Excerpt From Book
Craftsman houses, sometimes referred to as "bungalows," are a familiar sight in the Pacific Northwest. The term "bungalow" is architecturally imprecise, since it doesn't actually refer to a style. It describes scale, and it is used to describe small, one- or one-and-a-half story houses, regardless of style. The word "bungalow" originated in India, and evolved from the Bengali word bangala, which described a one-story British colonial structure. During the 1870s, the term was used in Great Britain to describe rustic one-story houses, and for the last thirty or so years of the nineteenth century, it referred to rural weekend or summer homes. Even in 1903, Gustav Stickley, a major proponent of the Craftsman movement, used "bungalow" to describe a type of simple living. Craftsman houses, and bungalows that are designed in the Craftsman style, emphasize function and simple materials. They generally have two bedrooms and one bathroom, with a main floor of less than 1000 square feet of space. While large, more ornamented examples of this design do exist, they are less common than the small structures that fill Seattle.
A major developer of the Craftsman style was the California-based architectural firm of Greene & Greene. The Greene brothers, influenced in part by the Japanese pavilion at Chicago's 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, developed an architectural vocabulary based on low-pitched rooflines, deep eaves, exposed or accented wood structural supports, and irregular floor plans. The Greene brothers designed numerous houses in the Pasadena area; the best known was the Gamble House of 1908. The Gamble house used a number of different woods, the varying tones and grains adding aesthetic interest.
While there were some high-style Craftsman homes built, most examples of this style are found in working-class neighborhoods, due to their major proponent, Gustav Stickley. Stickley was a furniture designer based in Syracuse, New York. During the 1890s he traveled to Europe and was inspired by the writings of Englishmen John Ruskin and William Morris. Ruskin was a critic who was interested in linking the daily lives of the working populace with art. Morris, a designer and social reformer, was interested in utilitarian art for the masses. In 1899, after Stickley returned to the states, he established the Gustav Stickley Company, which manufactured a wide variety of mass-produced, inexpensive furniture. From 1901 until 1916 he published the Craftsman magazine, which illustrated interiors filled with Stickley furniture and included house plans as well. Many of his designs, including prefabricated houses, were available from the Sears and Roebuck catalogue company, and as a result were shipped throughout the United States.
A major proponent of the Craftsman style in Seattle was Jud Yoho, who was active in the speculative housing market as owner of the Craftsman Bungalow Company. He was also president of the Bungalow Magazine, originally published in Los Angeles, and then in Seattle, 1912–1918. Unlike Stickley, Yoho didn't promote ideology, but instead focused on the design details. Bungalow Magazine showcased numerous Seattle-area homes, in addition to examples from other areas of the country. Although most the plans offered in the magazine are Craftsman in style, there were some examples of Colonial Revival "bungalows." Craftsman style home plans also received publicity in Western Architect, House Beautiful, Good Housekeeping, and Ladies Home Journal.
While some of the largest and most ornate variations of the Craftsman style, including the Gamble House, are irregular in floor plan, most Craftsman homes are rectilinear in plan, due to cheaper construction costs. In Seattle, the majority of Craftsman homes were built for working-class patrons, and were smaller than the grand multileveled dwellings associated with more formal styles. Construction costs were reduced by utilizing the area formerly reserved as attic space, thus providing a one-and-a-half story structure. Smaller one-story versions are also prevalent. Craftsman design elements typically include an asymmetrical fa&cced;ade and wide street-facing gables. When porches are present they commonly exhibit tapered or squared piers. Structural members are exposed, with rafter ends clearly visible. Vergeboards are proportionally large, and frequently extend beyond the roofline. Some have decorative detailing, and occasionally a Japanese accent is visible in upturned ends. The triangular knee braces and protruding beams so common on the gable ends are often decorative.
