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Architectural and design topics focusing on historic restoration and landmark homes of the early 20th century, from the perspective of an Arts & Crafts, Craftsman and Bungalow Home Enthusiast.
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Another Greene & Greene Masterwork The Duncan-Irwin House, Part II: The Interior

Another Greene & Greene Masterwork The Duncan-Irwin House, Part II: The Interior

In my previous post, I gave you a tour of the exterior of the Greene & Greene’s Duncan-Irwin House in Pasadena.  Now we go through the doors below for a personal tour of the amazing interior of this quintessential Greene...
Frank Lloyd Wright's Frederick C. Robie House: A Prairie Masterpiece

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Frederick C. Robie House: A Prairie Masterpiece

When Frederick Robie commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design a home for him and his growing family in 1908, neither man knew that the home’s iconic design would become the celebrated jewel that it is today.  Considered by many architectural...
Peek Inside: A Grand 1910 Bay Area Residence, Once Home to CA Supreme Court Justice

Peek Inside: A Grand 1910 Bay Area Residence, Once Home to CA Supreme Court Justice

This post is part of our “Peek Inside” series where we showcase Arts & Crafts homes from across the country that have been listed for sale, or were recently sold.  Some may be fixers that are just begging to be...
Defining The Craftsman Bungalow

Defining The Craftsman Bungalow

This is a great article by Patricia Poore that defines the traditional hallmarks and characteristics of craftsman bungalow homes.  It goes into specifics about interior and exterior design influences and the materials and construction details that distinguish the bungalow aesthetic...
Tor House: The Handcrafted Stone Cottage of Poet Robinson Jeffers

Tor House: The Handcrafted Stone Cottage of Poet Robinson Jeffers

Some time ago,  we took a trip down the California Coast during which we explored some of the countless arts & crafts cottages in and around the oceanside artist community of Carmel. The highlight of our time there was getting...
The Ugly Hutch and The Beautiful Stairway That Hid Behind It:  Part I

The Ugly Hutch and The Beautiful Stairway That Hid Behind It: Part I

With all of the traveling I’ve been doing for work recently, I haven’t had much time to write about some of the other things we’ve done to the house since we’ve moved in.  If you remember my earlier post entitled...
The Handcrafted "Blue Ribbon Hall" at Milwaukee's Historic Pabst Brewery

The Handcrafted “Blue Ribbon Hall” at Milwaukee’s Historic Pabst Brewery

From the late 1800’s until the mid-1940’s, Pabst Brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin was the largest brewer in America, and at times, the world.  Originally established in 1844 as the Best Brewery – named after its founder, Jacob Best – the...
Craftsmanship Is In The Blood: American Bungalow Feature Article and Profile

Craftsmanship Is In The Blood: American Bungalow Feature Article and Profile

The Winter 2014 edition of American Bungalow magazine is out now, and I’m excited to have contributed three articles to the issue.  The first is a feature article titled “A Family Bond: Craftsmanship Is In The Blood” (found on pages...
Recent Articles From The Craftsman Bungalow
You Can Stay In The Guest House of This Greene & Greene Designed Home

You Can Stay In The Guest House of This Greene & Greene Designed Home

In the Spring 2017 Issue #94 of American Bungalow magazine, I contributed an article about a Greene & Greene home that was designed in 1906, but for reasons still not known today, was ultimately never built by the Greenes.  Almost 100 years later, an ambitious builder, fueled by his love for authentic craftsman architecture, acquired...
A Pilgrimage to The Gamble House: "The Ultimate Bungalow",  Part I: The Exterior

A Pilgrimage to The Gamble House: “The Ultimate Bungalow”, Part I: The Exterior

Recently I had the good fortune of traveling to Los Angeles for business, and while there I was able to fulfill a lifelong dream – making a pilgrimage to “The Ultimate Bungalow”: The Gamble House in Pasadena, California.  Designed in 1908 by the architectural firm of brothers Charles and Henry Greene, The Gamble House embodies...
Frank Lloyd Wright's Frederick C. Robie House: A Prairie Masterpiece

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Frederick C. Robie House: A Prairie Masterpiece

When Frederick Robie commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design a home for him and his growing family in 1908, neither man knew that the home’s iconic design would become the celebrated jewel that it is today.  Considered by many architectural scholars to be one of the most influential and important residential designs of the 20th...
The Craftsman Bungalow Featured in Issue #75 of American Bungalow!

