Craftsman house interiors are renowned for their handcrafted architectural designs and charming details, which gained popularity during the arts-and-crafts movement at the turn of the 20th century. The interiors of these homes are as distinct and important to the builder as the exterior, featuring wooden features such as thick trim around doors and windows, built-in bookshelves, and overhanging porches.
The Craftsman style is characterized by natural materials, simple lines, and a touch of warmth and comfort. It is often seen in bungalow-style homes and rural homes, but its unique characteristics include an overhanging and low-pitched roof, built-in furniture that seamlessly integrates into the architecture, ample windows and stained glass, built-in seating and nooks, abundant paneling, and plenty of other woodwork.
Craftsman homes feature low-pitched hip or gable rooflines, creating triangular peaks with shallow slopes inspired by early 20th-century craftsmen. These rooflines were inspired by the use of local materials and decorative elements like brackets, lintels, and rafters.
Craftsman homes are built to be cozy, homey, unpretentious, and warm, contrasting with today’s typical open-plan spaces. The contemporary Craftsman style is a tasteful blend of the old and the new, combining warm, handcrafted elements of early 20th-century Craftsman style with modern elements. Overall, Craftsman homes are known for their timeless elegance and character, making them a popular choice for homeowners seeking a warm and inviting home.
📹 Touring Charming 1914 Craftsman | This House Tours
Location: Webster Groves, Missouri Touring Charming 1914 Craftsman | This House Tours https://youtu.be/lwlcg8L6Qik Join our …
What are the hallmarks of a Craftsman style house?
Craftsman style homes are characterized by deep roof eaves with exposed rafters, built-in cabinetry, single dormers, porch columns, and multi-pane windows. These homes are designed to allow natural light, have spacious rooms, and have minimal ornamentation. They feature natural materials and handiwork in their design, from the roof to the materials used in construction. To identify a true craftsman home, one should look for features such as 1-1.
5 stories high, a low-pitched roof, a large, covered front porch, a large fireplace, often with built-in cabinetry, and locally sourced natural materials. These features are essential in identifying a true craftsman home from one with simple added design aspects.
How do I make my house look like a Craftsman house?
Historic Craftsman homes are known for their low-pitched rooflines and deep eaves with exposed rafter tails. To add a touch of Craftsman charm, consider adding decorative brackets under the eaves and replacing porch columns with tapered or square supports with a stone or brick base. Windows and doors are also crucial in a Craftsman makeover, using modern materials for durability and energy-efficiency.
Standard double hung windows can be customized with a 4-over-1 or 6-over-1 design, while new board-and-batten shutters can be dressed up in a wood stain or fresh color. These simple changes can help capture the desired character of a Craftsman home.
What is another name for a Craftsman style of home?
Craftsman bungalows, a prevalent architectural style in California, are modest one-story dwellings characterized by distinctive features such as overhanging eaves and expansive front porches. Originally painted in earth tones such as brown and green, they are now available in a multitude of colors. While not every bungalow adheres to the Craftsman architectural style, they are distinguishable within the local context.
What kind of furniture goes with a Craftsman style house?
To maintain a Craftsman home’s historical roots, focus on warm, earthy tones, stained trim work, patterned textiles, and natural textures in materials like wood, stone, leather, stained glass, and tile. Furniture with simple lines, such as Mission or Stickley styles, are popular today. Oak or other fine woods stained either light or dark work well in a Craftsman setting, with dark, deeper colors like brown, green, red, and yellow being common. Lighting styles like art glass, Tiffany, or leaded glass with geometric motifs are also suitable.
Antiqued and distressed metal finishes dominate fixtures and hardware in Craftsman homes, with options like aged brass, oil rubbed bronze, copper, nickel, and pewter. Simple hardware choices include knobs, cup pulls, cross-style handles, or lever handles on faucets.
What’s the difference between a Craftsman home and an arts and crafts home?
The term “Craftsman” was originally used to describe homes constructed according to Stickley’s magazine plans. Over time, however, it has come to encompass homes in the Arts and Crafts style, with the bungalow representing a significant aspect of this architectural movement.
What is Craftsman style house interior?
The Robie House in Chicago, Illinois, is distinguished by its thick wood-framed windows and solid wood doors, built-ins, craftsman woodwork, and intricate hardware. These features exemplify a harmonious integration of simple, natural materials without ornamentation.
What are Craftsman colors?
Craftsman, an iconic design inspired by Britain’s 19th-century Arts and Crafts movement, features distinctive features like covered porches, tapered columns, overhanging eaves, multiple windows, and partially paned doors. Traditional exterior schemes use natural hues like browns, greens, grays, and white accents, now paired with rich, vivid shades. To order paint samples, simply provide color chips, color cards, or a sample.
Is Craftsman the same as farmhouse style?