Craftsman houses use a variety of exterior wall treatments. In Seattle, wood exteriors are often found, due to an abundance of timber in the region. While wood shingles are the most common cladding material, clapboard and half-timbered elements are sometimes used, resulting in a variety of wall finishes, even on some of the smallest houses. Brick and stone accents appear as porch supports, articulated foundations, and chimney elements. Clinker brick, a rough, irregularly shaped brick with a dark, glossy surface, is often used for added texture. Living room and dining room windows are usually clustered in groups of three, with narrow double-hung windows flanking a larger fixed center window. Upper sashes have multiple lights, while lower sashes are single paned. Often the upper sashes are smaller than the lower counterparts, a style known as "cottage style windows." Framing elements tend to be more articulated, with large apron trim. Doors may have several small lights on the upper portion, underscored by a dentil course, and vertical panels on the lower section.
Interiors
Craftsman interiors, like the exteriors, use wood structural elements to accentuate spatial arrangements. Entry foyers, which were standard in most Victorian, Tudor Revival, and Neoclassical Revival houses, are generally missing in Craftsman houses, with the front door opening directly into a living room. This change in floor plan is due to a housing reform movement, which advocated small, affordable, working-class homes. Since Craftsman homes were designed for servantless occupants, special attention was given to eliminating cumbersome furniture. Numerous built-in furniture pieces shaped interior arrangements. Living room and dining room spaces are usually joined, and lack the pocket doors that were so common in the Victorian era. Room separation is achieved through half walls, usually connected to the ceiling by tapered wood piers. These half wall designs frequently house bookcases, thus adding extra storage space. Ceilings are often articulated with boxed beams, which, although they might look structural, in many cases are only decorative.
Window seats are common in both living and dining rooms, offering additional storage as well. Fireplaces may have built-in bookcases on either side, and particularly elaborate bookcases might have leaded glass doors. It is not uncommon for even small dining rooms to have built-in china cabinets, with buffet-type built-ins appearing in smaller houses, and elaborate floor-to-ceiling cabinets encompassing entire walls in larger residences. Although built-ins are more common in living and dining areas, they also appear in bedrooms and hallways. Decorative box-beamed ceilings and wainscoting are also common in living and dining areas. In some rooms, wainscoting runs from floor to plate rail height, the plate rail adding additional shelf space within the home. In the Puget Sound region, dark stained fir was commonly used for these wall treatments. Fireplaces occasionally have inglenooks, and clinker brick or decorative art tiles often accent the mantle area. While the accentuated fireplace designs might hearken to a more elemental time, the reality was that these features were primarily decorative, since coal-fired furnaces provided most of the household heat. Windows and doors were given added visual weight with the use of large apron trim. In many cases the upper and lower horizontal sections extend slightly beyond the vertical elements, adding an inexpensive design detail.
Craftsman furniture exhibits unadorned lines, making finished pieces less costly than the heavily carved pieces common during the Victorian period. The wood of choice for Craftsman furniture was oak, which was more readily available and less expensive than either cherry or mahogany. Stickley and other Craftsman furniture manufacturers designed furniture that was considerably more angular and rugged looking than its Victorian and Colonial Revival predecessors. Although Stickley encouraged the purchase of his Craftsman furniture, with clean lines and limited upholstery use, homeowners had other decorating options. Stickley himself designed Colonial Revival furniture, and spoke admirably of Windsor chairs. Although he personally felt that exact reproductions of old pieces were not desirable, he did advocate studying Colonial designs. Some furniture manufacturers of the period went even farther. Sears routinely showed Colonial Revival furniture decorating the interior of its Craftsman style homes, thus allowing homeowners a considerable range of interior furnishings.
The large Brussels carpets preferred during the Victorian era were considered too time consuming to maintain, so smaller throw rugs became popular. Heavy velvet and satin draperies were also discouraged, in favor of simpler curtains, drawn on metal rings, allowing a greater ease of use. Craftsman living rooms were described as "masculine," and homeowners were encouraged to decorate with Native American artifacts, military paraphernalia, and smoking accessories. The resulting style greatly contrasted with the layered draperies, swags, bric-abrac, and curved, carved, upholstered pieces of the Victorian era.
