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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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Origins of the Arts & Crafts Movement in America: The Roycroft Campus

Origins of the Arts & Crafts Movement in America: The Roycroft Campus

This week I traveled to Western New York State for business and while there I was able to spend some time in the Arts & Crafts artisan community of “Roycroft” in East Aurora, just outside of Buffalo.  The Roycroft Campus...
The Craftsman Bungalow: Your Favorite 2013 Article

The Craftsman Bungalow: Your Favorite 2013 Article

UPDATE:  You voted and the results are in!  In a closely contested race, “A Resurrection in New Orleans: Restored Bungalows of the 9th Ward” emerged as YOUR favorite article of 2013.  Thank you to everyone who voted!     As...
The Architectural Heritage Center's 14th Annual Portland Kitchen Revival Tour

The Architectural Heritage Center’s 14th Annual Portland Kitchen Revival Tour

This past weekend was the Architectural Heritage Center’s Annual Kitchen Revival Tour.  Now in its 14th year, the tour showcases the efforts of Portland homeowners who have restored their home’s kitchens to its original glory.  Most of the homes featured...
The Craftsman Spotlight: American Bungalow

The Craftsman Spotlight: American Bungalow

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...
Portland's 1883 Ladd Carriage House Gets Resurrected as "Raven & Rose"

Portland’s 1883 Ladd Carriage House Gets Resurrected as “Raven & Rose”

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...
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...
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...
An Evolving Aesthetic: Frank Lloyd Wright's Home & Studio in Oak Park, Illinois

An Evolving Aesthetic: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Home & Studio in Oak Park, Illinois

The Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio in Oak Park, Ill., is a microcosm of the prolific designer’s ever-evolving architectural aesthetic.  It’s an expression of his early formative years, and through a series of additions, it embodies the changes that...
Recent Articles From The Craftsman Bungalow
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...
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. ...
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...
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,...
Serendipity In A University Town: American Bungalow Issue 96 Article

Serendipity In A University Town: American Bungalow Issue 96 Article

The Summer 2018 Issue #96 of American Bungalow magazine has just come out, and it includes an article that I wrote and photographed about a couple’s restoration of a historic bungalow in Eugene, Oregon.  The article, titled “Serendipity In A University Town,” (which can be found on Page 18 of the issue) tells the story of Sherrill and...
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...
Frank Lloyd Wright Designed One Home In Oregon: The Gordon House

Frank Lloyd Wright Designed One Home In Oregon: The Gordon House

Frank Lloyd Wright designed well over 1,000 homes and buildings throughout his illustrious career, but only one of those structures was built in the State of Oregon: The Gordon House.  Commissioned by Conrad and Evelyn Gordon, the 88-year-old Wright designed the home in his Usonian style in 1957 for the couple’s sprawling farmland acreage that...
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...
Photo Essay: Westwood Park, A Vast Bungalow Enclave in Victorian San Francisco

Photo Essay: Westwood Park, A Vast Bungalow Enclave in Victorian San Francisco

San Francisco is well known for its abundance of elegant Victorian architecture, but tucked away among the tens of thousands of Victorians, there exists a small enclave full of hundreds of charming bungalows.  Westwood Park, located just south of Mount Davidson, was originally a grove of tall eucalyptus trees – part of an old Mexican...
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 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 name changed to Pabst in 1889 when Best’s son-in-law, Frederick Pabst, became majority stockholder in...
My Collection of Arts & Crafts Furnishings Found on Craigslist

My Collection of Arts & Crafts Furnishings Found on Craigslist

In light of the two recent great deals I’ve found on Craigslist (the oak desk and the Stickley nightstand), I thought I’d take the opportunity to show you some of the other Arts & Crafts items I’ve acquired through the site. It’s no secret that it can be very expensive to furnish your bungalow home...
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...
Photo Essay: Santa Barbara's Bungalow Haven and Amazing County Court House