Farmhouse-style residences typically encompass a greater number of rooms, including a mud room, expansive kitchens, outdoor and indoor dining rooms, and an attic, in comparison to those designed in the Craftsman style, which are characteristically more compact in size and exhibit a more generic nomenclature for their rooms. Additionally, the roof design of a Craftsman-style home is low-pitched, which precludes the possibility of an attic.
How do I know if my house is Craftsman style?
Craftsman-style homes are characterized by a low-pitched roof, large front porches, and natural materials like wood, brick, stucco, stone, and fieldstone. These homes are inspired by their surroundings and often use materials like redwood, which is abundant in California. Simplicity is a key element of Craftsman Style, born in the early 1900s as a reaction to Victorian styles’ heavy ornamentation and opulence. The style features exposed rafters, clean lines, and natural texture in interior design spaces.
Natural materials like wood, brick, and stone are used to create a rustic feel reminiscent of simpler times. Straight lines are used to create space, balance, and a sense of permanence. The style’s expression varies depending on the country and region.
What are four characteristics of the Craftsman style house?
A Craftsman house is a style that emphasizes horizontal lines, natural materials, original design, and handicraft visibility. Common features include low-pitched gable roofs, overhanging eaves, heavy columns, patterned window panes, and a covered front porch. Exteriors are often natural brown, green, and red, with olive, dark green, or russet bodies. Interiors feature open floor plans, built-in spaces, bookcases, cabinetry, nooks, window seats, and integral fireplaces.
📹 10 Classic Features Of A Craftsman-Style Interior 🛋️
A craftsman home is known for its incredible character and use of natural materials. Here are 10 features prominent in most …
Finally!!! A home where some misguided person didn’t paint all the woodwork, knock down walls, paint or remove the fireplace, and tear out original features! I am so tired of idiots ruining historic homes! Go build new ones, or buy a featureless ranch house to play with! This delighted my restoration soul!
My all time favorite style. It’s a dream of mine to live in a beautiful craftsman, or a gothic revival from a slightly later decade. And a big THANK YOU to whoever did the renovation on it for preserving the important details of the home and, even more importantly, the style throughout. They went beyond preserving walls and swam against the current of trendy interior design. The bathrooms and kitchen are still modern and practical, but they are too “outdated” for many typical homebuyers with their retro style. Hopefully that decision will serve to attract the buyers who care about keeping the craftsman look intact.
I love a good craftsman home they are the penultimate home for me. The archway between the living and dining room is my favorite detail I also love all the built ins. Originally they came complete with craftsman furniture which I collect. The kitchen remodel is pleasing, what I see a lot of is flippers buying these classic homes and turning them into open concept and painting all the tiger oak trim white with grey walls and removing all the built ins grrr I hate that. The bathroom is perfectly styled and very original looking.I love all the natural light in the study it’s beautiful. The homes decor is perfect. I bet the price is just right.
I tell you this is why I like your website so much. Of the hundred or so websites slash vlogs on architecture and/or residential construction, ie, homes and DIY home fixer uppers I have not seen one, not one look at this style craftsman. When anyone talks about the American landscape like where America grew up they’ll most likely review a half dozen mansions of the rich and famous or “major population centers” aka big city downtowns, but never show the actual homes everybody\\s parents grew up in and half of their descendants starter homes. The American craftsman style can be found in every city from Boston to San Francisco, Seattle to Jacksonville. And how many of those starter homes became permanent as no one could find the same size for less than twice the price – if you were willing to stay in close to the city and watch as the neighborhoods decay around you. no matter how many neighborhood organizations were formed.
You’re getting progressively better at this — in terms of editing and presentation, this is the best article you’ve made yet. I also think touring more modest homes is a good idea, at least on occasion, as they can be beautiful in their own right and there are already a lot of mansion/huge house tours available on youtube!
EXCELLENT article on so many levels…beautiful subject, the presenter was informative and did not distract the viewer from concentrating on the topic. The editing and film work were excellent. The music sound level was perfect. As for the beautiful house, I kept thinking that the new owners will have to put curtains on those lovely windows and fill the top level with storage boxes. …I’m going to look at some of your other articles now.
This gave me some great ideas for the bathroom reno in my 1930’s Bungalow. It’s more a a working class A&C, with only two bedrooms and no lovely study, but it’s the perfect size for a empty nest widow. I’m luck all the woodwork is unpainted except in the kitchen and bath, which is actually period according to what I’ve read. Lovely, lovely home, I hope the new owners cherish and maintain it.
