House uses CatalogIt. Store up to 50 entries for free (warning: it’s hard to stop at 50!) Store up to 1,500 entries with a subscription of $150/year.
FOR YOUR BOOK COLLECTION: The Docent Council uses Libib. Libib Basic is a free subscription. Store up to 5,000 entries and organize them in up to 100 collections.
These precious items from the Gamble House, among 30 that were moved to safety, rest in their temporary quarters, far from fire danger. After a week they returned to their home unharmed.
Heather Marquez, Sheryl Scott, Alex Salinas and Alex Rasic breathe a collective (albeit smoky) sigh of relief as they prepare to unwrap and return evacuated objects to their places in the Gamble House.
Jennifer Trotoux and Alex Rasic reinstall one of the living room lanterns. Since they were easy to remove, the lanterns were a clear choice for evacuation from the house.
COMMUNITIES OF SUPPORT
ALEX RASIC
JAMES N. GAMBLE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
COMMUNITY HAS A VARIETY OF DEFINITIONS: NEIGHBORS WE SHARE A SENSE OF PLACE WITH, PEOPLE WE SHARE INTERESTS OR BELIEFS WITH, THOSE WE SHARE EXPERIENCES WITH, AND MANY MORE
SINCE THE EATON FIRE upended our lives in January, we have seen incredible examples of support from numerous communities that surround and care for the Gamble House. Docents and staff wasted no time in coming together to help impacted members of our Gamble House community through the creation of the Docent Support Group. We prioritized the care of people, maintaining contact and offering help as best we can through personal interactions, phone calls, emails, and texts. The All-Docent Meeting on January 25 was a welcome and needed opportunity for us to check in with one another and share important updates and information.
Knowing the power the Gamble House has to create feelings of respite and calm, staff and docents also wanted to host a program for people in the region to come together. It was cold and rainy at the Community Open House on January 26, and we would have been happy if 200 people came, but we ended up with over 400 in attendance. Strangers welcomed difficult conversations, and people listened to each other with compassion and care. We surveyed visitors to ask them how they’d like to see us support the community as we heal and rebuild after the fire. The top three responses were:
1. Opportunities for community engagement (meetups, neighborhood walks, focused discussions, etc.).
2. Programs for children and families
impacted by the fires.
3. Programs that inspire creativity. We had already begun developing programs to address these needs, including recitals with the Pasadena Conservatory of Music, planning for drop-in maker days and book distributions, and camp programs for children, so it felt good to see that our plans were in alignment with community members’ desires. Coming out of the pandemic, we increased collaborations with local nonprofits, which made it easier to quickly connect with groups affected by the fire, such as the Pasadena Audubon Society, who lost their Hummingbird Cantina at the Eaton Canyon Nature Center (please see page 5). While nobody wishes a disaster on any community, good things come from those who inspire hope and renewal.
As I write, Heather Marquez and I are representing the Gamble House at the 38th annual National Arts & Crafts Conference in Asheville, NC. This gathering brings together craftspeople, authors, builders, architects, designers, historic homeowners and more. Attendees enjoy a variety of seminars and workshops, along with antique and contemporary craft shows. Particularly in view of the catastrophic losses in this region wreaked by Hurricane Helene, some of which are still visible in the area, we’ve had a steady stream of conversations with people from around the country who stopped by our booth to inquire about the house, docents,
staff, and our surrounding neighborhoods. They were pained to hear about the loss of Greene & Greene homes. Many people told us that they had been monitoring fire maps and frequently checking our social media pages to see if the house was OK. They expressed relief and sadness for the historic resources lost in Altadena and the Palisades. They also shared treasured memories of past visits to the Gamble House, or told us that they now wanted to visit more than ever.
As things were winding down on our first day, one man told us about how surprised he was to be so overcome with emotion when he walked through the front door of the house on his first and only visit many years ago. “I just can’t explain it,” he said, “you’re standing inside a work of art. A photo just isn’t the same” Like all of us, he could not imagine a world without the Gamble House. It was wonderful to be able to thank people for their support and care, and to encourage them to keep supporting the things they love in times of uncertainty.
On the final day of the conference, I will join staff from the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms in a group discussion about historic preservation during natural disasters. While historic sites like ours expect threats, we are faced with new ones that are coming more frequently, and we need to be all the more prepared to protect ourselves and our collections as we also strive to serve our communities near and far.
