Brothers Charles & Henry Greene can be understood as men through the study of their Arts & Crafts architecture. As with all artists, their creations were born of their unique viewpoints of life, tempered by their educations, their personal relationships & professional experiences, & the cultures & technologies of their times.
At the same time, each creative expression contributes to the personal evolution of the individual. You can see this clearly in studying the works of any artist over their lifetime. The viewpoint does not remain stagnant, as evidenced by the often radical changes in style over the course of the artist’s career.
For an architect the quantity of these in-flowed influences is magnified by their medium- clients, contractors, topography, tradespeople, materials, climate & cost overruns, oh my! Each of these leave their mark on the soul.
These videos are about the most well-known works of the Greene’s. I believe this medium with their virtual, docented tours to be the next best way of experiencing & understanding any piece of architecture. They tell the story of the Brothers Greene through the magnificent Arts & Crafts architecture that they designed.
THE VIDEOS- Charles & Henry Green Arts & Crafts architecture
Though I am an admirer of the Brothers Greene, I am not an expert, nor a scholar, nor do I have sophisticated video capabilities so I prefer to let them do the teaching & they do it exceedingly well.
Arts & Crafts architecture of Greene & Greene including The Gamble House, CALIFORNIA episode (3:03)
Craft in America
A short video with some beautiful shots expressing how the California lifestyle influenced the design of the house.
A Portal – the Gamble House front door (9:50)
The Gamble House x
Jennifer Trotoux, Director of Collections & Interpretation, gives an overview of the artistry and construction of the front door of the Gamble House. Wherever you are, you will be transported to the entry of the house & learn so much about the design & the crafting of this beautiful portal.
The Thorson House Tour- A Greene & Greene Ultimate Bungalow (19:16)
The Wood Whisperer
A close look at the many refined & delicate details through which the Brothers Greene, took items of utility & made them things of beauty, including their version of recessed lighting!
Greene & Greene’s Bungalow for Robert Blacker (10:44)
Hoosierwoodcraft
A short history of the Greene Brothers & some images of the Blacker House.
Two Sides of the Pacific: Japan and the Architecture of Greene & Greene (1:18:15)
The Huntington
Looking at Japan through the lens of the Brothers Greene, a fascinating talk by Edward R. Bosley, Executive Director of The Gamble House on the influence of Japanese design on Charles & Henry & the reception of their work in Japan.
I invite you all to visit the Gamble House at your earliest opportunity. Sign up for their mailing list so you can stay informed of their wonderful array of activities.
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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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There are so many things to deal with when you have a historic bungalow, even after the primary renovations are done. So, it’s quite forgivable if you are tempted to head off to the local shed supplier and stick a pre-made metal shed in the yard just to have a dry place for the lawnmower or the barbeque, or here in Florida, your hurricane shutters. Hm-m-m, I guess in colder climes, it can hold your storm shutters or your screens, depending on the season. But pre-made sheds that don’t match your bungalow can be an eyesore in an otherwise perfectly renovated or restored property, so don’t be hasty in your purchase.
A properly designed shed that complements your historic bungalow can also enhance your property, both aesthetically & financially. A really cute one can amuse you & make up for the dollhouse that you never had. Nestled in your garden, it can be an elf house that doubles as a utility shed
A new shed designed to match a historic Craftsman bungalow.
Until I started a shed company with my husband, I can’t say I spent much time thinking about sheds or their design. But while working on a large preservation project, the residents of the newly rehabbed houses started clamoring for sheds that were allowed within the historic district and it came to my attention that living within a historic district created some problems for anyone that wanted storage and didn’t already have an outbuilding (I’d been lucky to have had a historic one-car garage that came with each of the 1920s homes I had owned at that point). Since most stock metal sheds weren’t allowed by the local preservation review boards, residents had to hire a designer, get local preservation approval, then get a contractor to build the shed (including permits since they are required for most sheds here in Florida). That lead us to starting a whole company dedicated to designing and building historically appropriate sheds and thus changed the direction of my life for a while (but that’s a whole ‘nother story that has mostly ended).
Along the way I found that it was fairly easy to design a historically appropriate shed for historic homes if you follow a few straightforward design rules. I will attempt to lay them out here in an organized fashion.
START WITH THE SIZE OF YOUR HISTORIC BUNGALOW SHED
It seems obvious, but start with thinking about what you want to put in the shed. What are the big items? How much room do you need to maneuver around them? Where can shelves go? Would it be worth having loft storage for items like holiday decorations that you only need to get out once a year rather than making the shed larger?
Think about things you don’t have now, but might put in the shed someday. We had a customer who bought a 16′ kayak after we built her a 14′ long shed – she ended up having to store it outside along the back wall.
Think about possible future uses. Would you want to finish out your shed for a home office or pool house at a later date? Or even turn it into a guest house?
Bigger can be better, but if you build it, you will fill it. And the bigger you go, the more it costs, so you want to be sure you right size it.
Shed design to complement a Mission style bungalow.
LOOK AT YOUR YARD
How much room do you have for the shed? And how much room will be left after you build it? Then think about whether your shed would interfere with future yard plans like the pool or deck you’ve been dreaming about. Next check your local zoning codes to see what any required side and rear yard setbacks would be. Many places will not allow you to place the shed right on your property line, so you may have less space than you think you have. We’ve installed sheds in places where they required as much as 10′ setback from the rear property line!
Next, consider how the shed placement can help your yard layout. Are there desirable views you don’t want to block? Or are there undesirable things your shed can hide if you place it right? How will you landscape around it? Does the area where you’d like to place it flood or have standing water after it rains? Are there trees in the way (don’t forget to look up at branches as well as the base)? And are there utility wires in the way, above or below ground?
