Craftsman Style Homes - Questions from the Times

Classic Craftsman Bungalow

- Has the desire to buy a craftsman-style home increased in the last few years?

I have noticed the appreciation for historic homes increase (such as Victorians or Craftsmans), even to the point there is an online trend to end remodeling and promote the preservation of these homes. People really seem to value these gems, even when they are in need of some serious repair, and rightly so.  

Those who choose to build are also choosing to work craftsman style elements into modern home layouts and builds, essentially creating a new type of Craftsman style home.  

- Are homebuilders eager to meet the demand for craftsman-style homes?

I have found homebuilders are not only eager, they are ready for this demand. Many custom home builders as well as the manufactured/modular factories, already have customizable home designs with optional styles and finish packages that hit key features of a Craftsman style home.  

- What are some of the visual features of this type of build?

Visual features found on classic Craftsman homes are: 

Exterior Elements: 

• Large and inviting front (or wrap around) porches, often with pergolas or trellises on the sides, held up by square or tapered columns, usually with a stone, brick, or contrasting base. 

• Low pitch, gabled roofs with deep overhanging eaves, with decorative knee braces, corbels and rafter tails.  

• Exposed structural members, such as rafters, beams, brackets, even visible trusses in gables.   

• Dormer windows, multi-pane windows, typically hinged casement mixed with double hung windows with something like the six-over-one or four-over-one pane arrangement, with simple but prominent extended header and lintel detailing. 

• Natural materials like wood, stone, brick and stucco. 

• Shingle or clapboard siding, often mixed, defining separation between levels. 

• Stone or brick bulky chimneys, skirting, around foundations, walls, or on the base of columns. 

• Asymmetrical Facade, with varying rooflines, window placements, and uncentered focal points. 

• Focus on lower, horizontal profile, putting the emphasis on horizontal lines versus vertical height. 

Interior Elements: 

• Open floor plans, with a focus on natural light. 

• Stained wood coffered ceilings, exposed wood beams and trim, often found on ceilings, walls, windows and doors. 

• Handcrafted details like custom thick moldings and baseboards, board and batten wainscoting and artisanal craftsmanship, specifically stained natural woodwork, typically oak, cherry or maple.

• Panelled wood interior doors, often stained, and wooden sliding pocket doors to separate open spaces.

• Built-ins!  Bookcases, benches, window seats, cabinets, and inglenooks. Open shelving in lieu of upper cabinets in the kitchen. 

• Fireplace focal points that are typically brick or stone, often with built-in wood shelving.

• Artesian tilework around fireplaces, backsplashes, countertops, and bathrooms. 

• Stained glass door lites, and windows, including transom windows above interior doors or as accents in built-in cabinetry.

• Custom hardware, railings, and light fixtures, like pendants, sconces, and chandeliers, made from hand forged metal (usually bronze, copper or wrought iron) and stained glass, usually in the Mission or Art Nouveau styles.

• Had painted details on walls, ceilings and fireplace tiles. 

• Earth tone color palettes, like warm or muted dark greens, browns, golds, or deep maroon. 

There are 4 main types of Craftsman homes that dominated the original era.  Bungalows, usually 1 story, with a  big front porch and a dominant dormer window, with an open floor plan and cozy feel. Prairie style is simple. Think low pitch roofs with wide eaves, flat horizontal lines, square porches. Then the Four Square style is usually taller, two story, boxy, symmetrical, and lots of square footage.  Lastly, Mission Revival is exactly what it sounds like, a throwback to the spanish missions, using stucco, arched doorways, and tile roofs. 

However, the more custom homes that incorporate craftsman style elements, the more types of Craftsman styles we begin to see.  There are a few terms (some official, some unofficial) that best describe these varying craftsman styles. 

Neo-Craftsman Style is essentially classic Craftsman elements, like exposed beams, wide porches, gabled roofs, blended with open floor plans, modern materials, and energy efficient designs. 

These are not to be confused with Modern Craftsman homes, which maintain the warmth and cozy feeling from the hand-crafted look, but bring sleek lines, bigger windows and minimalist details.  The layouts tend to me more modern, with high ceilings and lighter color pallets.  This style does hold onto the natural elements, often seen with stone (or faux stone) siding and fireplaces, or natural wood beams, especially on the porch.  

Transitional Craftsman, or Craftsman-Inspired Contemporary loosely plays with craftsman elements, like tapered columns and gabled roofs, while leaning heavily on modern materials and design trends, like simplified wood trim, modern lighting and hardware and neutral colors.  This style is on the rise, as it allows for craftsman character to a contemporary lifestyle. 