Welcome to the
Cantina Hummingbird
SHERYL SCOTT DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND OPERATIONS
WE ARE HAPPY to announce our partnership with Pasadena Audubon Society (PAS) on the installation of a Hummingbird Cantina in the Nancy Greene Glass Memorial Garden at the Gamble House. PAS sadly recently lost their previous Cantina, which had been located at Eaton Canyon Nature Center, during the fires. We’ve been planning collaborations with PAS for several months, so we didn’t hesitate to offer our garden as the new Cantina location when we found out they
were in need.
The Cantina will give hummingbirds access to food year round, but especially during fall and spring migration. Hummingbirds must search for food in new areas due to the Eaton Fire, and shifts in bloom cycles due to climate change. One particular sub-species, the Rufous Hummingbird, is being forced to leave its higher altitudes in the mountains in order to search for food. We hope this Cantina will keep the Rufous and all the other
BELOW IS INFORMATION ON SOME OF THE HUMMINGBIRDS YOU MAY SEE IN THE GARDEN. IF YOU SEE AN AUDUBON VOLUNTEER, PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO SAY HELLO AND ASK THEM TO TELL YOU MORE ABOUT OUR FABULOUS FEATHERED FRIENDS.
Allen’s Hummingbird Selasphorus sasin. We’re fortunate enough to be in the belt of coastal Southern California where these green and orange hummingbirds can be seen year-round. In fact, they are now the most common hummingbird in the area, and are also the most aggressive in defending territories and chasing rivals away from nectar sources. Males have a fiery red throat (or gorget) with a white collar over an orange breast. Females and juveniles show only a spot of red on the throat and a much paler orange wash on their flanks. Allen’s Hummingbirds breed as far north as the central coast of Oregon and migrate as far south as central Mexico for winter.
Anna’s Hummingbird Calypte anna. Slightly larger than other local hummingbirds, and at one time the most common. Gorget and crown of adult males are a dazzling purple garnet. Females may have a rosy patch on throat. No traces of orange on front or back as in Allen’s and Rufous Hummingbirds. Anna’s Hummingbirds range from British Colombia to Baja California and east to West Texas. They are migratory but can be seen in our area year-round.
Black-chinned Hummingbird Archilochus alexandri. Black-chinned Hummingbirds are only in the Greater Los Angeles area for their breeding season, which runs from mid-April to late September. The breeding range extends from Baja California north to lower British Columbia Though remarkably similar to Anna’s Hummingbird in appearance, the upper throats of adult male Black-chinned Hummingbirds are sable, befitting their name, and their gorgets are deeper purple and flatter-margined than those of adult male Anna’s. Bills of both sexes are slightly more curved
than Anna’s Hummingbirds.
Calliope Hummingbird Selasphorus calliope. A largely montane species, the Calliope Hummingbird, at 3.25” long, holds the distinction of being the smallest bird in North America. Most of its breeding range is north of Los Angeles County, but a small discrete breeding territory exists in the San Gabriel Mountains, and in April and May, they will on rare occasions make an appearance in the lower elevations of the Los Angeles Basin. Apart from size, the adult male’s unique, striated gorget is the key identifying field mark.
Costa’s Hummingbird Selasphorus costae. Although more common in desert environments further inland, Costa’s Hummingbird can be seen occasionally around the Los Angeles Basin, especially during the warmer months. They are generally similar in appearance to Anna’s and Black-chinned hummingbirds, but are smaller, with shorter tails. Their most telling feature is long lateral extensions on the deep purple gorgets of adult males.
Rufous Hummingbird Selasphorus rufus. Rufous Hummingbirds pass through California heading north to their breeding grounds, which extend from the Pacific Northwest to Alaska, between February and April, then back south from July to September to their overwintering grounds deep in Mexico. They migrate further than any other North American hummingbird. Their strong resemblance to Allen’s Hummingbird makes positive identification a real challenge. In adult males the back is almost completely orange, but certainty requires examining photographs of flared tail feathers, which will have broader tips, with notches in the second pair in both sexes of Rufous Hummingbirds.
NANCY GREENE GLASS MEMORIAL GARDEN BECOMES A
HUMMINGBIRD WAY STATION
hummingbird species from traveling great distances, and from being forced to change their migration patterns.
