by bungalow101 | May 17, 2022 | Kitchens
I had tried innumerable times to figure out a decent floor plan but was completely stymied. I knew that BUNGALOW KITCHENS, by the lovely & brilliant author, Jane Powell, held all the answers, but I had read it 18 times (Well, a few of those times I just drooled over the pictures.) but I had failed to find them. So, a preservation advocating neighborhood activist, I invited Jane to address my local association on the subject of said kitchens & Darling Husband fetched her from the airport.
She had just arrived in Tampa after having flown for 10 hours from Oakland. It was almost midnight (though admittedly only 9 PM Oakland time) & I was giving her a snack in my kitchen. I had been planning my kitchen restoration for 5 years. I hadn’t managed it in my L.A. house & was planning to give it another go in Tampa. (See how that worked out here!) My kitchen was awful. It was a mishmash of 50’s cabinets, a black marble countertop, fake stone tile flooring, Miami metal windows, a 60’s wall oven & a who-knows-when cooktop. I had allowed the previous homeowner to take the Home Depot pendant lights that hung over one section of the counter & had empty wires hanging down. The kitchen has 3 doors- from the dining room, to the back porch & a pantry that had probably been a butler’s pantry, but was now the world’s ickiest laundry room/pantry. I was puzzled by their positioning.
JANE – QUEEN OF BUNGALOW KITCHENS
So in walks Jane, who standing, eating a carton of strawberry yogurt, whirls on her heel & starts laying out my kitchen. It took her about 14 seconds to figure it out & 5 seconds of that was poking a strawberry seed out from between her teeth. After she said it, it seemed so obvious! How could I have considered anything else?
We spent the next 3 days driving around Tampa to the consulting appointments I had set up for her. In kitchen after kitchen, she worked her magic suggesting layouts, fixtures, colors, everything but menus. Like myself, people were dazzled by her simple, yet genius solutions.
Jane, sadly is now gone, but, she left Bungalow Kitchens behind so if you’re smarter than I am (Many people are.) by reading & studying the book, you can quite easily create a bungalow kitchen of your own. In fact, somehow one of my friends got overlooked & after Jane left Tampa, I planned her kitchen for her, a la Jane, & it turned out great!
THE BUNGALOW KITCHENS MANUAL BY JANE POWELL
The book is formatted in a similar manner to BUNGALOW BATHROOMS. In it, Jane explains how she learned about bungalow kitchens. “I learned a lot from doing it myself; I learned a lot more from my mistakes.” The best thing about this book is that if you study it & apply what Jane knew, you might not have to make those mistakes.
What I am offering here is just an overview of BUNGALOW KITCHENS by Jane Powell. My version comes across as pretty dry, but the book itself is beautiful & extremely entertaining.
Jane starts off with the History of the Modern Kitchen, hearkening back to Colonial days,describing it as being primarily the domain of women. Moving forward a couple centuries, she quotes Stickley. “In planning a house it should come in for the first thought instead of the last & its use as a dining room as well as a kitchen should be carefully considered.” She also mentions that at this time, almost all architects were men who likely did not cook, or probably even pick up a dirty dish, what did “considered” actually mean?
Last I noticed, thinkin’ & cookin’ involve different muscle groups.
The book includes a whole section on Greene & Greene in which the kitchens feature the design elements so that we know so well, cloud-lift relief, the unpainted wood, complex, decorative joinery all of which have the same problem-very tricky to clean. You can’t see food, fingerprints or other smudges on it. Granted, the homes that had such kitchens, designed by the Brothers Greene & others, were staffed with servants whose job it was 12 hours a day, to handle any ick, but that’s not your usual kitchen. I know it’s not mine!
I’m going to step in here with an observation of my own. G&G are very well known, & their kitchens are often erroneously construed to be examples of how a bungalow kitchen ought to be. But the houses that they built were very grand & their grand kitchen design was harmonious with the design, scale & materials in the rest of the houses. Most bungalows lack this grandeur in design & scale. Additionally, our kitchens were built with paint-grade materials, not the gorgeous, perfect, hand-selected wood used by the Brothers, & our more modest kitchens were, you guessed it- PAINTED.
