INSCRIPTION:
“Bungalow Terrace [in Hyde Park, Tampa, Florida] was developed by Alfred Swann and Eugene Holtsinger [major developers in South Tampa] on what was Morrison Grove in 1913. The Bungalow Style home was modeled after the bungalows in California because of the low cost, adaptability, craftsmanship and low maintenance.
The first home was built in 1913 at a cost of $4,500 including the land. In 1916, a Pergola (bougainvillea) was built that extended from the south end to the north end of the terrace. The pergola was ten feet high and extended 345 feet with sitting benches and individual covered archways to each bungalow. In 1924, due to severe rot and deterioration the pergola was removed. Known for its many resident writers through the year including the best-selling author, Alec Waugh, this development consists of 19 homes which share a common sidewalk.”
ENTERING THE COURT
So, here I am on a balmy winter day, getting ready to enter Hyde Park’s Bungalow Terrace.
My first adventure into a bungalow court was visiting an interior designer, specializing in Arts & Crafts, in L.A. Her little house was a mini-me of my bungalow, inside & out. It was fascinating. I was never able to learn who the architect of my house, was, nor for the court. I’m still kinda upset by it.
Bungalow courts originated in Pasadena California, & their intelligent, aesthetic & practical design motivated Pasadena’s City Council to require that all multi-family units be built around a landscaped courtyard. Great idea! And an idea easy to import to Florida, another state enjoying massive growth & needing housing. A brilliant model, developers today would be wise to mimic it to solve today’s housing shortage & to satisfy people’s need for green space & for community.
This court is in South Tampa, Florida in the neighborhood of Hyde Park. It covers a whole suburban block. Platted in 1916, the first residents began moving in in 1920. The variety of architecture featured is totally charming.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
Here’s an airplane bungalow gem on our tour of Bungalow Terrace, in Hyde Park, Tampa Florida. You can see the care that went into designing this court by the use of multiple materials- stout red brick columns, use of both shingles & lap siding, paired outriggers, and multiple window styles.
Though the first ones in the court were built in 1913, the records show that this one was not built until 1939.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
I have a huge weakness for unusual columns, particularly when paired with such a large overhang. I do love chunky ones, but I especially like it that the developer of this bungalow court in Tampa, Florida took a few minutes to say, “Let’s not make little houses that look all the same,” half a century before Pete Seeger sang about suburban houses made of tick-tacky.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
This cute little airplane bungalow, features a sleeping porch with a 360 degree panoramic view, shingle siding (unfortunately painted) & limerock columns & a big honkin’ stone chimney!
Its lot size is 38×63 & the house itself, with 2 bedrooms & 2 baths & the house is 1,360 sq ft. Small but packed with great architectural features!
Go Bucs!
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
Once again, the original developers used some great detail in this smaller (1,236 sq. ft.) airplane bungalow home in Bungalow Terrace in Hyde Park, Tampa, Florida. The bold paint job emphasizes the structural elements of the roof overhang.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
A bungalow court triplex converted from a single family home, in Bungalow Terrace, Hyde Park, Tampa, Florida.
Built in 1916, like several of the others, it has a pop-up sleeping porch & wonderful stone columns & chimney. Unfortunately, what appears to have originally been an open porch has been closed in.
Once again, the original developers used some great detail in this smaller (1,236 sq. ft.) airplane bungalow home in Bungalow Terrace. The bold paint job emphasizes the structural elements of the roof overhang.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
This is another of the delightful homes in the Hyde Park Bungalow Terrace neighborhood. The composition of the front facade is wonderfully balanced with multiple front facing gables that pull the eyes from shape to shape & detail to detail.
Developed over several decades, the neighborhood of Hyde Park in which the court is located, was built as an upscale district with a variety of architectural styles. Today it is a beautiful example of how historic preservation can benefit a community, financially, aesthetically & culturally.
BUNGALOW TERRACE LONG AGO
Burgert Brothers was Tampa’s leading commercial photographic firm from 1917 to the early 1960s. Established by brothers Al & Jean, the studio focused primarily on photographing the Tampa Bay & surrounding areas. We are indeed fortunate to have the Burgert Brothers’ photographs which tell the tale of Tampa’s development from small town to major city. I made good use of them in the film I produced for my Tampa bungalow neighborhood.
I hope that you have the opportunity to visit this charming community, looking very much like the historic image above, yourself some day.
TIP: To learn more about the value of preservation, visit my page HERE!
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A bungalow is the sum of its parts- its shape, its size. its layout, its materials. All these things are called “character defining features” & are the reason why we love bungalows.
I greatly enjoy cruising around, happily snapping pictures of bungalows. Though sharing characteristics, each one is unique unto itself & displays its own personality. My Eagle Rock bungalow & my Tampa bungalow were unalike as 2 bungalows could be, but when you looked at each of them, they were immediately identifiable as bungalows. In fact, they had pretty much identical lay-outs which is why I chose the one in Tampa.
