We love the neighborhood we live in, but our home is over 30 years old and needs a facelift on the interior as well as the exterior. It’s one of those simple ranch home plans, so the possibilities are endless. I absolutely love Craftsman style home designs, so we are leaning towards remodeling with that style in mind. I have read a lot about the style and its history is very interesting.
Craftsman style homes were first introduced in the last years of the 19th century and remained popular into the early part of the 20th century. This was commonly referred to as the American Arts and Crafts Movement.
During that time period the wealthier Americans were building Victorian style homes. This style of home had much attention to detail with intricate woodwork, turrets, ornamentation and decoration. It was unaffordable to the working class and often thought of as pretentious, stuffy and uncomfortable.
Opposite of Victorian style homes was Craftsman. It also had attention to detail, but it was simple detail. Its features were large open spaces, less clutter, and featured materials that highlighted nature in the overall design. I think this is the primary reason I love this style so much. Simple, yet eye-catching, and it brings the nature in.
One of the most famous architects, Frank Lloyd Wright, made this style popular. In the homes he designed Craftsman style features influenced many aspects of the floor plan. Among the most highlighted were nature and simplicity.
Also around this same time Gustav Stickley began to manufacture Craftsman furniture and also publish a magazine titled, “The Craftsman.” It featured pre-drawn home plans that consumers throughout the United States could purchase through the mail. This opened the door for other regions across the country to have access to a new home plan style that was affordable to the middle class society. It gave them the opportunity to build the American Dream and enter into home ownership.
As cities grew and became crowded people moved out into the suburbs. Much of the materials for the Craftsman style homes were mass produced and readily available. This style of home gave many Americans the chance to live comfortably while offering a home that featured natural materials that one could only hope for in rural country living.
There are many features that stand out in a Craftsman home. The exterior surface features stone, wood or stucco and is topped off with a low-pitched roof with wide eaves, triangular brackets and exposed roof rafters. Along with numerous windows and stone chimneys, large front porches held up with thick columns in wood or stone also grace the exterior. Interior features include open floor plans with few hallways, exposed beamed ceiling and dark wood wainscoting and molding. This coupled with many built-ins such as seating, cabinets and shelving creates an interior that focuses on form as well as function.
In the 1980’s the Craftsman style was reborn as people began to move out west and restore older homes into Craftsman bungalows. As the homes were updated, they were also furnished with Craftsman furniture. This furniture began to take on Rustic, Shaker, Native American and Spanish accents creating a truly unique blend.
There are so many wonderful features in Craftsman style homes. I can’t wait to begin to remodel our ranch home and will definitely take many before and after photos. I know once it is completed and we have knocked down some walls and opened up our living space our home will appear as if we started from scratch. The end result will be the home of our dreams!
Looking for a Craftsman home of your dream? Visit www.houseplansandmore.com for a beautiful selection of Craftsman home designs.
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