WHAT’S IN THE BOOK?
The knowledgeable & eloquent Jane Powell (Yeah, I’m a fan. Super fan, really.) gives us everything, including the kitchen sink. I’m just going to zip through a list of topics because touching even a bit on each one would be a ridiculous chore.
So here it is:
- Electricity & lighting
- Sinks
- Drainboards
- Dishwashing, sanitation & cleaning tools
- Countertop materials
- Cabinets & cabinet doors
- Drawers
- Hinges & hardware
- Plumbing
- Ventilation
- Stoves & refrigerators
Take a breath. A deep one.
- Cabinet details- Jane includes many diagrams of cabinets here detailing the parts & structure of cabinets.
- Flour bins
- Handles, knobs & pulls- Jane shows diagrams of different styles of hinges, knobs & pulls & fasteners that would be appropriate choices in a bungalow kitchen. She explains, “Hardware is like jewelry for the kitchen: the interplay of doors, drawers, hinges & knobs is an important part of the design.”
- Countertop materials: wood, ceramic tile, linoleum, stone & metal
- Flooring
- Walls & ceilings\n\n
- Appliances
- Stoves from Victorian to ‘50’s
- Iceboxes to refrigerators
- Hiding the microwave
- Hiding the refrigerator
- Layout & Design
- The work triangle
- Determining the original layout
- Adding modern conveniences
- Matching new features with the old
- Starting from scratch
And another breath. We’re almost there.
- Assessing Your Needs and Dealing with Professionals
- The stress & mess of it all
- Architects
- Contractors & subcontractors- tile setters, painters, flooring pro’s, carpenters, cabinet makers, electricians & plumbers
- Interior Designers & building inspectors
- Salvage yards
- Home centers, hardware stores & lumberyards
- Catalogs
- Doing it yourself
- Resources
- Bibliography
Linda’s photos illustrate numerous beautiful kitchens & their individual elements. She shows many different color combinations & cabinet configurations in a nice array of both original & newly created retro. You can also see some very cool dishware, potholders & small appliances here. I collect (hoard?) all this stuff so it was a major treat for me!
You can visit Jane’s website & read more about her here.
I encourage you to read the overviews of all of her books.
P.S. I have the permission of the family to speak about Jane & her books & to use the images of her, some of which were provided by them. And here I talk about my own special relationship with this extraordinary woman.
The book is out of print, but available on Kindle. You’ll need to search online until you can find a copy. There’s usually one out there somewhere.
READ ALL JANE’S BOOKS ABOUT BUNGALOWS!
BUNGALOW BATHROOMS
Everything you need to know to restore or create a beautiful & functional bungalow bathroom.
BUNGALOW DETAILS: EXTERIOR
What makes a bungalow.
BUNGALOW DETAILS: INTERIOR
Your inspiration for a beautiful home.
BUNGALOW: THE ULTIMATE ARTS & CRAFTS HOME
All things bungalow.
& last but not least
LINOLEUM
It’s not vinyl!
STAY IN THE BUNGALOW KNOW!!!
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by bungalow101 | May 17, 2022 | Other areas
My cat, named after an anime sumo wrestler character in honor of the Asian influence of the Arts & Crafts Movement on the bungalow & his chunk-ster legs (the largest kitten in his litter) – my little Bukhai Thunder, AKA Bukhai Bunny-Bear, came to me as a fluffy, trembling ball. He was from a litter of 8. He & his littermates & mama had been rescued from a dumpster. Same old story- full of fleas & starving. Mama was an elegant & proud mother but the kittens had developed poorly nourished & were having a rough time.
I found him in a store-front shelter in the bungalow neighborhood of Eagle Rock where a sainted woman paid some huge amount of rent to display cats for adoption, which she cared for on her ranch. She bundled everybody in the morning & drove them in to town & found homes for them & then took the still unadopted ones home with her at night.