The Craftsman Bungalow Featured in Issue #75 of American Bungalow!

I couldn’t be happier to share the news that our home is featured in the Family Album section of the Fall 2012 issue of American Bungalow! Those of you who are familiar with the magazine will recognize the Family Album section, where readers submit pictures of their home with a short blurb about the story...
Photo Essay: Tropical Bungalows of the Aloha State

Photo Essay: Tropical Bungalows of the Aloha State

As you may recall, on a recent business trip to Hawaii I stayed at a lovely family-run bed & breakfast rather than one of the impersonal mega hotels in Waikiki.  While staying there, I got into a routine of taking a walk around the neighborhood every day and was blown away by the concentration of...
Frank Lloyd Wright's Oak Park, Illinois Designs: The First Decade 1889-1899

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oak Park, Illinois Designs: The First Decade 1889-1899

This article is Part One of a two part series highlighting the homes that Frank Lloyd Wright designed in Oak Park, Illinois during the years 1889-1899.  Part Two focuses on his transition to the Prairie Style and the Oak Park homes he designed from 1900 to 1913. Frank Lloyd Wright lived and worked in Oak...
Another Greene & Greene Masterwork The Duncan-Irwin House, Part II: The Interior

Another Greene & Greene Masterwork The Duncan-Irwin House, Part II: The Interior

In my previous post, I gave you a tour of the exterior of the Greene & Greene’s Duncan-Irwin House in Pasadena.  Now we go through the doors below for a personal tour of the amazing interior of this quintessential Greene & Greene home… From the inside (below), the wisteria vine motif shines through the door’s...
Timberline Lodge: The Quintessential American Alpine Lodge, Part One

Timberline Lodge: The Quintessential American Alpine Lodge, Part One

Somewhere near the intersection of rustic charm and stately elegance is a place where natural beauty and cooperative humanity walk hand-in-hand.  Nestled a few thousand feet beneath the rugged 11,249 foot peak of Oregon’s Mount Hood, the iconic Timberline Lodge has been welcoming weary hikers, giddy newly-weds – and everything in between – for over...
Where It All Began...

Where It All Began…

To understand what we were dealing with when we initially bought the house, let’s go back to late 2009… This is what the exterior looked like when we first moved in (we have since painted it).  I came to find out later that the house had been for sale earlier in 2009 through a realtor,...
The Craftsman Spotlight: Michael Stinnett And The Antique Piano Shop

The Craftsman Spotlight: Michael Stinnett And The Antique Piano Shop

Most people don’t typically associate pianos with the Arts & Crafts Movement, and for good reason.  Established piano makers of the late 1800s didn’t really see the Movement coming, and by the time they did, it wasn’t economical for them to go through the rigors and cost of designing and marketing this “new” style of...
Peeling Back The Layers

Peeling Back The Layers

After we finally closed on the house, we were eager to get started tearing things up.  At the top of our list was to peel back the carpets and see what the floors underneath looked like… How it looked before we did anything… Carpets come up and wood paneling comes down… Once we got the...
American Bungalow's Seasonal Lithogrpah Art Prints for 2012

American Bungalow’s Seasonal Lithogrpah Art Prints for 2012

I just got the latest issue of American Bungalow this week. Each issue this year includes an 8×10 full-color lithograph art print of the four seasons called “The Wisdom of the Trees” by Yoshiko Yamamoto. In 2010, American Bungalow featured four beautiful prints by Roycroft Renaissance artisan, Laura Wilder. Here’s what I did with those...
The Craftsman Bungalow's Top Five Most Popular Articles From 2012

