Welcome to Rainbow City Alabama


Understanding Craftsman Architecture

Many older homes in cities today havedoor, and a single second story window
their roots in the Arts and Craftsin the second floor gable. Roofs in this
movement. With their squared, low-lyingstyle are generally hipped, with
layouts and sturdy construction, theseoverhanging eaves on all four sides.
homes are often easy to spot, butOther common Craftsman features include
generally not as widely recognized orextensive stonework, rough-hewn wood,
studied as Victorian homes from the sameand stucco exteriors.
era - they simply remain unclassified orThe popularization of Craftsman homes is
incorrectly identified as ranchers. Aslargely credited to designer Gustav
years progress, however, the homes,Stickley, a turn of the century
properly known as "Craftsman" buildings,architect who often featured these homes
are outlasting most Victorian buildings,in his magazine, The Craftsman. Stickley
and finding more recognition amongfamously referred to Craftsman style as
preservationists and historic home"a house reduced to its simplest form,"
buyers who want to ask for them by name.wrote lengthy reviews on home and
In some ways it's remarkable thatfurniture originals by designers Harvey
Craftsman-style homes were soEllis, the Greene Brothers, and others.
attractive, given the round-about wayLarge numbers of Craftsman homes began
they were conceived. Rather thanappearing in San Diego in the early 20th
emerging simply as a new architecturalcentury, which eventually led to the
form, Craftsman homes developed as partterm "California Bungalow" for these
of the Arts and Crafts movement, whichtypes of homes.
in many ways was a reaction against theCraftsman-style homes worked as well for
over-decorated and fragile aesthetics offamilies and middle class as they did
the Victorian era, as well as the lackfor designers and artistic activists.
of personal touch in many modern-eraOne of the most significant advances
buildings. Given those prerequisites,made by these homes was the way they
one might have expected an unfocussed,re-aligned the kitchen area with the
impressionistic style to emerge, ratherrest of the main floor - instead of
than the refined, often symmetricalhaving a segregated kitchen with a
building shapes for which Craftsmanformal dining room, Craftsman homes
style homes are known. These homes canoften had a built-in "breakfast nook" so
generally be identified by their frontthat families could eat closer to the
entrances featuring a large raised porchkitchen, which then became the center of
with columns on either side, a centralactivity on the upper floor.



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