She truly gave St. Francis a run for his money in the sainthood department. My kitty who had preceded Bukhai, Pouella, was easily offended, fierce & strong. My vet was terrified of her. She had very fine long hair & I struggled keeping the mats off her. So, I asked the woman if she would groom her for me for a donation (a hefty one. I knew what I was asking.) I dropped her off at the storefront & returned when I received the call that she was ready. Pouella looked amazing, but I noticed that she had spots of blood on her. I was quite alarmed at this thinking that Pou had been wounded & mentioned it to the groomer who then showed me her extremely clawed hands & arms. It was the groomer’s blood, that she had willingly shed to make my kitty fluffy. Her halo shone with a glow that was almost blinding.
I brought Bukhai home to the Hare House. The poor babe was afraid of everything. I opened the carrier & he scooted into the fireplace in the Reverend Hare’s little study & cowered under the grate, shaking. I made him a snug retreat there with a little soft bed where he could burrow, a tiny litter box & that’s where he was fed. Every day I scooped him out & stuffed him down my shirt & sat with him all covered up for a couple hours, petting him gently through the fabric & talking softly. Then I put him back in the fireplace.
After 3 weeks, he ventured cautiously out on his own & settled down to life at the Hare House. Mahjong the Amazing Wonder Kitten had started life as a fully gorgeous 2 lb., blue-eyed kitty who just blossomed into an elegant, luxurious cat but Bukhai took a long time to grow into himself. His big eyes were beautiful as he gazed at me in adoration, but his ears were far too large & he had a tuft of fur that stuck up like a cowlick over one of them. (You can see it here!)
When he hit adolescence, his fur became very oily & dandruffy & stuck to his body, making those too large ears seem even bigger & the funny tuft even more prominent. But as he became an adult, he too became a handsome animal. His snow white fur trimmed with grey & black stripes became fluffy & the ears stopped growing so the body could catch up. His feet remained rather large & floppy for his size, but we decided that it was an endearing feature that made my little boy all the sweeter.
Bukhai was never very brave. Or even a little bit brave. Mahjong loved to go out into the garden & play jungle cat. He lurked & pounced & was difficult to coax back inside. Bukhai, on the other hand, preferred to stay on the porch, close to the door, but after a couple months, started getting relaxed about being out in the big world. Until the neighbor across the street started sweeping said street with a metal rake. Scritch, scritch. Bukhai flew to the closed door & ran up the screen where he clung until Daddy peeled him off, claw by claw, & tucked him back safely in the house from where he never again emerged.
When Buk was fully grown, my assistant brought over the new kitten she had adopted from the storefront. Kitten bounced out of the carrier, curious & ready to play. Bukhai ran to the door which I had closed to contain the new kitten, & turned, peering over his shoulder clearly terrified by the tiny bit of fluff squeaking & hopping about the room, his eyes as wide as saucers looking at this monster that we had allowed in his safe home. Mommy quickly came to his rescue & soothed him with a nice, long chin rub. Mahjong considered the new arrival to be but an hors d’oeurve but to Buk, the interloper was a monster straight out of a kitty nightmare.
Bukhai was the most loving cat I have ever known. He adored his mommy & loved to sit with me, gazing into my eyes while I petted him & spoke to him softly. We were besotted with one another. Unlike Mahj who wanted to kiss every girl at the party, Bukhai was fearful of all of my friends but three- my sister-in-law who is a friend to all animals, Helen, a neighbor, whom he recognized as a gentle soul & Theresa, another cat saint who visited & comforted him in his last unhappy weeks.
He’s in Heaven now, being the same angel-kitty he was here on earth.
IN MEMORIUM, A NEW CAT FRIEND IN THE BUNGALOW
Tids.
When Bukhai was about 8, a new kitten, Miss Tiddleywinks was brought home. I kept them apart because she was so dang loud & so active. Bukhai was clearly worried. When she was about ¾ grown, she decided that she lo-o-o-oved her daddy, didn’t like me at all (referring to me disdainfully as, “That lady,” wounding me at every opportunity) & took Bukhai under her wing. She licked him, she cuddled him & talked to him like she was his mama. Bukhai blossomed under her care. He had not been a boy who found much joy in life but gradually over the months, his eyes became brighter, his step more lively & he became a happy cat.