The Craftsman Bungalow’s Top Five Most Popular Articles From 2012

Looking back on the inaugural year of The Craftsman Bungalow, I thought it would be fun to countdown our Top 5 most popular articles from 2012.  This year I was able to travel quite a bit and visit architectural landmarks in many history-rich areas of the country like: Upstate New York, Southern California, the San...
A Tale of Two Owners: American Bungalow Feature Article and Profile

A Tale of Two Owners: American Bungalow Feature Article and Profile

My latest two articles for American Bungalow magazine are in the current Summer 2014 issue!  The first article, entitled A Tale of Two Owners, chronicles the decade-long restoration by Steve and Deb Moskowitz of a grand 1909 craftsman home (below) in Portland’s historic Irvington neighborhood, and the subsequent passing of the torch to the home’s...
The Arts & Crafts Cottages of Carmel and the Monterey Peninsula

The Arts & Crafts Cottages of Carmel and the Monterey Peninsula

A couple weeks ago my wife and I traveled down to attend a friend’s wedding in Cayucos, California – a quaint little beach town about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.  When we started looking at flights a few months back, we realized that in order to get to Cayucos from Portland, we’d have...
Photo Essay: The Eclectic Bungalows of Boise, Idaho

Photo Essay: The Eclectic Bungalows of Boise, Idaho

Boise, Idaho is tucked away in plain sight in America’s Inland Northwest, and although it’s often overlooked due to its relative isolation, Boise is a lovely town with a rich history of pioneers, agriculture, and of course, bungalows.  Boise’s bungalows run the gamut of all shapes, sizes, colors and styles, and were built from the...
Photo Essay: Asheville, NC And Its Abundance of Arts & Crafts Homes

Photo Essay: Asheville, NC And Its Abundance of Arts & Crafts Homes

While Asheville, North Carolina has been home to the National Arts & Crafts Conference for over 30 years, it’s been a destination for those seeking solace in its picturesque setting and holistic laid back vibe for long before that.  Once part of the aboriginal Cherokee Nation, and first visited by Europeans in the mid 1500s,...
Timberline Lodge: The Quintessential American Alpine Lodge, Part Two

Timberline Lodge: The Quintessential American Alpine Lodge, Part Two

This article is the continuation of Timberline Lodge: The Quintessential American Alpine Lodge, Part One, in which I explored the lodge’s genesis and its historically fast construction which took place over the course of 15 months in 1936-37.  Now I’ll take you inside this storied lodge on a personal tour through its hallowed halls… As...
The Ugly Hutch and The Beautiful Stairway That Hid Behind It:  Part I

The Ugly Hutch and The Beautiful Stairway That Hid Behind It: Part I

With all of the traveling I’ve been doing for work recently, I haven’t had much time to write about some of the other things we’ve done to the house since we’ve moved in.  If you remember my earlier post entitled Peeling Back The Layers, you’ll recall that the whole first floor had wall-to-wall carpeting and...
A Pilgrimage to The Gamble House: "The Ultimate Bungalow", Part II: The Interior

A Pilgrimage to The Gamble House: “The Ultimate Bungalow”, Part II: The Interior

In my previous post, A Pilgrimage to The Gamble House: Part I, I walked you through the many breathtaking vantage points that abound on the exterior of The Gamble House.  While the exterior of the house is spectacular – with its incongruity often highlighted and celebrated – it is gracefully contrasted by the interior’s rigorous...
Peek Inside: A Grand 1910 Bay Area Residence, Once Home to CA Supreme Court Justice

Peek Inside: A Grand 1910 Bay Area Residence, Once Home to CA Supreme Court Justice

This post is part of our “Peek Inside” series where we showcase Arts & Crafts homes from across the country that have been listed for sale, or were recently sold.  Some may be fixers that are just begging to be restored, others may be fully restored and move-in ready, and still others may be somewhere...
Photo Essay: Beach Bungalows (and Memories) on the Jersey Shore

