Arts and Crafts Homes

ARTS &
CRAFTS
HOMES
They’re Back
If traced far enough, the roots of Arts and Crafts homes
began with Hindi bangalas, thatched roof cottages with
porches and low, heavily overhung roofs. British officers
occupying India in the late 19th century brought the Indian architecture to England and adapted it to build summer
retreats known as bungalows.
Initially used as resort lodging in England, the bungalow
style crossed the Atlantic and experienced a heyday in the
early 1900s during the mass migration to California. With
their low, extended roofs and shaded porches, bungalows
were particularly suited to the warm climate; and Greene
and Greene, two California architects, created designs that
became hugely popular.
At the same time, Gustav Stickley was publishing his
influential magazine, The Craftsman. Expounding the
philosophy of the English Arts and Crafts movement,
it advocated a revolt against the presumed evils of the
Industrial Revolution – namely, mass-produced, shoddy
goods – and espoused a return to honest, hand craftsmanship.
Working with architect Harvey Ellis, Stickley (also an
architect and a furniture maker) designed 221 house plans
which he published in The Craftsman. Soon mail order
companies like Montgomery Wards and Sears, Roebuck
and Company made the homes affordable by selling
complete kits that included all of the building components
right down to the paint and finishing nails. Shipped
by railcar, some 30,000 premilled and numbered pieces
were delivered to a homeowner’s lot, along with a
comprehensive instruction manual.
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ABOVE: In true Craftsman style, this yellow ochre
porch says WELCOME!
ABOVE:
View the floor plan for this charming
Craftsman (#8543-54P) at www.HerHome.com.
Photo may differ from the original plan.
OPPOSITE LEFT:
Sunlight streams through beveled,
leaded glass windows – creating whimsical prisms
on the dining room floor.
OPPOSITE RIGHT:
Double columns top display cabinets
in this historic Craftman home.
and Better than Ever
REGIONA L VARIATIONS
The original Craftsman bungalows were
generally modest homes with a single story or
an abbreviated second floor with one or two
bedrooms, commonly with sloping ceilings
and dormer windows. They were a wide
departure from the ornate elegance of Victorian design and were also more rugged than
their English Arts and Crafts counterparts –
appealing to our nation’s frontier history.
Stalwart proportions created a sense of
stability and security. Wide porches were supported by simple rails or stocky, tapered
columns atop brick or stone pedestals. Lowslung, gabled roofs featured overhanging eaves.
Walls were often divided into horizontal
bands – brick or stone along the bottom,
topped with combinations of stucco, split
wood shingles and horizontal, vertical or
shake siding. Wood elements framing the
home, usually concealed in other architectural
styles, were not only exposed but became
celebrated, decorative details, as seen in
brackets supporting roofs.
As the Arts and Crafts style spread
across the country between 1905 and 1930, it
was expressed in a wider variety to accommodate varying budgets and express regional
differences.
In California, Texas and Florida, it
frequently included elements inspired by
Spanish missions – tile roofs; rounded arches,
windows and doors; stucco walls with brick
or masonry with rough-cut stones.
Frank Lloyd Wright and his school of
architects popularized the Prairie home in
the Midwest. Typically two stories high, it
featured a flat or low-hipped roof, alternating
bands of brick and concrete, and art or
beveled glass in doors and select windows.
A relative of the Prairie home, the
Foursquare or Box House became one of the
most popular house styles in America. Its
simple cube shape featured a front porch of
varying dimensions and was topped with
a hipped roof and a front roof dormer.
Windows were often grouped in pairs.
Arts and Crafts homes were constructed in
harmony with their landscape; wood materials
were often painted or stained brown or dark
green. They also utilized local materials. Consequently, these homes featured yellow brick
in Chicago, dark red brick in Milwaukee, wood
and brick in the North and shingle sheathed
bays and gable ends in the Northeast.
WA RM I NTE R IORS
In the late twentieth century, the Craftsman
style, in particular, began enjoying a resurgence
that is still going strong – with architects
remodeling historic homes and design firms
offering updated plans for new construction.
Today’s homeowners are captivated by
charming elevations evoking images of quiet,
tree-lined streets and these homes’ warm, comfortable interiors. Compared to their Victorian
predecessors’ stuffy, segregated rooms, Craftsman homes’ casual floor plans encourage
informality and family togetherness.
photos by Ken Guthrie
Their efficient design makes them a highly
practical choice as well. The long hallways
and entryways found in Victorian homes
were eliminated; in Craftsman homes, family
and friends pass from room to room directly.
Built-ins provide storage and make the
most of available space. In historic Craftsman
homes, living and dining rooms are divided
by low display cabinets topped with tapered
columns. There may also be a built-in sideboard in the dining room. Banquettes in
kitchens and window seats in bedrooms provide picturesque seating and storage. Rear
entries often include a mud room.
