| Many older homes in cities today have their | | | | story window in the second floor gable. Roofs |
| roots in the Arts and Crafts movement. With | | | | in this style are generally hipped, with |
| their squared, low-lying layouts and sturdy | | | | overhanging eaves on all four sides. Other |
| construction, these homes are often easy to | | | | common Craftsman features include extensive |
| spot, but generally not as widely recognized | | | | stonework, rough-hewn wood, and stucco |
| or studied as Victorian homes from the same | | | | exteriors. |
| era - they simply remain unclassified or | | | | |
| incorrectly identified as ranchers. As years | | | | The popularization of Craftsman homes is |
| progress, however, the homes, properly known | | | | largely credited to designer Gustav Stickley, |
| as "Craftsman" buildings, are outlasting most | | | | a turn of the century architect who often |
| Victorian buildings, and finding more | | | | featured these homes in his magazine, The |
| recognition among preservationists and | | | | Craftsman. Stickley famously referred to |
| historic home buyers who want to ask for them | | | | Craftsman style as "a house reduced to its |
| by name. | | | | simplest form," wrote lengthy reviews on home |
| | | | and furniture originals by designers Harvey |
| In some ways it's remarkable that | | | | Ellis, the Greene Brothers, and others. Large |
| Craftsman-style homes were so attractive, | | | | numbers of Craftsman homes began appearing in |
| given the round-about way they were | | | | San Diego in the early 20th century, which |
| conceived. Rather than emerging simply as a | | | | eventually led to the term "California |
| new architectural form, Craftsman homes | | | | Bungalow" for these types of homes. |
| developed as part of the Arts and Crafts | | | | |
| movement, which in many ways was a reaction | | | | Craftsman-style homes worked as well for |
| against the over-decorated and fragile | | | | families and middle class as they did for |
| aesthetics of the Victorian era, as well as | | | | designers and artistic activists. One of the |
| the lack of personal touch in many modern-era | | | | most significant advances made by these homes |
| buildings. Given those prerequisites, one | | | | was the way they re-aligned the kitchen area |
| might have expected an unfocussed, | | | | with the rest of the main floor - instead of |
| impressionistic style to emerge, rather than | | | | having a segregated kitchen with a formal |
| the refined, often symmetrical building | | | | dining room, Craftsman homes often had a |
| shapes for which Craftsman style homes are | | | | built-in "breakfast nook" so that families |
| known. These homes can generally be | | | | could eat closer to the kitchen, which then |
| identified by their front entrances featuring | | | | became the center of activity on the upper |
| a large raised porch with columns on either | | | | floor. |
| side, a central door, and a single second | | | | |