My blog has gotten rather chunky so I have chosen 5 articles that I consider to be the most important bungalow basics for any conscientious steward. In these articles I have covered the information that it is vital for you to know in order to understand, preserve & maintain & enjoy your bungalow. The rest of my blog supports these.

When I purchased the Hare House, I had some of this knowledge having grown up in museums & museum houses. I gained more from reading books & magazines about the Arts & Crafts Movement & am still studying today.

The internet is a wonderful resource, the main caveat being that anyone can represent themselves as an authority & unfortunately, few truly are. The external links I provide in my articles & video posts take you to the people to whom you should be listening. These true experts adhere to & promote the use of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards, which forms the bedrock of preservation. The internal links take you to my articles which embellish each topic. I urge you to follow the those links & continue reading.

So let’s take a look at the information you need to know to win the bungalow game.

HERE’S MY LIST OF KEY BUNGALOW BASICS

1. BUNGALOW: THE ULTIMATE ARTS & CRAFTS HOME

The books of Jane Powell. I started this blog in Jane’s memory & to ensure that her knowledge would continue to spread. There is little information about bungalows that is not contained in those books, save that some of the resources may be out of date. I suggest that you start by just paging through, enjoying the lush photos & reading the captions. After you have had this visual orientation, start reading. The type is very small & the the data is very detailed, but Jane was a dedicated researcher & wanted us to know everything!

These books are now out of print but still available. They can be found in many libraries.

I always suggest starting with this one which Jane called The Big Book of Bungalows. It is a good introduction to the subject, covering the history & philosophy of the favorite American house, as well as providing many pictures of amazing houses throughout the United States. These homes are beautifully preserved & impeccably decorated which can guide you in making your choices. Links to all the books are included at the bottom of the page for each of them.

2. THE ARTS & CRAFTS MOVEMENT

These beautiful videos will introduce you to the soul of your bungalow. When I hear people wondering about decor, lighting or remodeling, I send them here to learn about the origin of the bungalow & the cultural problems it was designed to solve.

When I purchased the Hare House, I did not have this rich, visual resource, created by many brilliant scholars. After getting a subscription to American Bungalow & locating many back issues which I scoured thoroughly, I purchased a book on William Morris which I read concurrent with Jane’s books & I was hooked on The Movement & its American expression, the bungalow.

These videos & their companions offer you a look at history, philosophy, historic preservation & life as it was lived during the early 1900’s as well as containing advice from some of the top preservationists in the field. I have searched the internet to present the most helpful, entertaining & often amusing information available in the format.

When I am chilling, I watch & rewatch these videos.

3. WHAT THE HECK IS A BUNGALOW ANYWAY?

The word has evolved through the decades & is now used both as an architectural term & as a catch-all term.

This article is written by Jo-Anne Peck of Preservation Resource, Inc. & Historic Shed. Jo-Anne is a historic preservation professional with a degree in Building Science, a Master’s of Fine Arts in Historic Preservation & a licensed Florida Building Contractor with over 25 years experience in preservation. She is very active, leading community preservation efforts in the historic town in which she lives & her own house is meticulously restored.

Jo-Anne has extensive knowledge of all things bungalow as well as all other types of houses. I met her when I was producing preservation educational events & her presentations were some of the most informative, & popular. She is often called upon to side-check my work & I am grateful for her knowledge & her willingness to help.

4. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE OF RESTORING AN OLD HOUSE?

Old house stewardship is not for everyone. The amount of planning, surprises, decisions, resilience (both physical & mental) & money required can be overwhelming in the extreme!  Fortunately,  there are concrete actions that you can take that will aid you in getting through any project.

This is an article I wrote after doing a restoration that almost crushed me. I was floundering & whining & finally decided that I needed to gather every life lesson that I ever learned about everything & apply it to the situation at hand.

Read the story of how I used all my knowledge & all my skills (& then rapidly developed some more!) to get a house done that I should never have touched in the first place.

I am in no way saying that doing these things made it easy! I’m just saying that taking these actions made it possible!

5. BEFORE YOU HIRE AN OLD HOUSE CONTRACTOR

Even the most dedicated DIY’er will at some point need to hire a pro. Even if your only need is guidance, you want to be assured that the advice given is sound.

The majority of contractors know nothing about old house restoration. They know current codes & modern materials & methods. Or sadly, even less. The trick is incorporating these modern materials & methods into old construction while also have an understanding of when the old work ones actually better. Too often their suggestion is to lose the old & substitute the new.

You need to find contractors who respect old houses & have gotten educated on their proper treatment. If you mention the Secretary’s Standards to a contractor & he looks at you blankly, you need to pass or educate.

This article is designed to help you find the right guys.

The blog is now approaching 200 articles. I hope this gives you an idea of where to wade in. To get more of a feel for it, visit the SITEMAP, which serves as a table of contents, or use the Search feature.

I had to learn all of this piecemeal & want to make it easier for you to absorb, evaluate & align the tremendous amount of information that there is for you to know. Please let me know if there’s any way that my blog can serve you better.

STAY IN THE BUNGALOW KNOW!!!

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