LOOK AT THE ROOF OF YOUR HISTORIC BUNGALOW
This shed vent was designed to match the one of the main house.
Since most sheds are just boxes with a roof, I find duplicating the roof details to be the easiest way to make the shed complement the main house. Start with the roof shape. Is it a gable, hipped, jerkinhead or some other shape? Or if your house has a combination of roof shapes, such as a hipped main roof with a gable porch, decide what you find most prominent from the side facing where the shed will be built (often the rear).
The next part of the roof to match is the roof slope. A shallow roofed shed won’t look good next to a Folk Victorian with a steeply pitched roof, even if it is the same roof shape. You don’t have to match it precisely, but there are phone apps that will help you determine your house’s roof pitch to get you in ballpark.
Then study the eave details. Does the house have wide overhanging eaves or narrow? Are there exposed rafters or boxed soffits? Do the tails have a specific design? These are all elements you may want to consider in your new shed.
And lastly, are there brackets or outriggers or other details you’d like to include in the shed design? And if there are roof vents, what shape are they? As sheds aren’t generally climate controlled, this is an important design and functional feature, so you might as well make it look right.
A shed designed to match a bungalow with a jerkinhead roof and rounded rafter tails.
NOW LOOK AT THE OTHER FEATURES OF YOUR HISTORIC BUNGALOW
What material is on the exterior walls of the house? If it’s siding, what is the profile and exposure? If its stucco, is it smooth or textured? If you can’t match the main house exterior due to costs or availability, are there materials that are complementary? For example, will lap siding look good next to your brick house (the answer is usually yes)?
A hipped roof shed with boxed eaves and lap siding.
Similarly, plan to match the roofing material of the main house as closely as possible on the shed. Or, if you will be replacing the main house roof soon, choose the future roof so you don’t have to change out the shed at the same time.
Have fun with the other design elements from the main house as well. If there are shingles on the gable of the house, it can be a great feature on your new shed as well.
Then look at the other details on the house such as windows, doors, and trim. Choose windows of similar design and proportions as the main house, although you can choose a simpler sash pattern if you’d like (for example, 1/1 windows rather than 6/1) since the accessory building can be subordinate in design as well as size to the main house. Just as important, look at the exterior trim on the windows and door and plan to match them in the shed.
Finally, choose paint colors for the shed that are either the same as the house or a complementary pallet. Or, go crazy and use it to try out a color schemes that you are considering for the main house.
NOW ENJOY YOUR LOVELY SHED!
Just kidding. You still have to build it. Of course, designing the perfect shed for your bungalow is only step one in the process, but hopefully these tips will help you feel confident that your new shed will indeed be designed to be a perfect companion to your old house. If I get ambitious, I will write up some tips on building the shed so it will last as long as your historic home as well.
TIP: Read the post about a shed that we built for Suzanne HERE!
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.
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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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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.
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Old growth wood, from deep within the forest primeval. From fairy tales to an awed reverence in bungalow fans, the forest is endemic to the lore of humankind. Trees have been regarded as sacred in many early traditions. Since the dawn of time humankind has understood that his survival & that of the tree are interconnected- for shade, for food, for fuel & for shelter.
In old house circles, ancient wood is highly regarded for its strength & its beauty. I wrote an article about it & it is the most viewed post on my blog. That post discusses the properties of old wood, but in these videos, you are going to look at the forest & how it contributed to the wonderful characteristics of the trees & the lumber that was cut from them. 100 years ago, this lumber was used to build your house & today your house stands strong & sturdy.
You are going to hear a fascinating talk by a woman who grew up in the forest & listens to trees. She has learned the secret of how trees in the forest form a strong community, helping one another survive & grow, through communication & by passing chemicals & nutrients to trees in need.
You are going to find out how farmed wood differs from forest grown wood & why it results in inferior lumber.
You are going to see 100 year old logs pulled out of rivers to be milled into building materials.
OLD GROWTH WOOD VIDEOS
No matter how much you cherish your old growth fir, pine, oak – these videos will increase your understanding & appreciation for it immensely. The people who are speaking, are authorities in their fields & each one loves old wood. Let’s get started.
Goodwin Heart Pine on Dream Builders TV Show (5:22)
Goodwin Company
Pt.1 Introduction – Works of Heart – Goodwin Heart Pine (4:21)
Goodwin Company
Old-Growth Forests vs. Second-Growth Plantations (2:59)
Ancient Forest Alliance
What are Old Growth Forests? (2:44)
Harvard Museum of Natural History
Suzanne Simard | Mother Trees and the Social Forest (1:09:19)
Long Now Foundation
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Brothers Charles & Henry Greene can be understood as men through the study of their 
INSCRIPTION:
There are so many things to deal with when you have a historic bungalow, even after the primary renovations are done. So, it’s quite forgivable if you are tempted to head off to the local shed supplier and stick a pre-made metal shed in the yard just to have a dry place for the lawnmower or the barbeque, or here in Florida, your hurricane shutters. Hm-m-m, I guess in colder climes, it can hold your storm shutters or your screens, depending on the season. But pre-made sheds that don’t match your bungalow can be an eyesore in an otherwise perfectly renovated or restored property, so don’t be hasty in your purchase. 
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!!!
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.
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 
Old growth wood, from deep within the forest primeval. From fairy tales to an awed reverence in bungalow fans, the forest is endemic to the lore of humankind. Trees have been regarded as sacred in many early traditions. Since the dawn of time humankind has understood that his survival & that of the tree are interconnected- for shade, for food, for fuel & for shelter.