Each month on Facebook, Jo-Anne describes the unique details 8 bungalows. At the end of the month, these bungalow details are immortalized in the blog. We encourage you to use the GLOSSARY to look up any terms with which you might not be familiar.
LET’S LOOK AT SOME BUNGALOWS!
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
A double barrel shotgun bungalow. This house was built as a duplex with two long, narrow units, each having a hallway running from front to back. It was later relocated and remodeled as a single-family residence.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
A set of twins. It’s not uncommon for a builder to use the same set of plans to build homes, sometimes on adjacent lots and sometimes scattered throughout a neighborhood or town (builders certainly still do this today). It’s interesting to see the alterations over time with these two Folk Victorian bungalows. As with a previous image we posted, these homes were relocated in the Ybor City National Historic Landmark District in Tampa.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
There is so much to learn by studying historic plan books. The floor plans are so informative, but never have as many bathrooms as everyone seems to want nowadays. And often they are a bit shy of modern closet space preferences.
I find the colorized images are great for getting a sense of period colors, as well as where colors are applied. Here we have a color for the wall shingles, a color for trim, and a different color for the window screens. The green roof is the prominent color in the image, which is not something we see too often in new home construction. My own house, built in 1911 has vivid green metal shingles originally. I was a bit surprised by how bright the green was when we found them under the second story porch.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
A delightful doorway with sidelights and transom. Wood window screens with appropriate hardware. These are a few of my favorite things.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
This home doesn’t have any half-timbering, but the steep roof pitch and stucco exterior definitely shows its Tudor Revival styling. It’s shielded by a privacy hedge, but there is a nice open terrace in front of this house along with that darling integral arched portico. I am always drawn to this story-book style until I think about having to roof it.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
More bungalow eave brackets to love. This is a detail I will definitely use on a design for new construction at some point. Simple, elegant, and less than ordinary.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
When your average tapered Craftsman column just isn’t enough, you go bigger!
From Suzanne- My baby brother was a major chunkster & every time I see a house with elephantine columns I see his cheery little self running toward me on his chubby little legs.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
A row of bungalows in Ybor City just because I like them. Believe it or not, these homes were all relocated and renovated as part of a highway improvement project in Tampa, FL. 64 historic buildings were relocated out of the way of the proposed highway, most of which were bungalows. At some point I will post a lot of photos of these homes from relocation through renovation.
This article was 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 has kindly provided these photos & this information based on her vast knowledge of bungalows.
TIP: Read Jo-Anne’s other articles on bungalow details in our Features section, HERE!
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As muses & artisans of the Arts & Crafts Movement, women inspired & changed the course of history through their works, both in the early years in England & later here in America.
Had there been no Industrial Revolution, the Movement quite likely would never have formed. Had women had equal rights, this would have been reflected- & we might consider May to be originator of the movement, rather than just William’s daughter, only recently receiving the wide recognition so richly deserved.
Art exerts profound influence on culture & conversely, throughout history, conditions of the day have always provided creative individuals with material to motivate works that support or protest.
I turn to the scholars in the videos below to relay to you the wonderful stories of these women. I love learning from these sources & hope that you will too.
If you’d like to know more about the Arts & Crafts Movement, & what it might have to do with your bungalow, click here.
THE WOMEN OF THE ARTS & CRAFTS MOVEMENT VIDEOS
Women and the Arts and Crafts Movement: “What Can a Woman Do?” (1:00:02)
Nevada Museum of Art
Maker & Muse: Women and Early Twentieth Century Art Jewelry (4:10)
Paine Art Center and Gardens
In this video you will see some beautiful jewelry pieces as well as getting an overview of the subject of women as muse & the male response to women becoming more bold.
May Morris: Art and Life | Modern Masters Women Events Programme (19:40)
The Scottish Gallery
The images show up a few minutes in. They are worth the wait!
TIP: To learn more about the Arts & Crafts Movement, watch all my videos, HERE!
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This guide of how to clean & maintain your wood floors applies only to floors with a surface coating type of finish such as oil-based polyurethane finish, water based finishes, etc. For floors with penetrating finish, refer to your manufacturer’s instructions.
There are some similarities in care between the various finish types, but for the sake of ease, this article pertains to water & oil based polyurethanes only. None of them requires scrubbing on your hands & knees nor flooding the floor with water! Flooring finishes have come a long way since Great-grandmother’s time & the methods of cleaning & maintaining them have evolved right along with them.
There are many choices in flooring finishes today, each one with different care requirements. If you should currently be trying to decide about which finish to apply to your floor, you might want to read this article on cleaning & maintenance, as well as the one on types of finishes. Appearance is not the only consideration unless you have a houseful of staff. I’m guessing that a few of you don’t!