The Cantina consists of five feeders on “shepherd’s poles” placed throughout the garden. During this gentle launch, Audubon staff and volunteers will be in the garden from time to time to engage with visitors and answer questions regarding the installation. We plan to add signage and offer educational programming in the very near future.
Pasadena Audubon Society representatives Carl Matthies (coordinator), Deb Tammerau (board member on the project team), and Jared Nigro (Education Director) gather at the Hummingbird Cantina.
Oliver Huang, a sixth-grader at South Pasadena Middle School, hangs a hummingbird feeder that he has just filled. Oliver is part of a team of Pasadena Audubon Society volunteers who arrive every day to fill the feeders in the Nancy Greene Glass Memorial Garden. According to his father, Oliver has made a thorough study of hummingbirds, and has become an expert on the topic.
LIVING HISTORY: WHAT BECOMES A LEGEND MOST?
WHAT CAN ONE SAY ABOUT NANCY MARINO THAT HASN’T ALREADY BEEN SAID? THE HISTORY COMMITTEE ATTEMPTS TO DEMYSTIFY AN ICON OF OUR RANKS
IT SEEMS A TRUISM that the further you get from your docent class year, the less time you spend at the Gamble House. Not so for Nancy Marino, who started in 1988 and continues to give tours multiple times a week with the same sense of fun that she’s had through four decades of dedication.
In that time, Nancy has held nearly every leadership post, and among Gamble House docents, she is the sole recipient of the President’s Lifetime Volunteer Service Award.
Where did this legend come from? Intriguingly enough, there’s a sense of destiny to the story.
Nancy Marino was born in 1943 in Pasadena to Bill Collier, an engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Lola Collier, a talented seamstress and artist who practiced Chinese brush painting and ikebana , surrounding Nancy with Asian art from an early age. The family lived in Lower Hastings Ranch, in a ranch-style house that Bill designed.
“We went through the Gamble House the first day it was opened to the public.”
As youths, Bill and Lola worked in and around the mansions on Orange Grove Avenue. Nancy grew up hearing stories about those stately homes, and a teenage Nancy and her best friend Judy would drive along Millionaire’s Row for fun. “We went through the Gamble House the first day it was opened to the public,” Nancy says.
Nancy remained in the San Gabriel Valley after marrying Philadelphia native Albert Marino in 1971. They raised a daughter, Danielle, and a granddaughter, Kaitlin.
“Besides Al, the Gamble House is the best thing that ever happened to me,” Nancy says. It was Al who guessed that Nancy would enjoy being a docent after he learned about the program through docent Ellie King.
Before her first tour, Nancy confessed to classmate Shizi Akasaki, “I don’t think I can do this!” But she took to it so well that once becoming a docent, Nancy retired from her 25-year career at a food brokerage to turn her full attention to the Gamble House.
To know her is to know a welcoming, generous, and above all, fashionable woman (or, as Director Emeritus Ted Bosley says, “immaculately turned-out”). Ted remembers the first time they met.
“I didn’t know where to look first,” he says. “Would it be her bright red, sparkly earrings? Her equally sparkly brooch? Or any of the other details of her spectacular way of dressing, dominated by those signature reds?”
Another former director, Randell Makinson, told Nancy—then still a new docent—that it wouldn’t be long before she became president of the Docent Council. Surprising herself, she soon did, serving two terms in that post and going on to chair many committees. She is currently Docent Council parliamentarian and a member of The Conservancy’s Board of Trustees. Along with Docent Training Committee co-chair Diana Vlacich, Nancy restructured the docent training, laying the foundation for the current curriculum. As a tribute to her devotion, Ted Bosley and Al Marino established an endowment in Nancy’s name to support docent training.
Unofficially, Nancy acts as the house’s head recruiter. I met Nancy in 1990 on one of her tours, and it was Nancy’s power of persuasion that contributed to my decision to become a docent.
Nancy, who turned 82 in January, thinks often about how her relationship to the Gamble House will change as she gets older. “When the day comes that I either mentally or physically cannot do a good tour, I will have to stay home, and I don’t know what I’ll do,” she says. “The time will come, as it does, for all of us. I’ll do as much touring as I can before [then].”
