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Craftsman Architecture

20 Nov
Galveston, Texas Galveston, Texas  
Gamble House, Pasadena, CA Greene and Greene Gamble House Gamble House
 
Craftsmen Interiors    
     
Arts and Crafts (Craftsman) 1905-1930

In the late 19th Century, the Arts and Crafts movement developed, in England, as a response to mass produced goods that were on the verge of putting the remaining craftsman out of business. This movement supported handcrafted work, simple forms, and natural materials. These ideas took hold in America about 1890, but its use as an architectural style really started in the 20th Century.

On the West Coast, Charles and Henry Greene (Greene and Greene), began to design houses that combined Arts and Crafts concepts with the simple wooden architecture of Asian countries. In the Midwest, Frank Lloyd Wright used the ideas in his Prairie style, and on the East Coast, Gustav Stickley created a new furniture design with the Arts and Crafts influence.

Craftsman was a magazine published by Stickley between 1901 and 1916. The only true “Craftsman” houses are those whose Arts and Crafts style plans were published in this magazine. Eventually, other magazines and pattern books began to publish plans for similar Arts and Crafts designs, and the term “Craftsman” became a generic term for many Arts and Crafts designs.

Arts and Crafts designs are usually only 1 to 1 1/2 stories tall, with low-pitched roofs, featuring large overhangs, and exposed rafters, which started the horizontal design theme of many 20th-Century styles. Their porches usually employ heavy columns for their roof support.

Arts and Crafts, or Craftsman, houses usually have many of these features:
Low-pitched roofs
Wide eaves
Exposed roof rafters
Porches with thick square or round columns
Stone porch supports
Exterior chimneys made with stone
Open floor plans; few hallways and partitions
Numerous windows
Some windows using stained or leaded glass
Beamed ceilings
Dark wood wainscoting and moldings
Built-in cabinets, shelves, and seating
Wood, stone, or stucco siding

Many architectural styles draw on the Arts and Crafts style for a portion of their design features including: Prairie, American Foursquare, Bungalow, Mission, Western Stick and Pueblo.

Special thanks to www.therealgalveston.com 

 
The Craftsman style, popular in the early 1900s, was encouraged by the growing American interest in bungalows and informal floor plans. In Chicago, the style was mainly used for modest houses located in such areas as Edison Park, Albany Park, and West Lawn.

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Common characteristics are:

-one- or one-and-a-half stories
-horizontal proportions
-wood walls and decorative detailing, including porch railings, shingles, and exposed rafters
-multiple gable roofs


The most famous craftsman house of all, the Brady house.