That’s brings the point to mind, this article is a good guide for your housekeeper. I have seen too many floors ruined because a lack of education.
TIPS ON MAINTAINING YOUR POLYURETHANE COATED WOOD FLOOR
1. Avoid high heel traffic, especially heels that have lost the protective little tips on the end. They are deadly to wood floors.
2. Use walk-off mats at all entrances. It’s not a bad idea to remove your shoes before entering your house. It is the tradition in many cultures. In addition to dirt, it also keeps out pesticides & herbicides that might be picked up outside. It also helps you enforce #1 when you have guests & you don’t want to be singling out any one person.
3. Place protectors on the feet of all furniture. You can get them in different types. This is a link to Amazon where you can see the various kinds & even some cute little videos about how to use them.
4. Use area rugs in high traffic areas.
PETS & WOOD FLOORS
Let’s start with our canine buddies.
If Doggie weighs over 30-40 lbs. or is very bouncy, their claws can not only scratch the wood but can actually dent it. Softwood floors like pine or fir, even floors of old growth wood which are harder than floors of newly harvested woods of the same species, are more susceptible to this, but I have seen many dented old-growth oak floors.
Some of my flooring customers used claw tips & found them workable. You can see them on Amazon here. I know little about them & recommend that you speak with your vet or trainer before trying them on your pet.
I also recommend placing rugs beneath the places where Doggie likes to hang out because when they jump down, they can exert quite a bit of force against your floor. If you place the rug part way under the feet of the furniture piece, it will help to anchor it.
There is no finish that will make your floor harder. Wood is soft & porous & though I’m not going to say that it’s a delicate material, it does take knowing what it likes & what it doesn’t like to get along with it.
Kitties are another matter. Firstly, I do not think that there is any way in the world to protect a wood floor from a litter box. There is nothing that you can put under it that will make any difference. Find a floor with an impervious surface. Kitties also seem to like to throw up & their vomit is very acidic. All I can say is that you need to clean it up as soon as possible. You hear the urping sound, grab a paper towel & get it up immediately.
I have never seen a cat scratch a floor, though my Pouella scratched my high gloss dining table. We had a large round metal platter that we displayed in the center, & she used to like to walk around it before settling herself atop the nice, cool dish. After a couple years of this, when you picked up the platter you could faintly see a circle of tiny claw marks. (This was nothing compared to what she did to the couch, but that’s another story.)
CLEANING YOUR POLYURETHANE COATED WOOD FLOORS
Here’s where you’re going to get instructions that are unique to me. I have seen many, many floors ruined by loving hands.I have spoken to many heart-broken homeowners whose new floors were cupping (Here’s the GLOSSARY!) or cloudy. They all had one thing in common. They weren’t my customers! My customers got a cute little care basket with a cleaning kit, feet & most importantly, instructions on how to use them, at the end of the job.
So here’s what I suggest- a long-handled Swiffer for every day dust & cat fur removal. Barefooted, it is exactly the right height for me. (With shoes on, I have to bend a little bit.) I use a robot vacuum every other day but it doesn’t get under & around everything, & the dust & cat fur do! I do not use one with a water tank. As you will see, I like to control my floor’s moisture level.
For a more thorough clean, I pull out my trusty canister Miele. It has a HEPA system, not just a HEPA filter. I use a soft brush attachment that I routinely check for any pieces of plastic that could touch the floor. I run this over the floor, using a wee bit of pressure, to ensure that the brush is loosening dirt from the grain. This is my second Miele canister. The first one was ruined by a housekeeper who ran it without a bag.
MOPPING A POLY COATED WOOD FLOOR
The word mopping conjures up visions of dripping string mops & buckets of soapy water. THIS IS NOT THAT!!!!
I highly recommend using Bona’s original cleaning formula with its basic mop. Here’s the whole system in a package on Amazon. There are other similar products offered by Bona but I am not a fan of scented cleaning products & their other, fancier mops that squirt, don’t allow me to clean as thoroughly as I would like, while protecting my floor. I also purchase several additional mop heads.
After I Swiffer & vacuum, I spray a section, starting at a far wall, about 6′ X 6′ with a little bit of Bona. I just mist it, really. Then I take my nice, clean dry Bona mop & going with the grain of the wood, I mop up the water. I get that floor dry. As I move from section to section, I check my mop head for dampness & dirt & change it for a fresh, clean, dry one at least every room. The purpose of the mop is to pick up the moisture & the dirt, not lay it down. I stick the mop heads in a plastic back as I go along. I don’t leave them on the floor. They then go in the washer & dryer with my other rags & are ready to go for next time.
