I always associate Craftsman architecture with LA (perhaps due to all the movies and tv shows that use them as sets?), and lately, I've been reading the more first time home buyer taking the plunge on a shabby Craftsman and restoring it to all its chic wood paneling and built-ins. One of the best blogs I've come across is
Dave and Heather's 1912 Bungalow renovation project. Their blog gives first-hand insight on all the ups and downs of DIY house renovation (and a bit more, like seeing
Dr. 90210 at the mall). So, if you're wondering what it REALLY takes to do a complete house overhaul, check em out: they have great
before-and-after photos,
resource links, and two adorable corgis.
-Grace
Comments (4)
Yes, Bungalows do exist all over LA, but they are everywhere, Seattle has many, many bungalows in and around the city and I rather like that style of pre war home if I were to back that far.
I'm more of a MCMernist type of guy so anything modern from the late 40's to the mid 60's at the latest is more my thing. :-)
While bungalows do exist all over the place, there is a particular style known as "California bungalow."
Chiffonade,
Yes, that is true, there is a particular style known as the California Bungalow, but it, like the Craftsman style, grew out of the Arts and Crafts movement and both hailed from the same period (1900-1930) and while elements of the California bungalow were primarily seen in California, however, the very style, came to be known as Craftsman (and according the link you provided, both I believe converged into more or less the same style) to imply a style similar to Gustav Stickely by other architects and designers, and it's those that you see all over the US in the typical 1 and 1/half story structure common to the bungalow style of the early 1900's.
What's interesting to note is that the California Bungalow was responsible for the explosion of popularity of the particular style still enjoyed throughout the nation:
"The California bungalow would come from the immigration of people in the early 1900s," Winter says. "This is the place where hundreds, literally thousands, of bungalows were built in the first few decades of the century." The bungalow's success in the West led developers and construction companies to readily identify this architectural style with the golden state, thus becoming the California bungalow--a term that has stuck with this style ever since.
-Dr. Robert Winter, author of American Bungalow Style