Craftsman Bungalow Features and How to Spot an Original

Real estate listings call almost any house with a front porch and tapered columns a craftsman bungalow. If you are buying one, restoring one or just trying to understand the house you already live in, that loose label makes it hard to tell an original 1915 home from a 2005 builder copy.

The craftsman bungalow is one of the most recognisable house types in North America, and it rewards a closer look. Built mostly between about 1905 and 1930, these homes were designed around simple materials, honest construction and modest family life. This guide explains the defining features, the details that separate originals from imitations, and what to check before you commit to one.

Where the craftsman bungalow came from

The style grew out of the Arts and Crafts movement, which started in Britain in the late 1800s as a reaction against factory made ornament. In the United States, the ideas were spread by magazines such as Gustav Stickley's The Craftsman, published from 1901 to 1916, and by architects like Charles and Henry Greene, whose hand crafted Pasadena houses from around 1908 remain the high point of the style.

Most bungalows were far humbler. Mail order companies, including Sears, Roebuck and Co., sold house plans and full kits from roughly 1908 onward. A family could order a two bedroom bungalow, receive thousands of numbered pieces by rail, and build it on a suburban lot near a new streetcar line. That is why whole neighbourhoods in cities such as Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago and Seattle are lined with near identical examples.

Defining craftsman bungalow features

A true craftsman bungalow usually shows most of these traits, not just one or two:

Low pitched roof, either gabled or hipped, with wide overhanging eaves of 60 centimetres or more.
Exposed rafter tails under the eaves, often cut into decorative shapes.
Triangular knee braces under the gable ends.
A full or partial front porch supported by tapered square columns resting on heavy piers of brick, stone or river rock.
One or one and a half storeys, sometimes with a shed or gable dormer.
Multi pane over single pane windows, such as four over one or six over one double hung sash.
Natural materials: wood shingle or clapboard siding, stone, brick and stucco.

Inside, look for built in bookcases flanking a fireplace, a dining room buffet with leaded glass doors, wide flat door casings, and a living room that opens straight from the front door with no formal entry hall. Floors were usually quarter sawn oak in the main rooms and fir in the bedrooms.

How to tell an original from a modern copy

Builders have revived the look since the 1990s, and many new homes mix it with modern proportions. A few checks help you tell them apart quickly.

Feature	Original, about 1905 to 1930	Typical modern copy
Rafter tails	Real structural rafters extending past the wall	Short decorative blocks nailed to a fascia board
Porch columns	Solid timber or brick, proportioned to the porch	Hollow wraps over thin posts, often too slender
Ceiling height	Roughly 2.6 to 2.9 metres	Often 2.4 metres, or very tall great rooms
Garage	Detached at the rear, reached by a side driveway	Attached and facing the street
Windows	Wood sash with true divided lites	Vinyl with grilles sandwiched between panes

The garage is often the quickest clue. Bungalows were built when cars were new or absent, so a street facing double garage is almost always a later design. Also check the plan. An original floor plan tends to be compact and room based, which you can read for yourself using our guide on how to read an architectural floor plan.

Why the open plan renovation often backfires

The usual advice for updating a bungalow is to knock out interior walls and create an open plan. I think that is a mistake in most of these houses.

Bungalows were planned as a sequence of moderate rooms, each with its own light and purpose. The living room and dining room were already linked by a wide cased opening, often 1.8 to 2.4 metres across, which gives a sense of flow without losing definition. Removing the walls usually means removing the built ins, the casings and the room proportions that make the house worth owning. It also costs more than people expect, because these walls often carry ceiling joists and hide original wiring and plumbing.

A better approach is to open the kitchen modestly toward the dining room, keep the original openings elsewhere, and improve light with careful window repair. The overhangs and porch already shade the interior in summer, which is part of why building orientation decides a home's comfort, so a bigger opening is not always the brighter one.

What to check before buying one

A century old house will have history. Before you make an offer, ask your inspector to look closely at these areas:

Foundation. Many bungalows sit on unreinforced brick or early concrete. Look for stepped cracks and sloping floors.
Wiring. Knob and tube wiring was common until the 1930s and may still be live in walls or the attic.
Plumbing. Galvanised steel supply pipes and cast iron drains may be near the end of their life.
Porch structure. Porches face the weather and often hide rot at column bases and beam ends.
Lead paint. Assume original paint layers contain lead and plan any sanding or window work accordingly.

None of these should stop you from buying, but they belong in your budget. Repairing original wood windows, for example, can cost 400 to 900 dollars each, which is often comparable to quality replacements and keeps the facade intact.

Why these houses still matter

The craftsman bungalow made decent, well built housing available to working families on ordinary lots. That is a story worth remembering, much like the arguments around saving brutalist architecture in cities that once wanted to tear it down. A preserved street of bungalows shows how good proportion, local materials and modest scale can create a neighbourhood people want to stay in for a hundred years.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a craftsman and a bungalow?

Craftsman describes a style based on Arts and Crafts ideas, such as exposed structure and natural materials. Bungalow describes a house form: low, usually one or one and a half storeys, with a porch. Many bungalows are craftsman style, but craftsman details also appear on larger two storey houses.

How can I tell when my craftsman bungalow was built?

Start with county property records, which often list a construction year, though it may be approximate. Check old fire insurance maps and city directories at your local library. Original hardware, window type and framing lumber dimensions can also narrow the date.

Are craftsman bungalows expensive to maintain?

They can be, mainly because of aging wiring, plumbing, foundations and wood windows. Regular painting and porch upkeep prevent most costly rot. Budgeting one to two percent of the home's value each year is a sensible starting point.