NC-private-golf.htm

While the Craftsman Bungalow is an all American housing style, it has its spiritual roots in India. The one-story thatch-roofed native huts in the province of Bengal were adapted by British colonists to use as summer homes. For their comfortable bangla, the British arranged dining rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, and bathrooms around central living rooms. This efficient floor plan became the prototype for America's Craftsman Bungalows. The first American houses to be called bungalows were built in the Northeast, particularly in the Adirondack region, but as the style gained favor, most notably through the publishing of the magazine The Craftsman by preeminent furniture maker Gustav Stickley, the Craftsman style swept the country as an organic, simple-to-execute form of vernacular architecture. Two California architects, Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene, are often credited with inspiring America to build simple oneand-a-half story bungalows. Homes designed by the Greene’s were publicized in magazines, and a flood of pattern books followed. Since the style adapts equally well to modest and grand homes, there are also several large, elaborate, landmark "bungalows" such as the Gamble House in Pasadena, California. However, most architectural historians agree that homes like this are contrary to the spirit of the Bungalow. True Bungalows re-present structural simplicity, efficient use of space, and understated style. Most of the living area is placed on the ground floor. The most obvious identifying characteristic of Craftsman style can be found on its exteriors. Most importantly, these homes are rooted to their site; natural materials such as horizontal wood siding and stone are hallmarks. Paint colors typically remain in warm earth tones; stained wood siding is frequently paired with darker painted trim. Rooflines are simple and predictable, their low pitches terminating with wide eaves and exposed rafter tails, or decorative braces. The most vertical element of a Craftsman façade tends to be a large chimney, rendered in stone with large, random coursing. Clarity of construction methods is recurrent, reflecting the styles emphasis on a hand-made effect. Deep porches with stubby square columns allow the home to embrace its site, and provide transitions to the similarly detailed interior.