Pocket doors add flexibility, allowing
homeowners to combine or segregate spaces,
closing a living room off from a foyer or dining room, or revealing additional sleeping,
study or work spaces.
Another attribute that makes Craftsman
design so popular in today’s market is its connection to nature. Most homes were positioned to greet the sun and surrounded by a
generous garden. Large, shady front porches
and sleeping porches in the rear blurred the
distinctions between inside and outside living. An abundance of windows grouped in
units of two or three brought in natural light
and cross breezes.
Windows themselves contribute to a
Craftsman home’s charm and beauty. With
the exception of clerestory windows located
above built-in cabinetry, most of the windows are double hung with divided light panels in the upper sash and a large pane in the
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lower sash (providing a cleaner view). Selected
windows in the front entry, living room and
dining room feature sparkling, beveled glass
or colorful, stained glass in geometric or
botanical patterns.
Perhaps Craftsman homes are best known
for their warm woodwork. Ceilings are
trimmed with crown moldings, boxed beams,
running beams or geometrically arranged
moldings. Kitchens, bathrooms and porches
feature tongue-and-groove paneling.
Living rooms sport built-in shelves or
cabinets surrounding the fireplace and
tapered pillars on top of display cabinets.
Fireplace mantels and surrounds display
unique, individualized details. In addition to
built-in buffets or china cabinets, dining
rooms often feature geometric paneling or
wainscoting with wide caps (that double as
display shelves). Picture rails and chair rails,
generous baseboards and window trim all add
character throughout the home.
Front entry doors are usually a focal point
in and outside the home, from picturesque
board-and-batten doors to a variety of panel
configurations with art glass windows. In
addition to pocket doors, interior doors
include French doors with Prairie grid panes
and doors with recessed or raised, vertical or
horizontal panels; the most common being
five horizontal recessed panels.
Originally, woodwork was oak, red pine,
gumwood, fir or cypress. Higher end homes
used quarter sawn oak. Wood was often
exposed to ammonia fumes or stained in a
dark finish to give it an aged patina. Influenced by the Neo-Colonial style, painted
trim became more common by the 1920s,
particularly in the South and Southwest.
Warm colors and textures make homes
cozy and inviting. In newer homes, walls may
be faux painted to look like plaster work in
saturated terra cottas, delicate sage greens
and golden yellows. Lincrusta and anaglypta
wallpapers (heavily embossed papers) can
provide the look of tooled leather. Historically, walls were also covered with burlap, grass
cloth or nature-inspired wallpapers.
R EMODE L I NG CHA L LENG ES
With their unique, handcrafted charm, historic Craftsman homes can present some
common challenges, including stripping and
refinishing woodwork and undoing makeshift
changes previous homeowners made that may
have diminished the home’s original charm.
Another major concern is space. Let’s face
it. We have a lot more stuff today than families had in the early 1900’s: computers, electronics, microwaves and considerably more
clothes. Easier updates include building a
new closet in the corner of a bedroom,
installing drawers under staircases and adding
shelving at the end of a narrow hallway.
Built-in cabinets and bookcases surrounding
fireplaces may be modified to accommodate
stereo equipment and a small television.
Creating extra space requires more extensive projects, such as: enclosing a sleeping
porch to gain room for a master bedroom or
bath, finishing off an attic or adding a second
bath. Few original bungalows had a casual
family room. One possible solution is to convert first-floor bedrooms into a family room
and new kitchen and turn unfinished attic
space into bedrooms.
One of the difficulties in remodeling is
matching original woodwork. When adding
on, the challenge is often finding space. Bungalows, in particular, were often built on
tight lots, so the only way to add on is up.
With their distinctively low roofs, it can be a
challenge to raise the roof and maintain the
home’s original character.
T WO C RAFTSMA N FA NS
Huge fans of the Craftsman style, Chris and
David Knight have lived in a home built in
1905 using a kit ordered from the Sears and
Roebuck catalog and now reside in a home
designed and built to their specifications.
“My husband and I both love antiques,”
Chris Knight explains, “so I suppose it’s natural
to appreciate Craftsman architectural details.
Most of the windows in our previous home
were leaded glass and the woodwork was
amazing. A plate rail circled the entire
dining room, which also had a built-in buffet.
The dining and living rooms were divided by
wood columns set on cabinets with leaded
glass. The living room had a wood burning
stove with leaded glass cabinets on both sides
and a two-foot-wide mantle. There were also
beautiful French doors leading to a three
season porch.
