Arts & Crafts / CraftsmanHallmarks
Hallmarks of the Craftsman Home
Craftsman Homes are diverse; fewer than half could be called Bungalows. In 221 different plans, styles include Rustic Bungalow and Tudor Revival, Saltbox, Mission, Chalet, and Ranch, not to mention a sprinkling of urban brick row houses and gambrel colonials. Nevertheless, Craftsman Homes have a look we can learn to recognize:
• EXPOSED STRUCTURE is common on houses that are often low and broad. Look for big beams and oversize piers or columns, rafter tails, brackets. Soffits are deep.
• NATURALISTIC is a good word for these houses made of vernacular materials and studded with porches and patios. Houses relate to their sites. They are homey without being nostalgic. Except in woodsy locations, wood doesn’t necessarily predominate. Stone, cement, adobe, and tile are common, and brick appears where the material has local precedent.
• EXTERIOR INTEREST is provided not by ornamentation but by materials and by the shadow lines of pergolas, recessed porches, and balconies.
