HOMES FOR SALE

Architextures

Craftsman Bungalow

Four Bungalows

The style we call "Craftsman Bungalow" did not spring fully-formed from the pen of a clever architect. Scholars have traced the influences of Japanese architecture, the Swiss Chalet, and the Eastern Mountain Lodge in the development of this uniquely American house style. As popular taste turned away from the Queen Anne style, suburban builders had to come up with something new and distinctive. It was a messy process with many intermediate stages.

These homes are located in a part of Oak Cliff that was developed between 1900 and 1920. They illustrate the evolution from late-Victorian Queen Ann Cottage to Craftsman Bungalow.

Illustrations by Luis Escalante. © Ken Lampton

House #1

This home represents an early stage in the transition from Queen Anne Cottage to Craftsman Bungalow. It has a relatively low-pitched roof compared to most late-Victorian houses, but the small gable above the porch steps points back to late-Victorian influence. There are no exposed rafter ends and no triangular brackets. No effort has been made to give you the sense that the basic structural elements are open to view. The slender porch columns seem barely substantial enough to hold up the roof of the porch. The house is not visually tied to the earth in the manner of the Craftsman Bungalow. The windows are in units of one, which is a late-Victorian treatment. They are not ganged together in the manner that became commonplace with the later Craftsman Bungalows.

House #2

This house represents a transitional stage between late-Victorian cottage and Craftsman Bungalow. It has a low-pitched roof, an emphasis on horizontal lines, and the look of being firmly planted on the ground. But it lacks the exposed rafter ends and ganged windows typically associated with the Craftsman Bungalow. The spindly porch posts, old-fashioned treatment of the roof gable, and the lack of roof overhang betray its Victorian heritage.

House #3

This is a Craftsman Bungalow with all stylistic cues. The overhanging eaves, the roof brackets, and the style of the porch pillars are all typical details of the Craftsman Bungalow. During the bungalow craze of the 1910's, building supply warehouses carried a variety of prefabricated triangular roof brackets and tapered porch columns in all shapes and sizes.

House #4

The low-pitched roof, the overhanging eaves, the roof brackets, and the style of the porch pillars are all typical details of the Craftsman Bungalow. The application of heavier-scaled siding below the window sills makes this house look lower and wider.