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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...
Our Collection of Arts & Crafts Furnishings Found on Craigslist

Our 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...
Frank Lloyd Wright's Magnificent Darwin Martin House in Buffalo, NY

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Magnificent Darwin Martin House in Buffalo, NY

Frank Lloyd Wright grew up in the Upper Midwest and honed his skills as an apprentice with the prestigious Chicago architectural firm of Adler & Sullivan in the 1890’s, before branching out on his own.  At the turn of the...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Recent Articles From The Craftsman Bungalow
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...
Peek Inside: A Classic 1909 Craftsman Fixer For Sale in Portland

Peek Inside: A Classic 1909 Craftsman Fixer For Sale in Portland

This post is part of our “Peek Inside” series where we showcase Arts & Crafts homes from across the country that are currently for sale, or were recently sold.  Some of them may be fixers that are just begging to be restored (like this one), others may be fully restored and move-in ready, and still...
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...
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...
Reader Submission: Thoughtful Restoration Makes A Home "Smile" Again

Reader Submission: Thoughtful Restoration Makes A Home “Smile” Again

When Sandy Evans and her husband Richard Herbold purchased this handsome 1915 bungalow in Delmar, New York, it was about to turn 100 years old.  But on the inside, its previous owners had tried to re-imagine its interior as a contemporary, industrial space that more resembled a post-modern office building than a cozy, century-old residence. ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 was founded in the late-1890’s by Elbert Hubbard, who along with Gustav Stickley, is considered...
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...
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 Sagamore Hotel, Part II: The History Of The Iconic Resort On New York's Lake George

The Sagamore Hotel, Part II: The History Of The Iconic Resort On New York’s Lake George

This article is a continuation of  The Sagamore Hotel, Part I: The History Of The Iconic Resort On New York’s Lake George, which covered the hotel’s first 30 years (1883-1914).  This article picks up from there and takes you through the 20th Century and right up to today… The Sagamore II, prior to the 1914...
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 &...
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: 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...
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 78-89) about the home of Austin and Laura Whipple, owners of Scout Books, a custom-printed...
The Architectural Heritage Center’s 17th Annual Portland Old House Revival Tour

The Architectural Heritage Center’s 17th Annual Portland Old House Revival Tour

This year the Architectural Heritage Center expanded their Annual Kitchen Revival Tour beyond just kitchens to showcase entire homes, and re-named the tour the Portland Old House Revival Tour.  I’ve covered this tour for the past three years, and now in its 16th year overall, the tour never disappoints.  In case you missed it, here...
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 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,...
Remembering When We Listed Our Previous Bungalow In Portland For Sale

Remembering When We Listed Our Previous Bungalow In Portland For Sale

I’ve written about our previous home in Portland a few times – I bought it in 2004 and painstakingly restored it over the next 5 years that we lived there.  In 2010, when we moved to our current home in Laurelhurst, we kept our previous home as a rental and were fortunate to find wonderful...
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...
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...
Peek Inside: An Unbuilt 1906 Greene & Greene Designed Home Listed For Sale

Peek Inside: An Unbuilt 1906 Greene & Greene Designed Home Listed For Sale

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...
The Lodge at Torrey Pines: An Architectural Homage to Greene & Greene

The Lodge at Torrey Pines: An Architectural Homage to Greene & Greene

If you haven’t had the opportunity to see an authentic Greene & Greene-designed home up close, then a visit to The Lodge at Torrey Pines might be the next best thing.  Taking its design cues from two of the Greenes’ most iconic “ultimate bungalows,” The Blacker House (1907) and The Gamble House (1908), both in Pasadena, the...
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...
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...
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...