Upcoming Events

January 28 - Feb 3rd: Lambertville, NJ- Early 20th Century Auction

February 11-12th: Pasadena, CA- 13th Annual Los Angeles Pottery Show

February 17-19th: Asheville, NC - The Grove Park Inn Arts & Crafts Conference

Click here for the Fall 2011 Newsletter.

Popular Articles

Researching The History Of Your Home

The Bungalow Garage

Exterior Paint Colors

Tips For Tile Collecting

Arts & Crafts Fonts

Family Album – Issue 33

Landscaping is an important part of a bungalow’s appeal. Climbing roses and vines, meandering paths and naturalistic plantings were seen commonly in brochures for kit homes and photographs of period bungalows. Gustav Stickley’s The Craftsman regularly published articles urging bungalow dwellers to plant flower and vegetable gardens, and otherwise embrace nature. The Saratoga, Hamilton and South Portland homes all merge particularly well with their surrounding flora.

Arts & Crafts Trivia:
What was the “Garden of Eden”? Answer appears below…

Anacortes, Wash., Teri and Ron Bernstein
We completed construction of our new home one year ago, and as owner-builders were able to create exactly what we wanted. Our goal was to build a Craftsman-style home with Northwest lodge influences, a long-time dream of Teri’s, who grew up in a bungalow in Sierra Madre, Calif. Coffered ceilings, stained glass, vertical-grain Douglas fir and 4,000 square feet of hardwood floors enhance our extensive Native American art collection.

Saratoga, Calif., Ron Helm
Our 2,300-square-foot bungalow was built in 1910, and of course there is a story attached to it.The son of the local blacksmith wanted to marry the daughter of a prominent town resident. Her father felt that this young man needed a suitable house first, thus this home was built one block from the village center. The young man received permission to propose, the young woman said yes, and they lived happily ever after.

Hamilton, Ohio, Richard Scheid
My 996-square-foot bungalow is in Lindenwald, a historic neighborhood of modest homes in Spanish,Tudor, Colonial Revival and Craftsman styles. I’d place mine in the stripped-down, bare-bones 1920s Craftsman category. I have rescued my front door from the city dump, refinished the oak floors, stripped the woodwork and installed stained-glass win-dows and oak bookcases on both sides of the fireplace. It is a really comfortable, well-made, small-scale home -and evidently has been for three-quarters of a century.

Mt. Rainier, Md., Johann Klodzen
I have added two new back porches to my 1925 bungalow, which echo the original facade-wide front porch.There are four bedrooms and two baths, and the house is in a historic district of Mt. Rainier. The kitchen and baths have been remodeled, and I have begun to remove the “brick-text” siding and restore the original wood siding.

South Portland, Maine, Donna Hart
My bungalow was built in 1921; I bought it in 1980. It was painted in five colors and overgrown with vines. During my restoration and renova-tions, I had all the oak floors refinished, remodeled the kitchen, fixed plaster walls, painted inside and out and landscaped. One block from the ocean, the breezes off the water are wonderful when I’m enjoying my bungalow’s front porch.

Naperville, Ill., Thomas and Laura Cialoni
We are only the second family to live in this house, which was built in the mid-1920s. We’ve redone much of the interior and exterior, keeping the charm. Our favorite room is the front sunroom: hardwood floors, crown molding and large French doors that open for a spring breeze. We love its character as much as the original owners did and received the original blueprint from the family.

Auburn, Calif., the Underwood Family
Our house was built around 1910 for newlyweds from prominent early families in this foothill town.Although it has been extensively remodeled and many of the original features removed, still the home has tremendous charm. We have discovered how modern its design is when it comes to energy efficiency: the east side absorbs the sun and the west windows and wide shaded porch keep the house relatively cool. In the winter, the large Rumford fireplace in the living room heats the entire first floor.

Dover, N.H., Paula DiNardo
This quaint little home was built in 1929 by a French Canadian immigrant family. The plans were drawn by hand and are in French. Currently it has vinyl siding, which we hope someday to change. Inside is original wainscoting, hardwood floors, all the original solid wood doors, a wonderful cast-iron bathtub and four bedrooms. Our current project is to change the landscaping in front of the house without moving the 20-year-old asparagus patch by the porch steps!