Through the years, when I’ve heard docents talk about how special the Gamble House is to their lives, there always seems to be one constant: a feeling of family and friendship. Nancy Marino exemplifies this culture in its brightest sense, and that is what becomes this legend most.
JOHN AZAR
TOP: Pasadena native Nancy Collier at age 4. MIDDLE: Nancy models her stylish, signature red. BOTTOM: Nancy stands at the entrance to her beloved Gamble House with John Azar, author of this profile.
TAKING CHARGE ELECTRIC VEHICLES
ROBERT SIMINGER
IN THE FINAL INSTALLMENT OF THE GAMBLE TRANSPORTATION SERIES, WE LEARN MORE ABOUT
THOSE EARLY PLUG-IN CARS, DRIVEN ABOUT TOWN
BY DAVID AND MARY
THE PERIOD BETWEEN 1900 and 1920 was one of enormous innovation, experimentation, and progress for the American automobile industry. Because there were not yet any design, production or safety standards, the manufacturers were free to let their imaginations run wild. It seems that every inventor in the country had a “better idea” for this new means of transportation, and dozens, if not hundreds, of new automobile manufacturing companies sprang up. Many of the new vehicles were nothing more than self-propelled wagons while others incorporated creative new technology and truly inventive ideas. Gasoline, steam and electric powered vehicles were produced in almost equal numbers between 1900 and 1915. Operating controls of the vehicles varied according to the whims of the individual designers and manufacturers. Some used steering wheels similar to today’s vehicles, although nobody could quite decide which side of the car it should be on. Other vehicles used a front, centermounted tiller (something like the rear tiller of a small boat) to steer the vehicle. That must have been a thrill at speed!
The 1913 Rauch and Lang incorporated a control bar that folded down from the window pillar on the left side of the car to lay across the driver’s lap. (Readers of these articles will recall that the Gambles owned both Rauch and Lang and Detroit Electric vehicles.) Push the bar forward and the vehicle turned to the left. Pull the bar toward you and the car turned to the right. The steering bar, in its horizontal position, is barely visible at the very right side of the photograph. Speed was controlled by twisting the grip of a smaller bar, similar to contemporary motorcycle handlebar accelerators. You can also see that the two individual front seats didn’t just face forward but could swivel around to face the driver who was actually seated at the rear of the cockpit. Lends a whole new meaning to “back seat driver.” The interiors of some of the electric
vehicles were as elegantly appointed as any upscale parlor (living room), right down to crushed velour upholstery and crystal flower vases.
Like today’s electric vehicles, the early electrics had to be charged somehow. Many owners chose to stable their vehicles at either their closest auto dealership or at a properly equipped charging barn where the vehicles would be plugged into individual stations. For some vehicles, the batteries would remain in place, and for others the batteries could be removed and placed on a charging table. These facilities provided pickup and delivery services to ensure the vehicles were ready for use anytime the owner called. Other owners chose to install elaborate charging stations in their garages. These stations looked like something out of a Frankenstein movie and incorporated lots of exposed wiring, switches, dials, insulators and in some cases, large glowing mercury-filled glass arc rectifiers whose purpose was to convert incoming AC power to DC power. Keep the cat away! There is no indication that the Gambles had a charging system in their garage. They, more than likely, used the services of a charging barn located in the 100 block of East Union Street in Pasadena. That original brick building is still there, although long since repurposed. The vehicle’s many batteries were housed under what looks like the hood and in the trunk, leaving little room for storage, but then, electrics were rarely used for long distance travel.
Keep in mind, having a home charging station was dependent upon having electrical service to your home in the first place. Many small cities maintained their own independent electrical generating facilities while others purchased power from neighboring communities. Like the manufacturing of automobiles, electric power generation at the time was largely unregulated and one city’s power system was not necessarily compatible with the next city’s system. To further complicate matters, some systems provided DC
power for their customers while others produced AC power. Power for home use today has been standardized to AC (Alternating Current). Pasadena was an early leader in electrical power generation and, for a while, the City of Los Angeles actually purchased electricity from Pasadena to power its street lights.
Could Mary Shelley have envisioned anything more frightening than this early electric charging station?
The interior of this 1913 Rauch & Lang vehicle was luxuriously appointed to resemble a parlor on wheels.