The Craftsman style was indeed popular in California. Many of the older neighborhoods in San Diego are a mix of a few larger Victorian houses, Craftsman bungalows (though some Craftsman homes were mansions; check out the Gamble house in Pasadena!!!), and Spanish style homes built between 1920 and 1939. I love the woodwork in those homes, which can vary from simple elegance, to Frank Lloyd Wright masterpieces. It’s great to see updates in keeping with the style and age of the home, that don’t permanently damage it’s integrity. In my opinion, ripping out built-ins like those room-dividers should be a crime, but I have seen it, all in the interest of an open floor plan. 🙁 Glad to see you getting around better, Ken.
Great house! My favorite style craftsman, plus its an expanded bungalow so it has the extra rooms on the first and second floor. I have never seen a side sunroom in that style home, much less two sunrooms. I am guessing that originaly it was a traditional size bungalow but very early in its life it was expanded, but the expansiones were seamless.
These homes are so “family energy of the early 20th Century”. It is close to the very 1st Home my Husband and I purchased, MidTown Memphis, right behind Overton Square. Built in 1913, we were only 3rd owners. It had a lovely history and it remains a beautiful property. (I drive by each time I’m in area, in Memphis). We put insulation, a beautiful siding in Taupe, White Trim, and e-windows, to complete its needs. I love radiator heat, so we kept that. Totally rebuilt kitchen, exposing and sealing the brick. Hand built cabinets with Glass fronts. _______ This house is truly well done, craftsmanship is apparent. The hallway with shelves is built like a the Butler’s Pantry. In this location I suppose it was intended to house the linens.
The owners are true Craftsman lovers. They made sure to include craftsman-style furniture, which really gives the house a historical feel to the rooms. I also love how the houses of that period had the garage set back from the house. AS F.L. Wright said, the garage should not be the first thing that you see in the house. It is not a welcoming sign, the porch is.
Oh boy that’s my kind of home! Craftsman Style home with all it’s special details and woodwork galore! They really did a fabulous job in their bathrooms such clean lines that square sink was perfect and the color of the tiles made the whole room shine. Thank you for taking us through this beautiful home! I’ll keep perusal since you really do a great job entertaining us with information and history with each home you tour! Thank You! Blessings!!
While not my favorite design style, (very heavy, dark & masculine looking) years ago I did enjoy living in a similarly designed Stickley-built house that had been divided into a few individual rental apartments. The star of the home, the living room, had a massive stone fireplace with a large copper mantel hood. The only drawbacks, living there, were curious people sometimes peeking through the windows to see the interior. Very unnerving.
Thank you for sharing this Ken. I grew up in an 1914 Craftsman home which looks a great deal like the one you featured today without the bump out. Our sunroom was in the front and was more integrated into the design and not a separate wing. I love all the warm wood, radiator covers and cabinetry. A lovely home. Thank you Ken. Blessings – Judith 🎭🎵
It is so exciting to see a home this well preserved. I am currently restoring a home built in 1926 (not craftsman, unfortunately, because they are my favorite) and my mouth dropped at the effort to detail that was put into each room, it really makes all of the difference. I wonder if the homeowners bought the furniture from Modern Bungalow because the living room furniture looks Morris-inspired. The radiator covers are the same as in my house: with the roman lattice design…and I loved the tiffany styles lamps. I didn’t notice all of the window sills, usually, they are Carrara marble. I just love perusal these articles so much. Ken is not condescending and teaches with an enthusiastic knowledge of architectural design.
What a beautiful airy well thought out house. So happy to see the brick fire place and the beautiful woodwork is not painted white. Thank goodness. This house is a preserved charming treasure. I love everything about it. My grandmothers house had a dark wood swinging kitchen into dining room door as well as a breakfast nook and farm house sink. Mud room off the kitchen. A many windowed sun room off the living room. 😊I absolutely loved that house as a child. A small back yard with a vegetable and flower garden. So many happy memories.
My favorite style of architecture. Oftentimes individuals will remove the radiators because they do take up quite a bit of space and maybe aren’t aesthetically appealing, but they are the best source of heat you can have in a home. They retain the heat and don’t blow drying hot air. More important, hot water radiator heat is clean. Very nice home. Very warm and inviting.
I just adore craftsman-style architecture, and there’s precious little of it in my hometown of Albuquerque, NM. The authentic houses are all near the railroad; all the building lumber in that time period had to be brought it that way. There are glorious abodes in the near downtown area. I’ve always loved walking my dogs through these neighborhoods over my lifespan here. Occasionally something comes up on the market, but would require WAY more resources than I have at my disposal. Hey, at least I’m not some oddball knocking on someone’s gorgeous front door, asking for a history of the wood that makes up the lintels…
The entrance is properly pronounced FOY-ER, not foy-yaa. I grew up in a Craftsman bungalow on a small farm in Lakewood, Colorado in tne 1940s and have many fond memories of my carefree childhood there. Although our home had a coal-burning furnace in the basement that sent hot air up through a system of metal tubes to heat the rooms above.
