CRAFTSMAN STYLE
(c.1900-c.1930) The Craftsman Style was the dominant style for smaller houses built throughout the country during the period from
about 1905 until the early 1920s. It originated in southern California and most landmark examples are concentrated there. Like vernacular examples of the contemporaneous Prairie style, it quickly spread throughout the country through pattern books and popular magazines. The style rapidly faded from favor after the mid-1920s; few were built after 1930.
Craftsman houses were inspired primarily by the work of two California brothers – Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene – who practiced together in Pasadena from 1893 to 1914. From about 1903 they began to design simple Craftsman-type bungalows; by 1909 they had designed and executed several exceptional landmark examples that have been called the “ultimate bungalows.” Several influences – the English Arts and Crafts movement, an interest in oriental wooden architecture, and their early training in the manual arts – appear to have led
the Greenes to design and build these intricately detailed buildings. These and similar residences were given extensive publicity in such magazines as the Western Architect, The Architect, House Beautiful, Good Housekeeping, Architectural Record, Country Life in America, and Ladies’ Home Journal, thus familiarizing the rest of the nation with the style. As a result, a flood of pattern books appeared, offering plans for Craftsman bungalows; some even offered completely pre-cut packages
of lumber and detailing to be assembled by local labor. Through these pre-cut examples, the one-story Craftsman house quickly became the most popular and fashionable smaller house in the country. High-style interpretations are rare, except in California where the have been called the Western Stick style. One-story vernacular examples are often called simply bungalows or the Bungaloid style. (Excerpt taken from A Field Guide to American Houses by Virginia and Lee McAlester.)
Cottage Style Craftsman – Typically a one-story building with a compact rectangular plan; a centralized main entrance consisting of a partial-width porch and flanked by windows; a symmetrical facade; a side-gabled low-pitched roof; horizontal wood siding (occasionally stucco); and Craftsman stylistic details (exposed rafter tails, wide window and door casings, triangular knee brace supports, etc.).
The Bungalow – The typical bungalow is a one-story house with low pitched broad gables. A lower gable usually covers an open or screened porch and a larger gable covers the main portion of the house. In larger bungalows the gable is steeper, with interesting cross gable or dormers. Rafters, ridge beams and purlins extend beyond the wall and roof. Chimneys are of rubble, cobblestone or rough-faced brick. Porch pedestals are often battered. Wood shingles and/or horizontal wood boards are the favorite exterior finish although many also use stucco or brick. Exposed structural members and trim work usually are painted but the shingles are left in a natural state or treated with earth-tone stains (although many of these shingles have since been painted). The wood windows are either sash or casement with many lights or single panes of glass. Shingled porch railings often terminate with a flared base. The bungalow, like other simple but functional houses, was subject to variations such as the California, the Swiss, the Colonial, Tudor and others according to locale and fashions of the time. (excerpt taken from Identifying American Architecture: A Pictorial Guide to Styles and Terms, 1600–1945 by John J.G. Blumenson.
Clipped-Gabled (or Hip on Gable) Craftsman – A Craftsman building covered by a gabled roof which has had its gable point “clipped off.” The roof can be front, side or cross-gabled. Typically this type of Craftsman is a one-story building. Sometimes the clipped-gabled roof will have gabled, hipped or eyebrow dormers.
Aeroplane Craftsman – A Craftsman building with a set-back second-story and wide overhanging eaves giving the impression of airplane wings. Can have a front, side or cross-gabled roof.
Eclectic Influenced Craftsman – A Craftsman building influenced by other cultures, other styles, the region it was designed in, by the preferences of its architect or builder, by the preferences of its owner and/or by the fashions of the time. Craftsman bungalows were subject to variations such as the Oriental, the Swiss, the Colonial and Tudor, among others.
Multi-Family Craftsman – A Craftsman building designed with separate complete living spaces to accommodate more than one household. A multi-family Craftsman building could be a duplex, multiplex or bungalow court. Bungalow courts tend to be in a “U” shape around a central courtyard. Often the short side of the “U” shape has a two-story, or substantial residential building that is either where the owner/manager lives, or could be a duplex.
Transitional – A building which appears to be “transitioning” from the Victorian-era into the Craftsman-era in design and materials. Typically, this type of building still retains its strong vertical emphasis on the façade, and Victorian-era design elements such as bay windows, long skinny windows and decorative knee brackets and rafters. What differentiates this type of residence from a Victorian-era residence is its Craftsmanesque features such as stonework on porch pedestals, more square windows, surrounded by wide casings, sometimes a hipped roof with a squat dormer at the façade side of the roof, and foundations and rafter tails under the roof line.
