[Qcwa] Craftsman Style (from the Web)

[Gerd & Traudl Schrick]

The Arts & Crafts Movement dating from the 1880's in England (John Ruskin,
William Morris, Oscar Wilde, et.al.) fomented artistic revolutions across
Europe and America: Art Nouveau in France, The Secession in Vienna, Style
Moderne in Russia, Gaudi in Spain, the fantastical plant forms of the
Jugenstil in Germany (see The American Success Story, bad movie, spectacular
house!), the Mission furniture and Craftsman Architecture of Gustav Stickley
in New York. The American form followed the blocky stylization of the
English more than the sensual "hair fetish" of the continental Art Nouveau.
While we are more familiar with Art Nouveau, the other continental styles
are well worth looking into. The Jugenstil in particular is less feminine
and more naturalistic if not earthy and animalistic. The Liberty silver
designers in England went the other direction into more square geometric
forms with Celtic references.
Craftsman Style
When you walk into a Craftsman Bungalow the sense of space, the openness of
the rooms, and the rustic or bold-square styling feel completely different
from the Victorian houses still being built into the 1910's.
The Victorian excesses referred to included "useless" ornamentation and
gingerbread, living with a mish-mash of inconsistant patterns and style and
copying "foreign" styles. The primary inspiration for the Craftsman style
was to look to nature, local materials, local (nationalist or native)
building traditions and to design and construct after the manner of honest
craft traditions: iron and copper blacksmithing, pottery, coarse weaving and
rough hewn materials. One problem in the United States was the short
history; there was no medieval architecture or Cotswald cottage to return
to. No matter, there were colonial log cabins, the Spanish missions of the
Southwest, and even Native American rugs and pottery.
The Craftsman Bungalow style was the first step toward the modern Ranch home
in several senses. The house layout emphasizes the horizontal, rather than
multiple stories, and the philosophy is very middle class in a contemporary
sense without space for maids and servants. The "man" of the house still had
the library, but the "woman's" workspace became more functional, and the
fireplace or the hearth became the family center to a degree that was almost
mythical.
The Craftsman bungalow is typically one to one-and-a-half stories, with a
long sloping roof line and a wide, sheltering overhang that makes the house
appear to nestle into the earth. This tie to the earth is often exaggerated
by using a foundation and porch pillars that broaden at the base. The porch
is wide enough to feel like an outside room. The woodwork is still heavy and
dark, but is usually square or simple rather than ornately built-up in
layers or with gingerbread and spindles as in Victorian times. High style
and less derivative versions of the Bungalow often have beamed ceilings, oak
wainscotting in the dining room, built-in buffets with hand wrought iron or
dark-patinated brass hardware, cozy yellow lanterns hanging from the ceiling
wood work or as sconces on the porch or hallway walls.
Since the fireplace and hearth were so important as the center of the home
and family, it received special attention. Made of brick, tile or rustic
river stone the fireplace was often framed by symmetric bookshelves or even
benches to create a cozy inglenook.
Due to the Tuberculosis epidemic and health philosophy of the times, many
houses were built with "TB rooms" or sleeping porches that are completely
surrounded by windows so that fresh, "healing" air can circulate freely.
Boulder and Colorado Springs in particular saw much growth from immigrants
seeking hospital care or a healthy climate for their lungs.



Master architects of the period include:
Gustav Stickley, who was the premier design maven of the period. His
magazine The Craftsman proselytized the Arts & Crafts philosophy, sold house
designs, and offered dictates for good living (See the article by Ray
Stubblebine: Gustav Stickley and The Craftsman Home), Frank Lloyd Wright,
who deserves his own category--unfortunately Denver has very little that
could be considered Prairie Style, and the brothers Greene and Greene, who
designed Japanese inspired "ultimate Bungalows" in Pasadena and other parts
of California. Bernard Maybeck, who built many houses in the Berkely,
California.
These architects designed the interior furniture as well as the house in
order to create a unified design. The mission furniture of Gustav Stickley,
while looking blocky and square by itself, in the context of a Craftsman
Bungalow completes the design at the human scale.
House construction in Denver was very much the arena of local
contractor/builders who would often develop a block of houses leaving
details that indicate the handiwork of one designer. The craftsman style was
a few years later than on the East coast, not really beginning until 1910.
It is exciting to find earlier examples, as they would have been built by
only the most up-to-date homeowners.
World War I brought to an end the positivism and the philosophical themes of
the Arts & Crafts era, although houses continued to be built in that style.
Many seem a bit derivative, but on the other hand building techniques were
improving and Craftsman style bungalows from the later period are well-built
and have better foundations and basements.
Architectural Police Tips:
The most common renovation mistake is for someone to think they have a
Victorian house and proceed to polish or replace all the dark brass, add
shiny brass lanterns to the doorway and a Victorian chandelier over the
dining room table. The owners of one remuddling that I viewed proudly
described how they took out the "ugly" inglenook and put in a marble
victorian fireplace.
The dark woodwork and the wide, overhanging eaves leave the interiors fairly
dark by modern standards. But, painting the woodwork will destroy the
attraction to a real lover of the style and have a strong negative, effect
on the house value. One way to get past this psychological difficulty is to
learn to appreciate "pools" of light and to remember romantic candlelight
dinners.
My own personal cross to bear is that my Grandfather was in the business of
renovating "old fashioned" and dark Craftsman-style homes into modern
neo-Colonials by taking out the rustic details and painting the woodwork.