Edges to Rubies The Complete SketchUp Tutorial

The example on the right is a classic Craftsman bungalow in the village of Florida, NY. Windows were typically one over one, double-hung. Where more light was wanted, they were used in groups of two, three or more.

The bay window just left of the porch is not typical. As many Craftsman bungalows were designed and built by their owners, atypical details are so common they are almost part of the style.

Craftsman homes come in two distinct styles: bungalow and four-square. This is a classic Craftsman four-square, Warwick, NY, c. 1910.

Two stories, four nearly square sides, hipped roof and hipped dormers in the attic story (that show great skill in framing) are all Craftsman. The double windows in the dormers were used in the more expensive homes of the era.

The cement construction was relatively new. (It would reach its pinnacle in Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece, Falling Water.)

The second floor room facing you is a sleeping porch. The large expanse of windows were opened to catch any cooling breezes. In Goshen, this home would be comfortable for sleeping almost every day of the year.

Large Craftsman home with sleeping porch, Goshen, NY c. 1915.

This is another bungalow example with a shed dormer facing the street. The gable-ended porch is unusual. Typically, the main roof extends over the porch.

The main roof here is steeply pitched. I call this style the "high bungalow." Thought experiment: redesign this home so that the main roof extends over the porch.

The tapered columns (the white part) supporting the porch roof are a common Craftsman treatment. The child-proofing appears to be a later addition.

Florida, NY, c. 1910.

This large, probably architect-designed home would be an over-sized four-square, if any part of it were actually square.

Yes, those are ionic columns and the decorative lintels over the first-floor windows also suggest Greek revival.

Not-quite-four-square, Warwick, NY c. 1910.

Another American one-and-a-half-story home is the Cape Cod, that was built in great numbers for soldiers returning from the second World War. It originated on Cape Cod, a glacial morraine that runs many miles out to sea south and east of Boston. There Nor'easters (fierce Atlantic storms) led to an overhang-free roof.

Cape Cods, if they are authentic, are built almost on the ground, not several steps above ground as Craftsman homes are built. Again, this is due to the Nor'easters.

Warwick, NY, c. 1950?.

Hard times have fallen on the Catskill resorts in general and on Maplecrest, NY, in particular. It has been many years since this hotel saw its last guest. Even abandoned, it is a perfect example of commercial Craftsman architecture.

Idiosyncratic! The gable-ended porch may be unique to this bungalow. That may make it more, not less, Craftsman. It's the designer/builder/owner thing.

In the excellent Field Guide to American Houses, the McAlesters state that Craftsman bungalows may be gable-ended, or the main gable may face the street and L-shaped plans are also common. Here in the Hudson Valley the peak is always parallel to the street.

Treeware warning: The above book, highly recommended, is about houses. Do not confuse it with A Field Guide to American Architecture, a book that misses a lot, including the entire Craftsman period.

Craftsman bungalow, Florida, NY, c. 1910.

This home echoes the first two centuries of American architecture with its formal, symetric facade. The hipped dormers and exposed rafter ends clearly say Craftsman. The wide, eight-over-eight windows seem appropriate in a home of this size.

The pile of dirt in front looks like a garden waiting to happen. Remind your tutor to retake this shot in the spring.

Formal Craftsman home, NY, c. 1910.

Craftsman four-square with faux gambrel details, Warwick, NY, c. 1920.

Farmer Brady (Brady Farm, on Brady Road) built Honeymoon House for his children. He thought they might enjoy some privacy as newlyweds. (Not on Brady Road, Honeymoon House is still just a short walk from the farm.)

Look closely at this charming home and you see something unusual. Clearly a bungalow, it features the hipped roof and hipped dormer that would later become typical of the Craftsman four-square. I strongly suspect that this home was builder-designed. It predates the Craftsman period by ten years!

Honeymoon House, Warwick, NY, 1895.

This is a fine example of the Craftsman style applied to a mansion. Somewhat obscured by the large size and small pixel count, this mansion features hipped gables and exposed rafter ends.

It is interesting to note that architects working on large projects (this mansion, the hotel featured above Chapter 7) adopted the bungalow style, not the four-square style.

Mansion, Warwick NY, c. 1915

This small building is owned by the local electric company. It's only continuing function is to provide a charming example of Craftsman commercial architecture in a petite size.

Small commercial building, Warwick, NY, c. 1910.

The classic Craftsman bungalow has a gable-ended dormer facing the street. This one has a shed dormer. The Craftsman ideal was for designer, builder and owner to be the same person. Bungalows were often designed by amateurs, not architects. They show lots of variety.

The tapered wood columns (resting on masonry) are a very popular Craftsman detail.

Florida, NY, c. 1910.

A large home for a prosperous owner, this four-square sports a ground-floor addition (possibly an original feature?) in the kitchen/dining area topped by a bay window, likely in the master suite.

What really catches the eye, however, are the ionic columns around the front porch. (Actually, Tuscan columns with ionic capitals, as Greek columns would have been fluted.)

In contrast to the columns, the upper panes of the dormer windows are a diamond-shaped Tudor style.

Warwick, NY, c. 1920.

The bungalow was not the only Craftsman home built for those of modest means. The four-square was adapted and simplified to become a more modest house.

The modest four-square is smaller and the details are simplified. A gable-ended roof replaces the hipped one. Shed dormers (front home) or gable-ended dormers (rear home) replace the more expensive hipped dormer.

These homes appear in abundance where modest homes were built in the 1920s.

Modest Craftsman four-square homes, Warwick, NY, c. 1925.

This bungalow-style building is located on the highway in a small hamlet outside Middletown, NY. It might have been a store with owner's residence on the second floor.

Scotchtown (near Middletown), NY, c. 1920.

The Craftsman four-square firmly rejected the highly asymmetric designs of the Queen Anne period that preceded it.

Well, most of them did. This sort-of-four-square Craftsman home embraces the asymmetries of the Queen Anne (1890s) period. It also shows the Craftsman hipped roof, hipped dormers, porch roof supported by strong, square columns: all Craftsman characteristics.

This is a large home, presumably built for a prosperous businessman. It shows great strength, but at the same time it has some fun.

Craftsman four-square, embracing Queen Anne asymmetries, Warwick, NY, c. 1920.

A wonderful book for the architcture fan is 117 House Designs of the Twenties, Gordan-Van Tine Co. (a Dover reprint). This is a catalog from a manufacturer of build-it-yourself house kits. Page 8 brags about a customer starting his home in November and completing it before winter sets in.

The home in question is a Craftsman bungalow that, excepting the pitch of the roof, could be this bungalow.

The authoritative McAlesters date the Craftsman style 1905 through 1930. Although Stickley's Craftsman closed in 1916, at least the Gordon-Van Tine Co. was still selling Craftsman homes in the '20s.

Craftsman bungalow, Florida, NY, c. 1910.

We opened the second section of this tutorial with Honeymoon House, a bungalow built in what would become the four-square style.

We close with this Craftsman four-square built in the bungalow style.

Middletown, NY, c. 1920