This animal who considered me a rival for my husband’s affection, bloodied me & several of my friends (who had responded to my warnings with, “Oh, I’m a cat person. It will be fine.”) more than once, pee’d on the furniture & pooped on the rug, was a saint & will ever be so regarded in my heart.
Moral of the story #1- Adopt a kitty, or 2, or 3. They will enrich your life.
Moral #2- Spay & neuter your pets.
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by bungalow101 | May 17, 2022 | Bathrooms
by Jane Powell, author & Linda Svendsen, photographer
“The hands-on source book for creating or restoring a stylish Arts & Crafts/bungalow bathroom.”
If you really want to know about bungalow bathrooms, you need to get ahold of Jane Powell’s Bungalow Bathrooms. It is full of well-researched facts about bathrooms as well as an abundance of images of historic bathrooms, restored & newly created retro bathrooms. A variety of beautiful hardware, fixtures & multi-colored tile gleam from the pages.
It is getting more difficult to find, so I suggest doing an online search for it, or checking with your local library.
Jane was a dedicated scholar & hands-on restoration expert. She was a thorough & meticulous researcher, motivated by her passion for bungalow & their preservation. She was dubbed, “The bad girl of bungalows,” because of her firm stance on accurate restoration & apposition to the demolishing of historic structures. She spoke at events all over the country & I met her when she came to speak at a neighborhood event I produced. We got along great!
There is no fact that exists about historic bathrooms that she doesn’t cover. So, this article by me is going to tell you what you can find in her book- not Cliff’s notes, but more like an outline so that you will understand how much you need to read the dang book. Additionally, the book is comfort food for the eyes. Jane has a deep & thorough understanding of design so the book is laid out impeccably.
I personally created or restored 5 bathrooms with the help of this book. It is not only the encyclopedia of bathrooms with more data than you could even imagine, but also the owner’s manual. Jane was a hands-on preservationist & in none of her books is this more apparent than in Bungalow Bathrooms. It is a labor of heart, head & hands.
THE FASCINATING CONTENTS OF BUNGALOW BATHROOMS
The book starts out with the history of the modern bathroom. She sends us back to Knossos, a city in ancient Crete, 1700 B.C. The book opens with her statement. “The evolution of the modern bathroom is neither linear nor orderly. Some ancient civilizations had bathrooms that were far more modern than the average bathroom of the mid-nineteen century.”
This is where her research & writing most interest me. Building design & decor do not stand alone but are influenced by the science, technology & culture & resources & politics of the time. I am always intrigued by building design & decor because these things influence the science, technology & culture & resources & politics of the time. In them we see life today, & if we are astute, life tomorrow.
She takes us from Crete through the Roman Baths, the Dark Ages, Henry III’s palace privies (for the hoi polloi it was chamber pots dumped into the streets) to the appearance of showers in the 16th Century. She treats us to a poem written in by Jonathan Swift 1729 about, well, pooping & then informs us that the bidet was invented in 1710.
We are introduced to the more modern flush toilet with its high tank sending water down to propel waste.
She explains that most of the bathing in the 19th Century had to do not with cleanliness, but with health, & it was not until the end of the century that bathing & cleanliness became connected.Her information is peppered with great illustrations making it easy to travel back in time to understand these discoveries. She includes a great number of old advertising pieces so you can see how the old fixtures & old bathrooms really looked.Jane continues on to describe the evolution of plumbing & by 1900, the bathroom starts looking like the rooms we recognize.
PICTURE PERFECT BUNGALOW BATHROOMS
As with all of Jane’s books, the photographs by noted architecture photographer Linda Svendsen, are abundant & beautiful. They show us a vast range of bathrooms from the pristine white of the early 1900’s through the wild- colored examples in the 1920’s- 30’s. We see complete rooms & bits & pieces of rooms, all described in detail, along with a ridiculous amount of fascinating trivia.
This is not one of Linda’s images, It is of one of the 5 bathrooms I restored/created with the help of this book. When I did the restoration in this house, my 1925 bungalow in Tampa, Daltile made this pinwheel pattern only in black & white. I picked out the black centers & my poor tile installer stuck in all the green ones. In 2 bathrooms! Most of my fingernails have grown back.
