Arts & Crafts  / Bungalow

Introduction

The Bungalow [1890–1939]

The word “bungalow” may seem today like a synonym for cottage, but in its heyday it was prized both for its exotic,
Anglo–Indian associations and its artistic naturalism.

A bungalow nestles into its site, low and spreading. It was inevitable that the form would be embraced by tastemakers and builders of the Arts and Crafts movement. The architects Greene and Greene in California called their millionaires’ chalets bungalows. Gustav Stickley sang their praises in this magazine The Craftsman. Dozens of planbooks between 1909 and 1925 promoted “artistic bungalows.” Only later, with the ascendancy of a middle-class Colonial Revival, did Arts and Crafts ideals lose favor and bungalow become a derogatory label.

The bungalow as a house form has close ties to the Arts & Crafts movement—and an even stronger affinity today, as thousands of bungalows, some quite modest, are snatched up to be interpreted in a manner that’s often beyond the tastes and budgets of the original owners.