I happened upon this Craftsman-style bungalow a few days ago; the bright yellow facade initially caught my eye. The sides still display an earlier, less vibrant, color scheme. The new look, with its dark brown shingled gable, does a better job of emulating a period Craftsman exterior than the green tints on each side. A “For Sale” sign in the yard prompted me to go online for interior photos and I was rewarded with a handsome interior which is is interesting from several design vantage points.
All interior photos below were taken from zillow.com.
The classic Craftsman bungalow facade would be at home virtually anywhere.
The porch supports appear massive, but are L-shaped and only the thickness of an ordinary wall.
The interior woodwork is in excellent condition and includes numerous desirable built-ins such as this buffet in the dining room.
The dining room also includes this massive window seat. The glass bookcases (and buffet) retain their original square wood knobs.
Another built-in seat defines the entry. Original wall sconces appear to have been updated in the 1960’s with glass shades. A pocket door may be seen to the left. The colonnades are atypically post-free.
The slab doors are an unusually modern feature for a house built around 1920. The storage over the closet is another nice feature.
The bathroom appears to have been updated c. 1970. All doors appear to retain their original brass hardware.
The 1960’s kitchen is stylish once again!
Hopefully this house will not be “updated” into HGTV-style mediocrity.
A neat find. A couple thoughts:
1. I think there’s a good chance both of those portals between rooms originally had columns, that were later removed. I’ve seen plenty of homes like this with the shadow of original column bases that once existed.
2. The flat-slab doors would be very odd for that era. The technology for full-veneer construction did exist, but I’ve yet to see a crafstman-styled structure with them. I would speculate that original paneled doors (likely 1-over-1 or 1-over-2) were replaced along with some of the other 1960s remodeling. It is odd that they appear to have re-used the original door hardware. I much more often see it the other way around (original doors with modern tubular locksets crudely hacked into the space that originally housed a mortise lockset.
3. While clearly not original, the 60s kitchen and bathroom look to be in great shape, and relatively untouched since then. I’d be tempted to leave them as-is, as at this point, they tell as much of a story as the original features.
4. Finally, holy colors, Batman! It appears someone started an exterior repaint (or possibly two, lol), and never finished.
1. You are probably correct about the missing columns. Unfortunately, the photographs aren’t close enough or clear enough to look for evidence of alteration.
2. I have a millwork catalog from 1914 which offers veneered slab doors. They were described as “sanitary doors” and touted for their dust-free qualities. My guess is that these are original to the house; if the doors were later replacements I would expect them to have more modern hardware as well. I’m just guessing, however, and don’t know for sure. It would be fun to explore this place and its anomalies in person!
3. The 60’s kitchen and bath are definitely worth retaining. A few modest tweaks would be OK, but each has earned some respect at this point in time.
4. Partially-completed paint jobs are another phenomenon I see with increasing frequency. Perhaps the weather turned on the painters before they could finish. The new owners will likely have their own ideas for exterior color; it will be fun to see how it turns out! (Hopefully the house won’t be wrapped in detail-blotting vinyl!)
Very interesting find on the doors. I can’t say that I’ve seen flat doors on an actual house this far back (well, aside from something REALLY avant-garde like Art Moderne or something). It must have been on the cutting edge of style!