New Management Set-Up At Historic Gamble House

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Pasadena’s famed Gamble House is under new management, but the old traditions won’t change.

While the landmark 1908 architectural gem will continue to be owned by the city of Pasadena, Mayor Terry Tornek announced Wednesday that a newly formed non-profit organization called the Gamble House Conservancy will assume management control and oversee daily operations.

The change of administration is the result of an agreement between the city and USC – which had been running the house since 1966 – following more than 18 months of discussions, officials said.

USC will continue to have a strong relationship with Gamble House, however.

“Basically, this is an evolution,’’ Tornek told Pasadena Now before a news conference on the steps of the mansion.

The house – a premier example of the Arts & Crafts architectural movement of the early 20th century – was home to Procter & Gamble Co. scion David Berry Gamble and his family before their heirs donated it, and its contents, to the city and USC in 1966.

Since then, it’s been a destination to tens of thousands of architectural students and researchers, as well as the site of public tours, lectures, exhibitions and other programs.

All that will continue under the new set-up.

The new conservancy’s board of trustees will include Gamble family representatives, a former dean of the USC School of Architecture and donors and supporters of the site.

Former Gamble House director, Edward “Ted” Bosley will serve as executive director/CEO of the Gamble House Conservancy, and David Brown will be its president. Both were also on hand for Wednesday’s announcement.

“This is a great day for The Gamble House,’’ said Tornek.

In brief remarks during Wednesday’s announcement, the mayor detailed how the city-USC partnership was cutting edge back 1966, when historic preservation was not as foremost in the culture as it is today.

“The future of this wonderful Gamble House was very much in doubt,’’ Tornek said. “When the Gamble family donated it to the city, part of the agreement that was signed stipulated that they would rather have the house demolished than allow it to fall into a state of disrepair, which at the time was a real concern.

“So the family and the city turned to the University of Southern California to provide the expertise and the financial resources to maintain the house and to avoid that potentially catastrophic fate. Today, however, circumstances have changed rather dramatically. Pasadena and preservation are very strongly linked.’’

Tornek made a particular point of expressing “our gratitude to the University of Southern California for being there when it counted.’’

He went on to say that the new conservancy has “the skills, the track record and the resources to carry the house forward into the future.’’

Sam Garrison, USC’s senior vice president of university relations, agreed, saying, “We have absolute trust in the city and the Gamble House Conservancy to continue that stewardship for generations to come.’’

Garrison also said USC will continue to support the Gamble House.

“The USC School of Architecture will maintain important, ongoing ties, including our Master of Heritage Conservation program as well as ongoing student site visits and conservation classes taught right here,’’ he said.

Brown, the president of the new conservancy, called the new management set-up the “next phase in the governing structure” of the house.

Bosley, the new CEO, called Wednesday’s announcement an “exciting, momentous and gratifying moment.”

“It will be the mission of the Gamble House Conservancy to continue to honor the timeless values and lessons of the Gamble House – architecture as a fine art, expressed by the genius of Charles and Henry Greene as architects,’’ he said.