Helen Beckhart
HELEN ANTHONY BECKHART, docent class of 1975 and our longest serving active docent, died December 16, 2024, age 90. Helen was a mainstay at the Gamble House. Once you met her, you never forgot her. She loved the Gamble House and shared her endless knowledge with everyone.
Past president Matt McIntyre summed it up, “She could talk forever and would bounce from subject to subject without any through line and seemingly without taking a breath, but she was ALWAYS well-intended and cared so deeply about the house. My favorite memories of Helen are from when I started joining her on the sofa on the south wall of the Gamble Lounge during All-Docent Meetings. It became my mission to keep her occupied so that Ted could get through his report without her interjecting. During that time Helen and I would trade quips, generally just fill me with kitchen table wisdom — all of this while doing some kind of handwork and half listening to the meeting. She was amazing and I will treasure the memories of sitting on that sofa with Helen.”
Cindy Schnuelle remembered, “Though small in stature, her presence could be felt in any room. I always enjoyed her additions to Ted’s stories during All-Docent Meetings. She was a member of the first Flower Committee, and she and I would sometimes debate on which school of ikebana study was best for the house. I recall that Helen felt that Henry Greene was the overlooked brother and architect, and that everyone heaped praise on Charles. Back in the day she and a few other ladies had tee-shirts printed with HENRY’S HONEYS, which they would wear to house events to ‘represent’ Henry. Helen will be sorely missed and often remembered.”
John Azar wrote, “Helen Beckhart was one in a million. There was no one quite like her. In Helen’s case, really big things came in really small packages. I knew Helen for 34 years. It was always fun for me to listen to Helen go on about some new idea or interest. Helen called me just before Covid and said to me: “John, I need your help. We have got to do something about the fact that the City of Pasadena has failed to recognize one of her most acclaimed and distinguished native daughters, Julia Child. I’m sure you agree. I know how you feel about her, so will you help me?” I told Helen of course. I wrote a short piece as requested, and mailed it to her. Then Covid hit, and the world went on hold. I saw Helen very briefly after that, and talked with her on the phone only once thereafter. To know Helen was to love Helen, and I did. I will miss you, little lady!”
During her tenure at the Gamble House, Helen served as Scheduling chair, Restoration chair, Inventory Committee, house manager, Flower Committee, Hospitality Committee, and Nominating Committee. She was a frequent coordinator and loved to sit in the attic on self-guided tours, so her guests could sit while she told stories.
Helen was married to architect Del Beckhart, whom she met in high school. Del was the president of the Tournament of Roses when he died in 1993. In addition to docenting at the Gamble House, she volunteered at The Huntington for 40 years. She was a former teacher and an avid needlepointer. Helen’s presence will continue to be felt at the Gamble House.
SUSAN POWERS
SHE COULD TALK FOREVER AND WOULD BOUNCE FROM SUBJECT TO SUBJECT WITHOUT ANY THROUGH LINE AND SEEMINGLY WITHOUT TAKING A BREATH, BUT SHE WAS ALWAYS WELL-INTENDED AND CARED SO DEEPLY ABOUT THE HOUSE.
Matt McIntyre
HOW SHOULD I ANSWER THAT QUESTION?
THE GAMBLE FAMILY’S BOOKS PROVIDE A SYNOPSIS OF THEIR VARIED INTERESTS, AND A SNAPSHOT OF THEIR TIMES.
WHEN FRIENDS VISIT our homes and scan our bookshelves, they learn about our tastes and interests. Our choices of books form a unique intellectual fingerprint. Similarly, the books in Gamble House help to better acquaint us with its residents. It’s no surprise, then, that guests ask: What can you tell me about those books in the living room? Books are displayed and stored in several living room areas, but to answer that question let’s focus on the volumes closest to where our tour guests stand.
Overseen by the photos of family members David, Mary, Cecil and Louise atop the bookcase, a small library greets our visitors as they enter the living room of the Gamble House. Some of the 28 separate titles, several of which appear as multi-volume editions, were once owned by David Gamble, Cecil Gamble, and Louise Gamble’s father Edwin Clark Gibbs. Others are of unknown provenance. Some, but not all, display copyright or publication dates.