Does all this sound too easy? Well, it is. Here are my only cautions:
1. Buy at least 6 extra mop heads.
2. Do not use a great deal of the cleaning fluid in any single area. If you have to spray it & wipe it again, so be it.
3. If you buy a gallon of the concentrated cleaner, do not make the mistake of using it without mixing it with the amount of water in the instructions. Ensure that your housekeeper understands this. I’m recalling now that I actually did get a call from one of our customers. Her floor was cloudy & sticky. Turned out her housekeeper used the fluid full strength instead of mixing it with water 7 to 1. For months! I told her to hide the bottle of concentrate & just rinse it a couple times every cleaning. This worked. She saw improvement with the first rinse.
4. Occasionally mop with just sprayed water. The Bona can leave a tiny amount of film that over time might become noticeable.
5. Keep an eye on your floor for the finish wearing in high traffic area. When you see finish wear, (loss of sheen) call your wood flooring company & ask them if it’s time for a re-coat of your high traffic areas. If you keep your floor coated, barring disaster such as deep scratches or water damage, you’ll never have to refinish it again. We are big on saving wood floors & like advise folks to keep them protected.
I recommend that you read all the articles in the WOOD FLOOR section so that you will have full understanding & appreciation from these gifts from Mother Nature.
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By looking at bits of bungalows, you should start to feel like you could maybe know one when you see one. A bungalow, like any house, is the sum of its many details, the characteristics that it has that no other type of house has. You might want to take a cruise over to the article WHAT THE HECK IS A BUNGALOW ANYWAY? to have a base from which to view these pieces.
The majority of the details that we show you are Florida bungalows, but when my friend from Eagle Rock came to visit me in my historic Tampa neighborhood, she was astonished to feel right at home. We drove around with my friend Steve who chaired the neighborhood preservation committee & he told her about the neighborhood which is so similar to her own.
These Florida bungalow details images & their descriptions were provided by Jo-Anne Peck of Preservation Resource. Jo-Anne has many years of experience as a consultant & a hands-on restorer of old houses. She is going to explain the various details. You will see links to the GLOSSARY sprinkled throughout the post. She graciously assisted in the creation of the glossary.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
Why would anyone design a house with a closed soffit when you could have fun exposed cut rafter tails like these?
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
I love how this brick path (real brick, not those pale pink concrete pavers) leads you to this darling cottage with a side clipped gable (or jerkinhead) roof and the entry portico centered on the symmetrical front facade. Hardscaping is an often-over-looked component to showing off a bungalow.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
This house demonstrates how lovely a soffit can be if it is enclosed with real wood beadboard. Just say “NO!” to vinyl.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
More symmetry to make me feel balanced (I need as much balance as possible in my life!)
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
I photograph a lot of Craftsman bungalows with Tudor style influences like this one with the great half-timbering in the porch gable.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
Isn’t this an interesting porch overhang? It’s suspended from the roof above in this 1915 postcard from the Florida State Archives. Then they had the confidence to hang a porch swing from the suspended porch roof! I have no idea where in Florida this Craftsman bungalow was constructed, or whether this daring porch design survived the test of time (and hurricanes) but would love to hear from anyone who might know.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
This little Craftsman bungalow is strong and simple with original windows and wood window screens. The side gable roof allows for a wonderful shed roofed dormer that likely makes for a nice finished attic space. While there is nothing wrong with a standard, sturdy Craftsman eave bracket, a detail like this with a little extra flair just makes you smile.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
Notice how the rafter is birdsmouthed to rest on the bracket properly (another thing that makes the architectural nerd in me smile.)
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS
There is an awful lot to love in this Craftsman bungalow with its half-timbered gable, wraparound hipped porch and double shed roofed dormers. Read here why it’s not a Tudor Revival, despite the lovely half-timbering on the gables!
This article was 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 has kindly provided these photos & this information based on her vast knowledge of bungalows.
STAY IN THE BUNGALOW KNOW!!!
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INSCRIPTION:
STAY IN THE BUNGALOW KNOW!!!
A bungalow is the sum of its parts- its shape, its size. its layout, its materials. All these things are called “character defining features” & are the reason why we love bungalows.
As muses & artisans of the Arts & Crafts Movement, women inspired & changed the course of history through their works, both in the early years in England & later here in America.
This guide of how to clean & maintain your wood floors applies only to floors with a surface coating type of finish such as oil-based polyurethane finish, water based finishes, etc. For floors with penetrating finish, refer to your manufacturer’s instructions.
Let’s start with our canine buddies.
Here’s where you’re going to get instructions that are unique to me. I have seen many, many floors ruined by loving hands.I have spoken to many heart-broken homeowners whose new floors were cupping (Here’s the 
The word mopping conjures up visions of dripping string mops & buckets of soapy water. THIS IS NOT THAT!!!!
By looking at bits of bungalows, you should start to feel like you could maybe know one when you see one. A bungalow, like any house, is the sum of its many details, the characteristics that it has that no other type of house has. You might want to take a cruise over to the article 