Did you know that “Toilet paper made its first appearance in 1857, when Joseph C. Gayetty introduced, ‘Gayetty’s Medicated Paper- a perfectly pure article for the toilet & for the prevention of piles?’ ” Betcha didn’t. In each section she gives tips for Obsessive Restoration (Me, me, me!) & also offers a Compromise Solution. Her suggestions are very detailed & well expressed. She also includes a resource list, some of which might be out of date because the book was published in 2001. (Not to worry, I’m working on a resource list.)
TABLE OF CONTENTS (With my notes about them.)
- Introduction
- History of the Modern Bathroom
- Nuts and Bolts
- Pipes & drains
- Electrical & lighting
- Ventilation
- Radiators & wall heaters
- Eye Appeal
Fixtures- sinks, tubs & showers & toilets & bidets
- Interesting towel racks, cup & t.p. holders & shelves
There’s also a diagram that shows different types of cabinet latches, hinges, pulls & tile edging
- Countertops
- Cabinets & knobs
- Walls & ceilings
- Doors & windows
- Tile- some amazing tile!
- Layout & Design
- Determining the original layout
- Installing a new bathroom
More beautiful tile!
- Assessing Your Needs and Dealing with Professionals
Architects
Contractors & subcontractors- tile setters, painters, flooring pro’s, carpenters, cabinet makers, electricians & plumbers
Interior Designers & building inspectors
- Resources
- Bibliography
I have purchased several copies of each of Jane’s books. As the local preservation maniac in 2 bungalow neighborhoods, I loaned them to many people & had to replace them multiple times. Bungalow Bathrooms is the only one that I have that is signed. I bought it at the first event I ever produced for Jane, not knowing how dear she would become to me. (If anybody out there has one of my signed books, which she sent to all the people whose homes were in her books, I’d love to have them back. I’ll give you one of my replacement copies. You aren’t Suzanne & Dennis so it will be just as good!)
READ ALL JANE’S BOOKS ABOUT BUNGALOWS!
BUNGALOW KITCHENS
Restoring the heart of the home.
BUNGALOW DETAILS: EXTERIOR
What makes a bungalow.
BUNGALOW DETAILS: INTERIOR
Your inspiration for a beautiful home.
BUNGALOW: THE ULTIMATE ARTS & CRAFTS HOME
All things bungalow.
& last but not least
LINOLEUM
It’s not vinyl!
STAY IN THE BUNGALOW KNOW!!!
Sign up for our newsletter & receive our FREE E-book, 7 VITAL Things to Do Before You Hire a Contractor.
by bungalow101 | May 17, 2022 | Life & times
by Barbara Farrar (October 6, 1926 – March 29, 2011)
As I recall the years of my childhood spent in “Tampa Town,” I am always cognizant of the changes that have accompanied our metamorphosis into a much larger city. One of them has impacted the daily lives of today’s neighborhood children. It has to do with pets and the different role they presently play. In those days, we all had pets, but they were not like the pampered, purebred or exotic ones prized by children today. They were “adopted” stray dogs and cats (Heinz 57 variety), plus many other varied forms of wildlife….and I do mean wild.
You see, Seminole Heights was not thickly populated, and was surrounded by acres of undeveloped woods. The Hillsborough River was a source of water and habitat for the native animals which frequented our bungalow neighborhood, and to which we children were hypnotically drawn. Likewise, they seemed to trust us, and we openly, or surreptitiously, fed them. Occasionally, these wild visitors were injured or just seemed sickly, so we established a “hospital” where we took turns caring for them. This was usually in one of our garages. Baby birds, squirrels, bunnies, possum and raccoons were frequent patients. We also cared for field mice, injured water birds, bats and songbirds. We raided our families’ medicine chests for various ointments, antiseptics and bandages. Produce boxes that came with ventilation holes made great cages. Chicken feed, cat and dog food and milk were the usual infirmary diet that kept them alive. However, I must admit that the survival rate was not very high. But, you can be assured that each deceased patient was given a full funeral from casket burial to flowers and a headstone in a nearby “pet cemetery”.
