In 1966, the Gamble family turned the house over to the city of Pasadena in a joint agreement with the University of Southern California (USC) School of Architecture.

[citation needed] Its style shows influence from traditional Japanese aesthetics and a certain California spaciousness born of available land and a permissive climate.

The Arts and Crafts Movement in American Craftsman style architecture was focused on the use of natural materials, attention to detail, aesthetics, and craftsmanship.

The house is located on a grassy knoll overlooking Pasadena's Arroyo Seco, a broad, seasonally dry river bed.

The house's design reflected the Gambles' love of nature as flowers and trees were brought to the interior—creating pictures in wood, metal, art glass, and semi-precious stone.

"[citation needed] Another way the Greenes showed off the Gamble House's emphasis on nature was through the "theme of three," which was composed of three components that could be seen in every room.

Teak, maple, oak, Port Orford cedar, and mahogany surfaces are placed in sequences to bring out contrasts of color, tone, and grain.

The Greenes used an experienced team of local contractors who had worked together for them in Pasadena on several previous homes, including the Hall brothers, Peter and John, who were responsible for the high quality of the woodworking in the house and its furniture.

Although the house is not as spatially adventurous as the contemporary works of Frank Lloyd Wright, or even of the earlier New England "Shingle style," its mood is casual and its symmetries tend to be localized.

Ceiling heights are different on the first (8'10") and second floors (8'8") and in the den (9'10") and the forms and scales of the spaces are constantly shifting, especially as one moves from the interior of the house to its second-floor semi-enclosed porches and its free-form terraces, front and rear.

At the far end of the room lie bookcases, a small games table, and a piano to offer entertainment and leisure.

Paths made with large water-worn stones from the nearby Arroyo Seco are reminiscent of running brooks crossing the lawns.

The triple front door and transom feature a Japanese black pine motif in plated (more than one layer) leaded art glass, highlighting the Asian influence that runs throughout the house.