Although it originated in Europe, the Arts and Crafts
movement was popularized in the U.S. in the early 1900s by Frank Lloyd Wright in
the Midwest and Gustav Stickley in New
York. The style especially thrived in Southern California, where architects Charles and Henry
Greene designed what many consider the world’s grandest Craftsman-style
structures.
The Lodge at Torrey Pines is inspired by two Greene and
Greene homes—the Blacker and Gamble houses in Pasadena. The Evans family, the Lodge’s owners,
hired Randell Makinson, the world’s foremost authority on the Greenes, to
oversee the project and ensure that it faithfully and accurately reflected the
Greenes’ work. From the most
fundamental design features—post-and-beam construction with a clinker-brick
foundation and broad roof overhangs complete with outrigger projections and
rafter tails—to the wood joinery, art glass windows, lamps and furnishings, no
expense was spared.
Despite the luxury and meticulous detailing, the Lodge is
anything but uncomfortably formal. To the contrary, you’ll feel relaxed and
welcome from the moment you pull up to the Lodge’s entrance, with its low-slung
timber entry porch and bulging, ivy-covered brick walls. The pleasant scent of a
wood fireplace greets you as you open your car door, thanks to dulcet ocean
breezes that blow through the lobby. White oak floors, wood paneling of
Brazilian cherry and simple furniture groupings in the high-ceilinged public
areas add further comfort.
Architecture mavens and novices alike will content themselves
prowling Lodge interiors, perhaps enjoying the world-class spa or dining at the
elegant A.R. Valentien restaurant, but the Lodge’s natural surroundings will
soon draw guests outdoors.
