Greene & Greene style Fireplace

Love the greeene&greene style

Great lines. The design is inspiring.

Thanks guys!

-- Sam

Beautiful work on this. I love all of the color in this piece, nice job!

Outstanding, rendition of Greene & Greene! Wonderful details.

Wayne

-- Wayne

Great Job Sam….The finish is exquisite…the style is superb….I would hate to fire up the insert when it is in such a beautiful setting, especially if the insert was not gas…

-- Woodworking.....My small slice of heaven!

absolutly beautiful

-- If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail!

sam what a beautiful job…how nice it must be to watch a fire in that fire place…just grand..you did a superb job…well worth your time and effort i would say….......with winter coming on …you will have many great fires to enjoy…..

-- The Grizzone

sam i was also just thinking with your change in employment and haveing some more time at home..i think i could lay in front of this fire place with a good book and enjoy all your hard work…....stop and smell the roses now…youve earned the right.

-- The Grizzone

Thanks guys!!
Thanks grizzman! I have on occasion… ;) ...

-- Sam

Greene and greene – interesting to me never having seeing it before that i know of. Are there any good books or interweb sites? What would you say are the elements of the style? Whatever it it it is great to look at. The eye kind of moves from place to place at all the elements, how they fit together.

-- Stephen NYS

Hi Stephen,
I would refer to the style as organic. My interpretation is not historically accurate as I am using domestic woods that were never really used in their work, and the sun rays is something that was never seen in their work. The way you have described it is exactly one of the ways that a craftsman wants to convey the style and its interpretation. It is an arts & crafts genre heavily influenced by Asian motifs, etc. but uniquely Greene & Greene. The Greene brothers were architects around the turn of the century in southern California. They designed not only the houses that exemplify this style but the furniture in them as well. They are considered to be the epitome of the Arts & Crafts movement. There are a lot of books about them, their work, etc. Darrell Peart and Robert Lang have written serveral books describing the woodworking details of this style. Do a Google search for the Gamble House, the Blacker House, Charles and Henry Greene. Just Google “Greene & Greene” and enjoy…

-- Sam

One thing I want to point out is the color. The colors of the woods i used are acurately portrayed in the pics but the color of the marble tiles is actually dark green, not blue. The second image shows the correct color (look on the insdie of the fireplace opening).

-- Sam

Looks like you did a great job on this piece. Thanks for sharing

-- ~ Inspiring those who inspire me ~

Hey Sam, that is the nicest mantle I have ever seen. You should be very proud of it and proud of your ability to create it. Great work.

-- --It's not how long you live, but how you live that makes it a life.--

Really nice project. Can’t tell from the photos but did you ebonize the walnut or leave it natural.

Nice fireplace!

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

Truly over the top. fabulous job.

-- Please visit me at http://dustynewt.com

Great design & contrast Sam.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Sam Yerardi,
Really nice fireplace surround. I think it is a “Greene & Yerardi”, style! I’m not so sure that everything that has a dark colored square plug and a cloud lift rail should be construed as a “Greene & Greene” style. I think your sunburst is as identifying as anything else in this piece. I’m not trying to minimize the influence of anyone, “Greene & Greene” or “Yerardi”, but I think noterity should be equal also. Congratulations on an excellent build and keep on keeping on.

Sincerely,
Ken McGinnis

-- woodbutcher north carolina

One great work, fantastic fireplace surround

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

very beautiful. I love this style – and anything that uses square pegs!

Beautiful! Excellent craftsmanship.

-- Dennis Zongker

Thank you guys for the wonderful comments!! And at a time when I really need encouragement. Coming from my peers, I am sincerely honored. Thank you…

woodbutcher
Your comments have brought tears to my eyes. I have wondered for a long time what I could do that would be considered a new design element or something that would be recognized as having ‘my touch’... I knew when I was making it that it wasn’t part of the Greene & Greene vocabulary, but then I thought why not? It must be fate or something because at least 5 times in the past couple of days I come across some reference to the sun. Without ever really paying attention to it, I’ve used that reference in several pieces I’ve made. God must be trying to point something out to me. I know just from the guitar world that I have been a part of since I was 9 that you reach a point where you think everything’s been done and there’s nothing new. Even Chet Atkins said it’s hard to come up with something new or different after a hundred years.. and then someone always does… maybe this isn’t something new or different, but hopefully I will be able to take something and truly give it ‘my touch’...
Thank you again for your so kind comments and encouragement..

-- Sam

Nice work with that fireplace Sam. Ironically, I was taking a break from framing out our fireplace when I found your project! The Greene & Greene style looks great!

knotscott
Thanks! I’ll doing another one in our living room but I haven’t started on it yet.

-- Sam

Wow! Having been to the Gamble House and soon to tour the Thorsen House, your fireplace quietly screams G&G to me. All of the layers create fascinating shadow lines. You could have easily made one of the more generic fireplaces from plans so readily available on the internet, yet you chose to take the path less traveled, and that made all the difference.

I am trying to gently incorporate the rather bold look of G&G into our place. It took a lot of courage to design and make this piece. This is an instant heirloom. Awesome! Thanks for posting. If you’re going to keep up this kind of work, please make it a serialized blog for the rest of our sakes.

-- You can't control the wind, but you can trim your sails

CaptainSkully
Thank you for your kind words and encouragement! I will do just that… I am making Greene & Greene and Craftsman design the focus of my business along the lines of Dale Barnard (remodeling in the style of Greene & Greene). I’m also working on a product line of Greene & Greene-style lighting and accessories that I hope to sell through the internet.

PS
I see you’re in the SF area… I’ve been there 4 times and I love your town!

-- Sam

Excellent Job! I was just reading (about 4 hours) about Greene and Greene’s work today and was doing research into Paul and John Hall’s work. Who as you know were the actual builders of most of the Greene’s designs. Nice work with the curves and the pegs. Nicely done.

-- Do we do this for purpose or passion?

Thank you Todd

-- Sam