Among the books bearing the bookplates of Edwin Clark Gibbs are:
The Holy Bible, 13 volumes
Lady’s Historical Library, 9 volumes (1852)
Multi-volume sets of works by Tobias Smollett (1902), James Whitcomb Riley (1916), Victor Hugo (1888), Rudyard Kipling and Leigh Hunt
With David Gamble’s bookplates we find:
Henry Van Dyke: The Ruling Passion (1801)
George Wharton James: In and Out of the Missions (1905)
Mary K. Potter: The Art of the Louvre (1904)
World Missionary Conference of 1910 , 10 volumes
Well worn and inscribed “Cecil H. Gamble, Avondale,” is a copy of Webster’s Handy Dictionary
Without bookplates or inscriptions, these books nonetheless place us with the family and in their time:
Gerbing: Camellias (1945)
Innes: Goldfish Varieties and Water Gardens (1947)
Longfellow: Hanging the Crane (1874)
Milton: Paradise Lost, illustrated by Gustav Doré, a Christmas gift to David and Mary in 1882
Theodore Roosevelt: The Winning of the West, 4 Volumes (1889)
Helen Keller: The Story of My Life (1903)
Wright: Hawkers and Walkers in Early America: Strolling Peddlers, Preachers, Lawyers, Doctors, Players, and Others from the Beginning to the Civil War (1927)
History of Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, 3 volumes (1930), a gift to the Gamble House from Ted Bosley, adds to the collection.
As a little bonus, Jennifer Trotoux points out three small books residing in the inglenook cabinets, each with David Gamble’s bookplate or his signature stamp:
T. L. Pennell, MD: Things Seen in Northern India (1912)
George Heber-Jones: Korea, The Land, People and Customs (1907)
Alice Mabel Macon: Japanese Girls and Women (1892)
Jennifer provides the following commentary about the library :
It’s interesting to think about how David Gamble was not college educated like Mary (he did attend business school), but he traveled as a young man and possessed a number of books that show an interest in art and literature, and perhaps an effort at self-education. In 1870, when David Gamble was in his early 20s, only 63,000 people were enrolled in the nation’s colleges and universities, according to the U. S. Census. Mary’s two years at Smith College place her in a rarified group of educated women at the time. Mary Gamble didn’t have her own bookplate, it appears, so we can’t really separate her personal interests from those of her husband. But it’s clear that the family’s books reflect an enjoyment of literature, an international cultural outlook, their status as people who could afford to collect the artfully produced editions that interested them, and their desire to display these books in their living space where they were easily accessed and read.
DELORES BING
BOOKS
David Gamble affixed his bookplate to several volumes in the family’s personal library. He marked other books with a depiction of his signature, presumably with a rubber stamp.
LEARNING ABOUT ARCHITECTURE WITH THE HELP OF LEGOS
IN AUGUST I had a seven-year-old boy on my tour. His mother was introducing her son to different styles of houses. As we were walking along, little Phillip said to me, “I love LEGOs. I bet there is no LEGO model of this house.” I replied, “Well yes, there is a LEGO of this house.”
Phillip was very well behaved during the tour, and in every room he raised his hand to ask good questions (often better than many of my adult guests). At the end of the tour, I pondered whether or not to show Phillip the LEGO house in our basement. It’s out of the norm, but I asked Jennifer Michel if we might go downstairs to see the model. She was delighted to escort us to the basement.
Later I received a text and photo from Phillip’s mom, with the model of the Gamble House that he created. It may be a wonderful way to promote the house. We influence many in many ways!
RITA BAZELEY
THANK YOU
HELLO GAMBLE House Family,
There are no words that can reflect how grateful I am for everyone’s support during this tragic event. Most of you know I lost everything in the fire: home, car, workshop and 3D printing farm (a group of printers that work together). Some of you know that two months prior I was diagnosed with brain cancer, had surgery, radiation and chemo treatment, and just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did. But I have had a soft landing back on my feet, due to the love and support you all have given me. I just can’t thank you enough.