Photo Essay: Santa Barbara’s Bungalow Haven and Amazing County Court House

With its rich history and sunny Mediterranean climate, Santa Barbara has been an immensely popular destination since being settled by Spanish Missionaries in the late 1700’s.  Following its annexation by the United States in 1846 after the Mexican-American War, Santa Barbara quickly expanded.  Through the mid and late 1800’s, the city was home to countless...
The Brick House Beautiful: A Unique and Timeless Portland Landmark

The Brick House Beautiful: A Unique and Timeless Portland Landmark

Brick.  It’s been around – in one form or another – since the dawn of human civilization, and the virtues of its appeal and versatility are still very much appreciated today.  It was no different in the early part of the 20th Century.  In cities across the country, brick had been widely used in the...
Hearst Castle: The Enchanted 1920's Spanish Revival Estate of Publishing Magnate William Randolph Hearst

Hearst Castle: The Enchanted 1920’s Spanish Revival Estate of Publishing Magnate William Randolph Hearst

William Randolph Hearst was a wealthy businessman who inherited a family fortune as a young man and expanded it into a vast newspaper and magazine publishing empire during his adult life.  In 1919, he inherited his family’s 250,000 acre retreat property in San Simeon on the Central California Coast and aspired to build a vast...
From Our Bungalow To Yours: Wishing You Happy Holidays     From The Craftsman Bungalow!

From Our Bungalow To Yours: Wishing You Happy Holidays From The Craftsman Bungalow!

I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the year and wish all of you Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas!  The Craftsman Bungalow was launched back in 2011, and hopefully all of you have been enjoying reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.  Every new year promises to be...
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...
A Legacy of Craftsmanship: The South Falls Lodge at Silver Falls State Park

A Legacy of Craftsmanship: The South Falls Lodge at Silver Falls State Park

Last weekend my brother was in town visiting from the East Coast and we braved the rain and headed down to Silver Falls State Park located about an hour and a half south of Portland near the town of Sublimity, Oregon. Designated as a Recreational Demonstration Area by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935, the...
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...
The Craftsman Bungalow: Your Favorite 2013 Article

The Craftsman Bungalow: Your Favorite 2013 Article

UPDATE:  You voted and the results are in!  In a closely contested race, “A Resurrection in New Orleans: Restored Bungalows of the 9th Ward” emerged as YOUR favorite article of 2013.  Thank you to everyone who voted!     As I did last year, I thought it would be fun to countdown our Top 5...
Memory Lane:  The Wilbur's House - The Heart of My Old Neighborhood

Memory Lane: The Wilbur’s House – The Heart of My Old Neighborhood

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...
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...
The Definitive Bungalow Documentary, Bungalow Heaven: Preserving A Neighborhood

The Definitive Bungalow Documentary, Bungalow Heaven: Preserving A Neighborhood

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...
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,...
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...
Bungalow Flashback: Finding and Restoring Our Dream Home

Bungalow Flashback: Finding and Restoring Our Dream Home

After completing the restoration of our first home, we knew that at some point in the not-too-distant future, we would be starting a family.  With that in mind, we quickly came to the realization that while our home had served us very well for the previous 5 years, a growing family would need more room...
Peek Inside: A Grand 1910 Swiss Chalet Craftsman Home Fully Restored

Peek Inside: A Grand 1910 Swiss Chalet Craftsman Home Fully Restored

Whenever I’m out-and-about and see a sign saying there’s an estate sale going on nearby, I almost always do a drive-by to check out the house and take a peek inside.  A few weeks ago, that same scenario played out, and when I pulled up to the house where the sale was (below), my jaw...
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 to take a tour of Tor House – the handcrafted stone cottage of poet Robinson...
Photo Essay: The Many Faces and Styles of Cleveland’s Grand Old Arts & Crafts Homes

Photo Essay: The Many Faces and Styles of Cleveland’s Grand Old Arts & Crafts Homes

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...