Inside Story on Publisher’s Home Is All About Wood
John Bakewell Phillips, part owner of the Pittsburgh, Pa., newspaper the Dispatch, commissioned brothers Charles and Henry Greene of Pasadena to build this house in 1906.
The Greenes, who had moved from Boston and opened a Pasadena office in 1894, applied to this house what Charles Greene had learned about the Arts and Crafts movement on a trip in 1901 to England.
The result was the Craftsman style of architecture that brought fame to the Greenes and lesser-known contractor Peter Hall.
Hall met the Greenes the year this house was built. He went on to become their most significant associate. Some of the best-known Greene works such as Gamble House and Blacker House owe some of their greatness to Hall.
About the home: It’s known as the Phillips House for the newspaperman who came West in search of a better climate. For nearly five years, it has been owned by Robert and Margaret Kincaid. He is a businessman; she is a teacher. Over the years, the house has undergone major restoration and upgrading in keeping with the Greene & Greene style.
Asking price: $2.1 million
Size: Five bedrooms and three full bathrooms in 4,791 square feet; sewing/hobby room can be used as a sixth bedroom; the house is on about half an acre and has three floors plus a basement; kitchen has a breakfast area, and there is a library/family room.
Features: Magnificent woods, typical of Greene & Greene, are found throughout the house, including Honduran mahogany, oak, maple, redwood and cedar. The house has three dramatic, wood-burning fireplaces, one with an antique, hammered copper hood, one with handmade tiles and one with original blue bricks.
The house also has an arroyo boulder chimney, copper plumbing and marble baths and fixtures in the period style. A new roof and an air-conditioning/heating system were installed in the ‘90s. Other recent additions are outdoor lighting, an expansive brick patio, a driveway and a carriage turnaround.
Where: Pasadena
Contact: Dorothy Terk Korostoff, DBL Realtors, Pasadena, (626) 229-0909.
