Architecture

In England, Arts & Crafts architects lavished their attention on handcrafted details using wood, stone, and other materials drawn from nature. Inspired by the British movement, American designers Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Green designed simple wooden houses with Arts & Crafts flourishes. The idea spread across America when furniture designer Gustav Stickley published house plans in his magazine called Craftsman. Soon the word Craftsman became synonymous with Arts & Crafts, and the Craftsman Bungalow became one of the most popular housing types in the USA.

Arts and Crafts details combined with Hispanic ideas to create the classic California Bungalow. Sturdy and simple, these comfortable homes are known for their sloping roofs, big porches, and sturdy beams and pillars.

You'll know a Chicago Bungalow by the solid brick construction and the large, front-facing roof dormer. Although designed for working class families, bungalows built in and near Chicago have many of the lovely Craftsman details that you find in other parts of the USA.

Spanish Colonial Architecture of the American southwest inspired an exotic version of the bungalow. Usually sided with stucco, these small homes have decorative glazed tiles, arched doors or windows, and many other Spanish Revival details.

Not all bungalows are rustic and informal! During the early 20th century, some builders combined two very popular styles to create a hybrid: the Colonial Revival Bungalow. These small houses have the simplicity and practicality of an American Bungalow and the elegant detailing found on much larger Colonial Revival style homes.

Here's another type of bungalow inspired by the architecture of the North American colonies. These quaint homes have rounded gambrel roofs with the gable at the front or the side. The interesting shape resembles that of an old Dutch Colonial home.

With a broad front gable and decorative trusses and half-timbering, these charming California bungalows have a European air.

While an Arts & Crafts Bungalow celebrates natural materials and hand craftsmanship, bungalows in the Art Moderne style look forward to the future. Factory-made materials take on sleek, streamline forms.