Popular paint colors for main living spaces were rich earthy tones — ochre, greens, browns, and terracotta. Bedrooms were painted in lighter tones (a soft gray-blue was a typical choice), accented by white painted woodwork and wicker furniture. Bathrooms were common in house designs by 1900, although most homes usually had only one, located on the first floor of the house. White was still the color of choice, in part due to its connection with cleanliness. While plumbing was still generally exposed under sinks, porcelain water tanks began to replace wooden ones, and built-in towel racks, medicine cabinets, and soap dishes added additional storage space. By the early 1910s claw-foot tubs were less common. Tubs were boxed in, simplifying bathroom cleaning.
While a substantial part of Craftsman design, with its built-ins and easy to care for treatments, is directly related to middle-class buyers, there were other influencing factors. During the early twentieth century, public health officials worked tirelessly to educate Americans about the importance of domestic and personal cleanliness. Dark and poorly ventilated spaces were of particular concern, and the large window expanses in Craftsman homes, extensive use of built in furniture, and technologically improved bathroom and kitchen spaces were designed to allow more light and air circulation while eliminating areas for dirt and germs to collect. An article in the 1913 Craftsman magazine stated, "We all appreciate the 'home beautiful' but homemakers are coming more and more to think and plan for the 'home sanitary.'"
Milnora de Beelen Roberts Residence (1904–1905)
The Milnora de Beelen Roberts residence is an unusually large Craftsman house, with two main living floors in addition to a basement and attic space. The house is predominantly rectangular in plan, although there is an extended additional front and side gable, and a protruding front porch (since walled in). The main gable and a secondary cross gable are street facing, and are accented with wide vergeboards, and decorative trusses, reminiscent of the Victorian Stick style (late 1800s), which was ornamented by wood board patternwork in horizontal, vertical, and diagonal directions. A second cross gable protruding from the side of the house is articulated in this manner as well. All rooflines extend well beyond the house, have exposed rafters, and are accented by large decorative brackets. Walls are clad with rough-hewn shingles, and an unusual paneled stringcourse separates the first floor from the second level, extending out to form a terrace above the front porch. While basement and ground-floor windows are simple one over one, double hung, second-floor windows sport multiple diamond-shaped lights in the upper sash and a single light in the lower sash.
Brehm Brothers Residences (1909)
The house at 219 36th Avenue North is one of a pair (the other is located at 221) on the street designed by noted Seattle architect Ellsworth Storey. The houses are now hidden under dense vegetation and are difficult to view from the street. They have classic Craftsman detailing — low-pitched, gable rooflines, enhanced by thick brackets, exposed rafter ends, and vergeboards. Building materials for the two homes include wood shingles, clinker brick, and river rock. Both homes share a front walkway. Brothers William R. and George O. Brehm operated a produce and grocery business in the Pike Place Market.
Ellsworth Storey, a Chicago native, traveled throughout Europe and the Middle East early in his career, and became particularly enamoured with vernacular Swiss chalets. Many of his houses are reminiscent of chalet designs, with wide gables, deep eaves, and sheltered porches. He was also quite adept with other styles, as evidenced in his design for the Arthur E. Lyon residence.
George F. Cotterill Residence (1910)
The George F. Cotterill residence is a one-and-a-half story, side-gabled structure sided with rough-sawn cedar shakes. The full-length front porch is recessed under the main gable, and is supported by square piers. A large shed dormer houses two sets of triple windows on the second level of the front fa&cced;ade. Historic interior photos show plastered walls and ceilings. Hardwood floors were covered with a variety of rugs. The dining room housed an eclectic assortment of Victorian furniture in addition to a large built-in china cupboard. A variety of pieces, some Mission style, furnished the living room. The architect was the firm of Josenhaus & Allan; the builder was Ira S. Harding.
George Fletcher Cotterill, a native of Oxford, England, came to the United States in 1872. He graduated from high school in New Jersey and then studied civil engineering. He eventually made his way west, and by the 1880s he was employed as a civil engineer by several Northwest firms, including the Northern Pacific Railway and the Seattle Coal and Iron Company. By 1894 he worked in the City of Seattle's Engineer's Office, and the following year he served as the assistant city engineer. He remained in this position for five years until returning to private engineering practice. Cotterill was involved in regional and state affairs, and served on th
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