“For a home of its age, it was in surprisingly
good condition, but we did undertake
some remodeling when we moved in. The
previous owners had closed off half of the
home’s sleeping porch. We restored it to its
original dimensions, removed some paneling
that had been added and had the walls
re-plastered. We painted throughout the
home, re-carpeted and refinished the parquet
wood floors in the kitchen.
“When we relocated, we decided to build a
new home incorporating many of the features
we loved from our historic home. We didn’t
want to be faced with replacing plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems. Our new home was
actually built using Insulated Concrete Forms
(ICFs), so it is extremely energy efficient.
“Because we loved the warmth of our first
Craftsman home, we recreated a lot of the
woodwork in our new house. We have wood
columns on top of glass-fronted cabinets at
the entrance to our office (off the front
entry). The fireplace in the great room is surrounded with built-in cabinetry. We included
an updated, individualized touch by mirroring the exterior columns inside our entry.
They’re tapered wood on top of stone
pedestals. (The pedestals on the outside of
the home are topped with stucco columns.)
“Our personal tastes follow the ‘less is
more’ approach, so we streamlined some of
the details. Too much trim can make rooms
look smaller and somewhat cluttered. I think
we found a very peaceful compromise. Finally,
we chose warm, fall colors for walls and
furnishings.”
THE BEST OF O LD
A N D N EW
“Building a new Craftsman home allows
homeowners to enjoy traditional, architectural charm along with modern comfort,”
notes Design Basics’ Custom Home Designer
Marshall Wallman. “We can create more
open floor plans, bigger rooms and larger
closets. Rather than the historic eight to
nine foot ceilings, we can incorporate ten
foot ceilings. With beams or wood paneling,
even cathedral ceilings can look at home in a
new Craftsman home.
“It’s important to balance modern design
with historic features. Even with an open
floor plan, for example, you can define the
rooms with an opening supported by columns
or some short cabinets. In larger spaces,
it’s important not to skimp on trim, since
generous woodwork replicates the historic
architecture and provides warmth.
“Many of the homeowners I’ve worked
with have chosen medium-tone maple or
cherry woodwork to give their homes a lighter
look. For those who prefer oak, I recommend
either quarter sawn plywood or solid oak.
Normal oak plywood often has a long, drawn
out grain that repeats itself because it’s created with a rotary cut. Using an oil finish,
instead of polyurethane, can also tone the
grain down and provide a rich, aged look.
“Even with all of the modern appliances,
it’s fairly easy to maintain the Craftsman feel
in the kitchen. I often use recessed panel
cabinet doors and cover the floors with wood
or a slate tile; I’ve also seen linoleum or cork
used effectively.
“In the bathroom, it can be tricky to
achieve a historic look and still provide all of
the storage we require today. In one home, I
placed a nice storage cabinet between two
pedestal sinks and put mirrored cabinets above
the sinks. That bath also had a free-standing
tub, white subway tile on the walls and white
hexagonal tiles on the floor. Traditionally,
baths in Craftsman homes used a lot of white
because it created a sense of cleanliness.
“Ironically, Craftsman homes originally
came about in protest of mass-produced
goods but today’s modern technology makes
replicating the style easier and more affordable,” observes Wallman. “For instance,
cultured stone is available at a fraction of the
cost of real stone. If you’re looking for low
maintenance, James Hardie ® fiber cement
siding comes in vertical, horizontal and shingle
styles – and looks more like real wood and
stucco than similar vinyl products. There
are a variety of authentic looking shingles
available, from shake composites to attractive asphalt shingles. Many of the major
: White hexagonal tiles
were often used on bathroom floors.
OPPOSITE LEFT
photo by Ken Guthrie
: View the floor plan for
this modern day Craftsman (#855554P) at www.HerHome.com. Photo
may differ from the original plan.
OPPOSITE RIGHT
LEFT: New Craftsman homes enjoy
casual, open floor plans.
photo by Raymond Andreski
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window and door manufacturers have
Craftsman lines, including Andersen,
Pella and Marvin.
“The Internet makes research easier
and provides instant access to resources all
over the country. One of my favorite sites
for period lighting and hardware is
www.Rejuvenation.com. Kichler® Lighting
also has an extensive new line of Tiffany
fixtures. Sites such as www.CraftHome.com
and www.Craftsmanhome.com offer everything from door knobs, mail slots and heat
registers to tiles, towel bars and ceiling fans.”
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With its unpretentious, time-honored
elements, solid sense of security and cozy
atmosphere, the Craftsman home has
become an American classic that adds
character to any neighborhood.
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ABOVE: The Knights’ great room
features a stone fireplace flanked
by built-ins and a wall of
arched windows.
RIGHT: Wood columns on top of
glass-fronted cabinets frame the
entrance to the Knights’ office.
photos by Raymond Andreski