Recent Articles From The Craftsman Bungalow
This article is Part Two of a two part series highlighting the homes that Frank Lloyd Wright designed in Oak Park, Illinois during the years 1900 to 1913. Part One focused on his transition to the Prairie Style and the Oak Park homes he designed from 1889-1899. During the years of 1889 to 1899, Frank Lloyd...
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...
On a recent business trip to Cleveland, I had some free time one afternoon to check out the city’s rich history of Arts & Crafts homes. I recalled a great article in the Spring 2012 issue of American Bungalow that featured the Cleveland Heights neighborhood situated just a few miles east of downtown. Armed with...
When Phillip Myer of Ragsdale Home Furnishings built his first table lamp way back in junior high school, he never imagined that one day, he’d be doing it for a living. But in 1999, more than 25 years after building that first fateful lamp, Phil quit his job in the high-tech electronics industry and embarked...
The Spring 2015 issue of American Bungalow magazine has just come out, and an article that I co-wrote made the cover! The article, written in conjunction with Southern California-based writer Laszlo Remenyi, is about a truly unique recording studio (below and at left) built by film composer, record producer, and self-proclaimed ‘reformed rock musician,’ Richard...
With all of the basic stuff done at our new house, the focus has shifted to the big stuff. Our wishlist started with just remodeling the kitchen and bathrooms and building a new garage, but has quickly ballooned to include adding on a new master suite above the garage, as well as adding a second...
The Craftsman Spotlight is an ongoing series where artists, businesses, and craftspeople are featured. We’re thrilled to spotlight American Bungalow, in this first installment of the series! If you’re reading this article right now – and are a fan of bungalows – there’s a pretty good chance that you’re familiar with American Bungalow magazine. Founded by...
In July 1906, Charles and Henry Greene presented their original design to Frank W. Hawks for a home that he had commissioned the brothers to design for his property on Arroyo Terrace, a quiet and artistic enclave in Pasadena, California. While visionary in its scope, and for reasons still not entirely known today, Hawks chose not...
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...
Situated on its own island on the shores of pristine Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains of Eastern New York, The Sagamore Hotel has been welcoming guests from near and far for over 130 years. But what many of those guests may not know, is that the luxurious historic hotel that sits on the property...
The Mission Hills neighborhood of San Diego, California has long been a bastion of early 20th century homes, with nearly all of era’s requisite architectural styles well-represented. From compact single-story bungalows to expansive Spanish haciendas – and everything in between – Mission Hills exhibits the same architectural prowess today as it did when it was...
Although neither craftsman nor bungalow, the story behind the beautiful and historic Ladd Carriage House is a compelling one that I wanted to share. Today, it may seem a bit out of place among the modern high-rise buildings that surround it on a busy corner in downtown Portland, Oregon, but when it was built, the...
The William T. Bolton House in Pasadena, California is a prime example of Charles and Henry Greene’s early emerging California Arts & Crafts aesthetic. Taking its name from the prominent physician who commissioned it in 1906, the home predates Greene & Greene’s larger commissions – including the Gamble and Blacker houses – and introduces several more...
Not long ago I got a message on the TCB Facebook page from accomplished photographer and producer Jett Loe about an interesting project that he was undertaking. The project he described, called Untold LA, is a photo-documentary about the history-rich and once prominent Los Angeles neighborhood of West Adams and its collection of countless Craftsman,...
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...
In my previous post, The Ugly Hutch and The Beautiful Stairway That Hid Behind It: Part I, I told you how we removed the existing big ugly hutch and cut part of the wall to expose the staircase behind it. With the hutch and wall now gone, a new mystery emerged. On the floor underneath...
When I packed up my car and headed West to Portland, Oregon in November of 2000, I had no idea how that decision would impact the rest of my life. Like our pioneering forefathers who took a similar leap of faith – I didn’t know what I’d encounter, who I’d meet, or if I’d ever...
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...
Filmmaker Joaquin Montalvan always knew he wanted to live in a bungalow – even before he knew what a bungalow was. Growing up, he had lived in a Spanish Mission style home with a welcoming front porch, hardwood floors and a fireplace that his family frequently used. Those three features were ingrained in his mind...
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...
The Fall 2014 issue of American Bungalow magazine is out now, and my article about the restoration of the Bernard Maybeck-designed George H. Boke House (below) can be found on page 28. There are actually two articles about the house in the issue, one by Arts & Crafts historian and scholar, Robert Winter, who focuses...
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...
The Architectural Heritage Center’s Portland Kitchen Revival Tour is one of my favorite days of the year, and 16th annual edition was again full of beautiful homes, whose kitchen – and in most cases much more – have been impeccably restored to reflect the home’s original period design. This is my third year covering the...
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...
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...
Diana Gillispie’s eye for design and acute attention to detail has made her a fixture in the Asheville, North Carolina art scene for more than three decades. Having first moved to the area in 1978, she became one of the pioneering artists of Asheville’s River District when she started a small pottery studio with a...
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...
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...
This past week we traveled cross-country to spend Thanksgiving with family, friends and neighbors in the rural New Jersey town I grew up in. One of the many highlights of the week (in addition to celebrating my parents’ birthdays and their anniversary) was to spend some quality time with Carol Wilbur who lives in the...
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...
From Our Bungalow To Yours: Wishing You Happy Holidays From The Craftsman Bungalow!
Dec 10, 2020
Peek Inside: A Grand 1910 Bay Area Residence, Once Home to CA Supreme Court Justice
Jul 27, 2020
Peek Inside: An Unbuilt 1906 Greene & Greene Designed Home Listed For Sale
Apr 30, 2020
The Craftsman Spotlight: Arts & Crafts Lighting And Furnishings By Brett Johnson From Craftsmen Studio
Oct 18, 2019
Serendipity In A University Town: American Bungalow Issue 96 Article
Jul 20, 2018