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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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Arts & Crafts
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...
The Craftsman Spotlight: Arts & Crafts Lighting And Furnishings By Brett Johnson From Craftsmen Studio

The Craftsman Spotlight: Arts & Crafts Lighting And Furnishings By Brett Johnson From Craftsmen Studio

As far back as he can remember, Brett Johnson owner of Craftsmen Studio has always been a do-it-yourself  kind of person.  Growing up in rural Missouri, he got his start helping family members with building and remodeling projects, and eventually went out on his own – doing everything from carpentry to masonry. At the age...
Photo Essay: San Diego's Historic Mission Hills

Photo Essay: San Diego’s Historic Mission Hills

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...
Lake Placid Lodge: The Arts & Crafts Jewel of the Adirondacks

Lake Placid Lodge: The Arts & Crafts Jewel of the Adirondacks

The Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York have long been recognized for their rugged wilderness and unspoiled natural wonder.  There’s a peaceful sense of timelessness here – a feeling of quiet isolation that hearkens back to those early rustic days when frontiersmen settled here and built their cabins from the fabric of the land itself. ...
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...
The Craftsman Spotlight: Phillip Myer of Ragsdale Home Furnishings

The Craftsman Spotlight: Phillip Myer of Ragsdale Home Furnishings

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...
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,...
A Hand-Hewn Log Cabin in the Foothills of Oregon's Mount Hood

A Hand-Hewn Log Cabin in the Foothills of Oregon’s Mount Hood

A couple of years ago, I heard about a home tour on the western slopes of Oregon’s Mount Hood that celebrated the work of a family of craftsmen who single-handedly built as many as 100 of the Pacific Northwest’s finest examples of authentic log cabins.  Naturally, my interest was piqued, and since the weekend of...
The Craftsman Spotlight: Asheville Tileworks

The Craftsman Spotlight: Asheville Tileworks

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...
The Craftsman Spotlight: CustomMade, Bringing Customer & Craftsperson Together

The Craftsman Spotlight: CustomMade, Bringing Customer & Craftsperson Together

Sometimes the hardest part about purchasing furniture, lighting, metalwork or other decor for your home isn’t figuring out what you want, but rather, how and where to get it.  Finding quality, handmade items has become more difficult with each passing year, as “big box” retail chains across the country continue to run smaller “Mom &...
Greene & Greene's William T. Bolton House: A Journey of Restoration Through The Years

Greene & Greene’s William T. Bolton House: A Journey of Restoration Through The Years

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...
The Craftsman Spotlight: JW Art Pottery, Handmade Pottery In The Arts & Crafts Style

The Craftsman Spotlight: JW Art Pottery, Handmade Pottery In The Arts & Crafts Style

One of the fathers of the Arts & Crafts Movement in America, Elbert Hubbard, was once quoted as saying, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”  For Jacquie Walton of JW Art Pottery in Portland, Oregon, her lemon was an untimely job layoff that provided an opportunity for her to make lemonade using a skill...
San Diego's Marston House: An Arts & Crafts Gem Hidden in Plain Sight

San Diego’s Marston House: An Arts & Crafts Gem Hidden in Plain Sight

Known as “San Diego’s First Citizen,” George W. Marston (1850-1946) was a successful self-made businessman, civic leader and philanthropist, who, among other things, played a pivotal role in the early development of the city’s wildly popular park system and public library, often spending considerable amounts of his own personal wealth to do so. In 1904,...
The Craftsman Spotlight:  Untold LA: A First Hand Look at The Rebirth of West Adams

The Craftsman Spotlight: Untold LA: A First Hand Look at The Rebirth of West Adams

When photographer Jett Loe came to Los Angeles in 2012 in search of a home for he and his wife, he was amazed at what he found – hiding in plain sight.  Almost by accident, Loe stumbled upon West Adams, a once forgotten central Los Angeles enclave located halfway between Downtown LA and Santa Monica,...