Pet care was, totally, the child’s responsibility. Any failure to assume this responsibility resulted in strict discipline and/or removal of the pet. Responsibility was developed at an early age.
No pets, domestic or wild, were ever allowed in the house or the car. Canaries, parrots and goldfish were the only indoor pets. Bad storms and freezing weather were the only exceptions to the house rule. Dogs and cats were fed canned pet food and table scraps. They were allowed to eat in the kitchen before being sent outside. Fresh drinking water was always available both inside and out. Dog and cat diets were supplemented by our trips to the local butcher shop. The owner, who was a neighbor, saved meat scraps and bones for the dogs and beef liver pieces for the cats.
Oddly enough, our cats and dogs were rarely ill. There were very few vets in the area, except for those who treated livestock. Once a year, our dogs got a rabies shot and tags to wear as well as an “annual worming.” The dogcatcher was quick to impound a tagless dog. There was no need to “walk the dog”. Wherever we children went, our four-footed friends trotted with us. We played so closely with them, that they seemed almost like siblings. They really enjoyed pacing us on our bicycles, the faster the better. Playing “hide and seek” was a favorite activity which they always won. The real challenge came during baseball games when the outfielder often had to out run the dogs for the ball. In retrospect, our dogs were tolerant and long-suffering. They endured many bumpy rides in our wagons, while dressed in some pretty weird outfits that only a child could create.
A special neighborhood pet was the green chameleon. We all had one which we confined with a collar of silk thread and wore on our shoulders. What we didn’t understand at the time was why it occasionally inflated that bright, red bubble under its throat. Eventually, we learned it was done to frighten enemies. The poor thing was terrified! We just thought it was pretty!
Today, I see only adult dog walkers pass my home. The majority wear headsets, and show impatience with the animal’s frequent “scent stops”. I often think of the sheer joy and wild abandon that neighborhood children shared in play with their pets. Tampa Town was truly a kinder, gentler place in which to experience reciprocal affection with one’s pet. Its disappearance is a tremendous loss.
ABOUT BARBARA
I had the great honor & extreme pleasure, of meeting Barbara when I interviewed her for the documentary film, Seminole Heights, An Intimate Look at the Early Years, that I produced about the neighborhood. In her 80’s, she was warm, bright, perceptive, articulate, & possessed a whimsical sense of humor. I have to say that she was the star of the show.
Barbara had spent her whole life in the Seminole Heights, attended our neighborhood schools graduating from Hillsborough High School in 1946, & in 1990, she was inducted into their Hall of Fame.
Barbara graduated in the first class of the newly established Florida State University in 1948 with a degree in journalism, & continued her education to get a Master’s Degree in Social Work. She went on to work for 41 years as a social worker.
In addition to being the champion for hundreds of children & families, Barbara worked as a volunteer for many organizations, focusing on our neighborhood. Serving as Editor of the Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association newsletter, The Advisor, Barbara strove to build a sense of community & respect for our history.
In addition to being featured in the documentary, you can see more of her story in the print version of the article in American Bungalow on the neighborhood.
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by bungalow101 | May 16, 2022 | The arts & the crafts, The History
by Janet Lea Haddock CID #4333
Instructional Specialist of Interior Design
Anne Arundel Community College
These two words are tossed around today by Realtors, consumers, builders & designers. We say them… “I love arts and crafts furniture”, we ask for them… “I want to buy an Arts & Crafts bungalow”, but are those two words understood? Do those requests come from a place of knowledge or from a think tank somewhere deciding that Arts & Crafts i.e., Craftsman was going to be a new historic-based trend to sell merchandise and home design. Is the term “Arts & Crafts” a style, a movement, or something else?
To be a loyalist to this movement when browsing the aisles of big box stores can be challenging. The undisciplined explosion of furnishings for the home was born from the industrial revolution. It brought garish results with a lack of proportion & overly embellished decorative details. Mass production was now possible so furniture, carpet & drapery, formerly only affordable to the wealthy, was now within reach of the common man.