Farmhouse or Rustic Craftsman is often seen in rural areas, this style fuses modern farmhouse aesthetics with natural materials, like exposed wood beams, and rustic elements, like barn doors.  This style often adorns board and batten siding, metal roofs and tend to have an open concept layout.  This style has had a stronghold on the interior design community and thus has greatly impacted the architectural community. Some people feel the end of this trend is on the horizon while others have just begun their collection of galvanized metal accent pieces.  

- Why do people like craftsman-style homes so much?

​The enduring popularity of Craftsman homes can be accredited to their timeless aesthetic, sense of nostalgia, skilled and artistic craftsmanship, quality materials, and functionality.  It’s everything you wanted in a classic home.  We have all seen, visited or knew someone who lived in a craftsman. They feel human, even familial, reminding us of our long lost ancestors, the old fashion middle class of the Progressive Era. They echoed human beauty and stood against the decline in quality brought on by mass production.  

I suppose it is to quench the Craftsman spirit, that this style has made come back. When you consider the Arts and Crafts Movement was an aesthetic counterpart to the social and political reforms of the Progressive Era, it seems that history repeats itself.  It’s ironic that at the same time this beautiful neo-arts-and-crafts movement emerged from the lower/middle class during the pandemic, it is met with a social and political counterpart. Almost the same movement, fighting industrialization, environmental protections, corporate monopolies, immigration reform, and political corruption, even women's suffrage is on the table.  

The Craftsman style brings all these issues home, and solves them.  Industrialization is replaced by the hand worked details, and the materials are sourced locally.  Environmental preservation is addressed through passive systems, like stone or brickwork with high thermal mass, or long overhangs to take advantage of sun angles and heating degree days.  Immigration housing was replaced with affordable housing and their construction provided jobs with decent wages.  Even Women’s fight for equality is enhanced by opening up the floor plan rather than isolating women in closed off kitchens.  Its practical approach to functionality helped women balance home and work life more efficiently, supporting their ability to achieve agency.  

The Craftsman was and is a philosophical statement against unchecked capitalism, environmental destruction, and political corruption. All issues we face right now.  It embodied the ideals of progressives, while preserving cultural craftsmanship and skilled art, a symbol of resistance against the rich and elite and their excess and oppression. 

On the surface the Craftsman homes are simply timeless, familiar, and beautiful.  They feel safe, warm and natural.  I think in our collective subconscious, they symbolically speak to us, and they ask us, “Remember when we lived better?’ We are all asking ourselves that question today, and maybe that is why people love Craftsman style homes so much. 

- Are craftsman-style homes popular in your Area?

Oregon has a rich architectural heritage, and is home to a variety of Craftsman houses and boasts several historic districts that showcase many of these beautiful homes.  Cities like Portland, Salem, Eugene and Corvallis have beautiful historic neighborhoods where you can see these works of art without even looking for them.  In my county, Albany, Oregon has a beautiful array of historic craftsman houses in various styles.  Even in my small hometown (Sweet Home, Oregon) you can find a small share of craftsman houses, new and old.  

- Have you helped a client buy or sell a craftsman-style home?

I have designed literally hundreds of craftsman style homes in my career.  During the early 2000’s there was a huge resurgence in the style when I worked in modular and manufactured homes.  This is when you started to see gabled porches with tapered columns with faux stone bases on double wide homes.  There was more push for built-ins, fireplaces, wood trim packages and more.  Working with custom home builders after the pandemic I saw a lot of these craftsman style exterior elements make their way back to the base designs again.  The elements are very customizable and the style allows for a lot of room to play around with customization of cookie cutter base plans.  

My husband and I purchased a craftsman-inspired modern farmhouse just after the pandemic.  I wanted an open concept plan that allowed for a lot of natural light. While the rural farm forest hillside acreage with a view of the mountains was the main seller, the large wrap-around porch with large square columns was a close second. The exterior is a mix of neutral tones across the trim, with a shingled upper level exterior and the clapboard siding on the lower level exterior. The rustic or farmhouse elements are worked in with reclaimed corrugated barn paneling which was used for the ceiling panels on the huge covered back porch.  This break up of color, and texture, paired with the horizontal profile, asymmetrical facade, and low pitch, gabled roofs, the home really mirrors the rolling hills it is set against, as if it was always there.  The stone countertops rich dark woods and open concept with lots of natural light brings the outdoors inside and really connects you to the land.  It simply feels natural.