The Garden of Eden:
This was Stickley’s name for Craftsman Farms, his 1910 home in Morris Plains, N.J. This rural retreat, built of logs, was originally designed as the clubhouse of an Arts and Crafts complex, but instead it housed the movement leader and his family until his death in 1942.

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Geneva, NY, Ann McQuane and Bob O’Connor

“Our house had been left without care and we are restoring gradually. Inside, brass hinges and knobs are all black and the walls are dark yell ow with green paint everywhere. The porch is lovely, with stone arch- work below the railing, the brick fireplace is trimmed with wonderful molding, and built-in oak bookcases — with glassed doors — flank the living room doorway. Outside, we have removed the awnings and now need to repaint the exterior.”

Nevada City, CA, Patricia Green

“Most of the homes in this Gold Rush era town date back to the late 1800′s. However, there are also about a half-dozen bungalows on aptly named “Boulder Street.” My house, built in 1915, has a granite block porch — the granite likely quarried on the site. The former owners had painted all the interior woodwork white, and I spent 5 1/2 months, by myself, stripping all of it, including ceiling beams! In the future, I plan to reroof with a material that more closely resembles the original shingles (wood shingles are not allowed here).”

Peshastin, WA, John Marshall

“My 1926 stuccoed bungalow was constructed in 1926 by a company named Cedarquist. Peshastin is a fruit town, on the east slope of the Washington Cascades, with pear orchards behind the houses then nothing but forest all the way to Canada and beyond. When I bought my house in 1987 everything was original other than the green paint and orange/green shag carpet that hid a beautiful floor of clear, vertical-grain Douglas fir. I’ve had to replace most of the plumbing and upgrade the wiring. I also replaced the leaking aluminum roof with a new painted steel roof and flat roof dormers, which transformed the attic into an open space with a spectacular view of Icicle Ridge. I’m adding a winding staircase of antique brick, with a river-rock retaining wall, leading up to the very gracious front porch. Fixing my bungalow has been both a struggle and a great source of satisfaction.”

Dayton, OH, Joel Borchers

“I bought this 1914 bungalow in 1994. Downstairs there’s a living room, dining room and kitchen, and two bedrooms and a bath upstairs. Most interesting about it are the Gustav Stickley electrolier light fixtures in the living and dining rooms. and Stickley wall sconces in the bedrooms. I wonder if this bungalow is a Stickley design.”

Asheville, NC, Sarah Peacock

“Here is a snapshot of my ‘new’ house (my first). I am in the process of stripping paint and brass, plus the original front door that I found in the garage. It’s quite an exciting task (the siding will come off later). I had no idea what a prize I had bought!”

Anacortes, WA, Tim and Nancy Vogel

“Our bungalow style cottage is on Guernes Island. one of the San Juan Islands of Washington. We are very proud of the design, light fixtures and furnishings, most of which are from the Arts and Crafts era. The island has approximately 400 year-round residences, serviced by a 20-car ferry.”

Santa Monica, CA, Dr. Stanley Josephs

“I built this modern, two-home duplex a half block from the ocean, in 1994. It’s surrounded by period homes, and the architect, contractor and I worked hard to keep the turn-of-the-century style and to give the large rooms a warm Arts and Crafts feel. It’s rare that someone ‘mistakes’ it for new.”

Redwood City, CA, Katherin Fagin

“We just finished rebuilding the chimney and porch of our house in Redwood City. The porch now wraps around the house and all has been given a fresh coat of paint with white trim.”

Wanamassa, NJ, Barbara Hoelle and Robert Lee Hefter

“Here is a side view of our 1908. board and batten, foursquare house. Our neighborhood, on a peninsula between two fingers of our lake, abounds in bungalows. Its original name was Deal Lake Bungalow Park. I love my house, neighborhood and town, and hope to help preserve the area as much as possible.”

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