MARIE MEYER
HEATHER MARQUEZ DIRECTOR OF RETAIL OPERATIONS
THE GAMBLE HOUSE BOOKSTORE prides itself in being both a museum store AND an independent bookstore. But whenever I’m given the opportunity, I like to describe us as a community bookstore. When the fires recently devastated our community, our staff brainstormed ways that we might be able to offer support. In a recent conversation with a docent who had lost everything in the fire, we were asked whether a specific book could be ordered to replace a copy of something that this docent considered both special and meaningful to their family. Unfortunately, this particular book was out of print and unavailable to order. Bookstore staff immediately started to look for used copies and were shocked at the sticker price being requested by resellers. We discussed putting out a call to action in this very newsletter, asking our docent community to check their own shelves and see if someone already owned a copy of this particular book that they might not need any longer.
Just imagine our surprise and delight at discovering a copy of this book tucked away in a box in our very own little bookstore, just a couple of weeks after the initial inquiry. The box contained books that had been donated to the Gamble House, many of which end up on our “Collector’s Shelf.” Kelly was in the process of fulfilling an online order and had actually pulled the wrong box in her search.
“YOU GUYS ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS,” she wrote to staff when she discovered the book that had been donated by our very own Ted Bosley. Along with a beautiful bookplate and note tucked inside the cover, we’ll be gift wrapping and presenting this book to our beloved docent. The joy that staff have felt in being able to fill this small request has been immense, and only reminds us of how meaningful and powerful books can be, and how you can make a difference in the lives of others with both large and small acts.
ELIZABETH LOUCKS SAMSON (docent class of 1991) died peacefully at home on December 5, 2024, after a lengthy illness. She was two weeks shy of her 93rd birthday. Elizabeth was a native Angeleno. After graduating from The Marlborough School, she attended Arizona State University where she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta.
Elizabeth was a musician, playing both piano and cello. She subscribed to and supported many arts organizations including the LA Opera, LA Philharmonic and the Colburn School. In addition to volunteering at the Gamble House, she was a docent at the Getty Museum. She was a member of the Fine Arts Club of Pasadena, the Pasadena Conservatory of Music and Camerata Pacifica. Elizabeth was a life-long world traveler. Her travels around the globe included several visits to the Bayreuth Festival in Germany.
Elizabeth’s husband, Jack Samson, predeceased her, and she shared many adventures later in life with fellow docent Jack Stumpf. Elizabeth has been laid to rest at Oak Park Cemetery in Claremont, California, following a service for invited guests. Donations may be made in her honor to the Colburn School of Music.
MARTHA (MARTY) SANDERS died in December 2024, following a bout of Covid and pneumonia. Marty was a member of the docent class of 2015. During her tenure as a docent, she edited the Greene Sheet , the predecessor newsletter of Evergreene . Marty resigned from the Docent Council in 2018, but lives on in the hearts of those who knew her, especially those from her class.
CONGRATULATIONS, CLASS OF 2024!
Evergreene
Evergreene is a publication of the Docent Council of the Gamble House and is published quarterly at 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena, CA 91103-3564 (626)793-3334, ext. 13
PRESIDENT
Susan Powers
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT (membership)
Marie Meyer
CO-SECOND VICE PRESIDENTS (scheduling)
Paul Maurin, Jeanette Taylor
SECRETARY
Wendy Rodriguez
CO-TREASURERS
Susan Nix, Michael Oddou, appointed
PAST PRESIDENT
Stephanie Mundweil
DOCENT TRAINING
Robert Siminger, Pat Karamitros, appointed
HUNTINGTON G & G EXHIBIT
Judy Dawson, appointed
COMMITTEE FOR THE FUTURE
Ann Hyatt, appointed
PARLIAMENTARIAN
Nancy Marino, appointed
PHOTOGRAPHY
Rita Bazeley, Delores Bing, Helin Jung, Sheryl Scott, Jennifer Trotoux
EVERGREENE STAFF
Delores Bing, Roger Lebow, editors
Crystal Kazmierski, designer
The docent class of 2024 celebrates at the traditional graduation dinner held last November. This large and enthusiastic group has subsequently stepped up to present a most impressive number of tours. Congratulations to our Active Provisionals!
MARCH
MAY
APRI
JUNE
PETERSEN MUSEUM EXCURSION
THE ONGOING EDUCATION committee has rescheduled the Peterson Automotive Museum Excursion to Friday, April 11 at 10 a.m. Our docent-led tour will include modern concepts and future visions of cars, cars of film and television, treasures of the Petersen Collection — PLUS THE VAULT — with more than 250 of the rarest vehicles ever assembled. Sign-up will be on Shiftboard.