I’m soooo glad the all in one, open concept is on the way out. It’s one thing to have a lounge area off the kitchen as family space, but large, wide open living & dining spaces with huge kitchens attached are so uninviting. To make it worse, you couldn’t make them less uncomfortable than making them all encompassing white. I’ve loved the Arts & Crafts style, especially architecture, for a long time. I find the houses inviting, warm & comfortable. The antithesis of the above mentioned. The layout of the rooms draw you in & the warmness of all the wood gives a cozy feel before you even have furniture. Mind you, the furniture they have does add to it, i love the choices. A much better aesthetic to raise a family in, but that’s just my opinion.
Ken, I think you and I have been long lost relatives! Just kidding..They way you describe the details and history is very similar to my way of speaking. I have done articles for my students and I use the same cadence, transition word choices and even they natural way you emphasize certain words is similar to myself. My husband even agrees! lol Therefore, I do truly enjoy your articles.
Beautiful craftsman! We own a 1933 colonial that was a rental previously. Slowly, I have been upgrading each system of the home to modern standards such as plumbing, electrical, smart home features, security, ect. Each step of the way, I go though painstaking effort to maintain each aspect of the original home. I’ve kept the original doors but changed the handles for remanufactures glass knobs as all of the old steel ones were in bad shape and severely dented. I’ve fixed many of the broken panels on the picture windows, and added back the wonderful trim that would have been in the bathroom. There is even a wonderful textured plaster along entire wall of the fireplace besides the encasement of the fireplace itself. At the landing of the stairs, this same plaster texture was used. Of course there are built in China cabinets and crown moulding galore. Unfortunately most of the trim has been painted so that will stay, but other aspects of the original charm are being brought back to life slowly but surely. Our home was a work of art, and you can tell all of the careful detail that was used to create it.
In my town, true Craftsmen homes are bought quickly i.e. from initial listing to sale is less than a month. Bungalows are quite similiar and have been for a couple decades due to home restoration television programs. My home was built in the same period and has a couple Craftsmen details. It’s what I call a “Midwest vernacular” i.e. elements from various styles/periods in one home. My home ‘screams’ Cape Cod exterior wise.
I would have loved to seen that balcony off the bedroom. What a wonderful tour. An area called Queen Anne Hill in Seattle is full of these era of houses. On your trip up the first flight of stairs slowly ascending put me back into my childhood stairwell and 1960!!! In the recent past I had the opportunity to go up to one of these third floor levels all the space is certainly amazing.
Thank you for this tour. I love craftsman homes! I wanted to also share that I have seen a couple of them with a hidden switch in the base of the “entrance post” of the staircase. In which this home looked like there was a difference in the wood at the base that often indicates the panel. Very small maybe 3″-4″ across and 6″-8″ tall.
The whole “someone painted woodwork!” is misguided. In many cases, the woodwork was painted from the beginning. Especially in bathrooms and sunrooms. My friend owned a home from 1872 and he was angry someone painted the wood work. Me being a painter I found out all the wood work was pine and painted at the time the home was finished.
This was GREAT!! My mom grew up and went to school in Webster Groves. I just lost my mom a year ago, so it was like a little gift. Thank you! (This home looks like one my cousin may have worked on to re-establish the original look. My cousin owns an architecture firm in Chicago, but our family has roots in St. Louis and Webster Groves. This house just screams his name all over it! )
Appreciate this tour. I have always believed the type of radiator treatment evident here. I grew up in a home in Dearborn Michigan that had something similar. I felt a little confused about the crystal doorknobs and backplates as they didn’t feel as if the were true to the period. We also had those in the house I grew up in and I LOVED them as a child for the sparkle they shone over a room when the sun hit them. That house was not a craftsman. Can you offer some knowledge regarding the doorknobs and backplates?
I admire how the British have protected their historic homes and property by listing them as historically significant. By listing properties, they have stopped the wholesale,misguided tearouts so popular here in the US. Properties may be sold but new owners know they have to keep the house they have bought to a standard to protect the historic qualities.
I love these homes. I used to own one. It was built in 1906. It’s similar to this. I loved the woodwork in my home. I also had a curved wall in living room. Mine had three steps upstairs, and three down on the other side into a nanny quarters. Then at top of three steps, the staircase turned upstairs. I also had a window at landing at top of three stairs.
It’s interesting to see how all of those odd array of windows on the right side of the house were and how they somewhat functioned from the inside! The “crooked” one must have been the one on the stair landing! Our neighbors’ house where I grew up had this when they built their second story in the late 60s!
Whoever restored this house did a great job. I would rather live in one of these than any other style home. Sorry, but I don’t know where Webster is. Is that in Maine? Never mind! I googled it. It’s just west of St. Louise. Is this house not for sale? I can not find it on the website. I was curious of the asking price.