Photo Essay: Beach Bungalows (and Memories) on the Jersey Shore

As far back as I can remember, my family has been vacationing on a beautifully quaint barrier island in New Jersey known as Long Beach Island, or simply LBI.  After spending a week or two there just about every summer from birth through my early teens, some of my fondest childhood memories occurred on the...
Bungalow Flashback: The Kitchen Restoration At Our Previous Bungalow

Bungalow Flashback: The Kitchen Restoration At Our Previous Bungalow

The bungalow that we’re currently restoring is actually the second bungalow restoration that we’ve undertaken.  Our first was a 1927 English Cottage style bungalow, also in Portland.  Below is a picture of the finished kitchen… The house was in overall good condition, and while the kitchen was functional, it was rather tired looking and in need...
The Architectural Heritage Center's 15th Annual Portland Kitchen Revival Tour

The Architectural Heritage Center’s 15th Annual Portland Kitchen Revival Tour

This April, the Architectural Heritage Center in Portland hosted its 15th Annual Kitchen Revival Tour.  Last year was the first time I attended the tour, and I was hooked after the very first home I visited.  This year’s tour was just as good and featured noteworthy kitchens of several early 1900’s bungalows.  All of the...
A Portal to the Past on the Oregon Coast: American Bungalow Cover Article

A Portal to the Past on the Oregon Coast: American Bungalow Cover Article

I’m very excited that an article I wrote for American Bungalow magazine made the cover of the Winter 2013 Issue #80!  The article is about an amazing home on the Oregon Coast that sits on a secluded cove with panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, the rugged Oregon coastline and a 1920s-era bridge that was...
A Resurrection in New Orleans:  Restored Bungalows of the 9th Ward

A Resurrection in New Orleans: Restored Bungalows of the 9th Ward

Everyone remembers the heart-wrenching and tragic photos of Hurricane Katrina’s cataclysmic effect on New Orleans in 2005.  In the eight years since that calamitous storm, you may have moved on with your life and forgotten just how devastating the damage was, but the people of New Orleans, and especially those who live in the 9th...
The H.R. Albee House: A 1912 Portland Estate

The H.R. Albee House: A 1912 Portland Estate

Portland, Oregon is full of old homes of all shapes, sizes and styles, and the Eastside neighborhood of Laurelhurst has been considered a microcosm of such homes since its inception in the early 1900’s.  One of the gems of the neighborhood – if not the entire city – is The H. Russell Albee House which...
The Craftsman Spotlight: Architectural Emporium

The Craftsman Spotlight: Architectural Emporium

If you’ve ever sought the perfect antique or architectural element for your home or business, then you probably know just how exhausting a search like that can be.  On a recent trip to Western Pennsylvania, I stumbled upon one such place where all those hard-to-find items can be found – neatly organized, and all under...
Frank Lloyd Wright Designed Another House For Darwin Martin in Buffalo: The Lakefront Estate "Graycliff"

Frank Lloyd Wright Designed Another House For Darwin Martin in Buffalo: The Lakefront Estate “Graycliff”

Recently I wrote about Frank Lloyd Wright’s magnificent Darwin D. Martin House in Buffalo, NY.  Earlier this summer I was able to return to Buffalo and had an opportunity to tour the lakefront home that Darwin Martin had built for his wife, Isabelle.  In the twenty-some years that followed Wright’s design and construction of their...
Berkeley's Historic Claremont Hotel Will Soon Celebrate Its 100th Year

Berkeley’s Historic Claremont Hotel Will Soon Celebrate Its 100th Year

On a recent business trip to the San Francisco Bay Area, I opted to stay at a hotel that’s steeped in history and in a little less than two years will celebrate its 100th year in operation.  The Claremont Hotel, located on the border of Berkeley and Oakland, is one of the most picturesque hotels...