THE ARTS & CRAFTS MOVEMENT THAT BIRTHED THE BUNGALOW
Today we celebrate those individuals who said, “no thank you” & gave birth to the Arts & Crafts movement. It was really a restoration, a return to “master craftsmanship” in furniture construction which led to home construction & design. It was a rejection to theatrical excessiveness. The mission was “truth to materials.” It embraced exposed joinery, natural finishes, simple lines while combining materials like metal & wood. Appreciating the beauty of those materials in a far simpler format that could be affordable to the masses was the intent. The term “mission furniture” is about the mission of truth to materials, but often mistaken for furnishings used in religious facilities known as missions, especially prevalent in California. Now how does this tie into “the Bungalow”?
AMERICAN BUNGALOW STYLE (1905-1930)
Characteristics. Simple design, sparse decoration, and natural materials—these were the essential components of the Bungalow style.
Materials. The materials used for the bungalow’s exterior usually suggested warmth & informality. …
That description is taken directly from the Wentworth Studio, a firm of architects and builders, specializing in restoring historic properties.
The concept of bungalows started with structures that were created in India for a British officer’s home (1890). They were not necessarily small houses in the beginning (circa. 1890), but grew (or shrank) to be a one-story home, typically a smaller square footage with deep overhangs. The late 1800s & the turn of the century, having no significant HVAC & limited use of electricity, used the overhangs in the roofing as a means of interior comfort management for seasonal weather. Meanwhile Sears Roebuck & Co. had begun to send catalogs directly to consumers. Home plans for bungalows appeared in 1908 for the first time…
RENOVATING YOUR BUNGALOW- CHOOSE AUTHENTIC ARTS & CRAFTS FINISHES
So what are we learning from this information? When renovating a bungalow…seek out authentic sources for the finish details like hardware, tile, light fixtures, etc. Truth to materials means to appreciate & use the materials as they were meant to be seen. Walls were painted, woodwork was stained. Brick was chosen for its color, not colorized once in place. The deep overhangs limited sunlight from entering the rooms so warm colors were painted on the walls. Wood darkens over time as it ages. When we see an Arts & Crafts bungalow today, perhaps the dark wood originally wasn’t as dark…light colored simple drapery hung at the windows. Built-ins provided an efficient use of space with glass doors, often leaded glass, giving both storage & beauty.
Gustav Stickley is celebrated & attached to this movement & justifiably so, but he isn’t the only Craftsman tied into the Arts & Crafts movement. History includes the Aesthetic movement within it bringing William Morris, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Greene & Greene architects & early Frank Lloyd Wright in the credits. Art Nouveau, French based was happening simultaneously & its influence is apparent in many bungalows. All bungalows are not of a singular style because of those influences. They also embraced Victorian & Spanish influences, especially in the West & Southwest where weather conditions were friendly to stucco exteriors & large expanses of glass. The common threads are the physical size, predominantly single-story living, front porches where people enjoyed socializing with passersby & the charm they exhude. Dining rooms were large, living rooms & bedrooms…not so large. Closets…well, let’s not go there.
As we walk down the aisles of Home Depot, Lowes or Menards…wherever your shopping options are as you repair & improve your bungalow, a person can find stock tile that can be laid in patterns to complement that era. Perhaps a splurge of 3-5 pieces of vintage tile to complete an authentic visual could be in the budget. Linoleum, which you can read about here, is authentic to this era & is considered one of the earliest sustainable material finishes for flooring. Choose your pattern carefully.
Resist the urge to paint the woodwork, but should it be your only option (or sometimes the best option) study the charts in your local paint supplier & read my articles about era appropriate colors. Patience in making the right choice is a virtue & celebrated by your fellow Arts & Crafts lovers. Avoid synthetic materials. They did not exist during this time. One can still have modern convenience without man made finishes. Insert your personal style through your accessories & art as furnishings are easily removable & do not compromise the space.
The bungalow was a great option for the young family in its day. It provided all the basic necessities a growing family needed in an atmosphere of charm & quality craftsmanship. As technology soars at the speed of light, maybe this is our way of pulling back & slowing down a bit…we want to sit on our porches & talk to our neighbors again…for some, it may be their first time.
TIP: FOR SOME GREAT A&C RESOURCES, VISIT OUR PAGE ON ARCHITECTURAL SALVAGE HERE.
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