Craftsman style homes and cottages

The beauty of a craftsman home is in its form and massing rather than as a result of excess ornamentation.  The craftsman style celebrates the structure of the home where decoration is achieved with actual structural elements, such as exposed rafter tails, wood knee brackets and belt courses between various materials.  Wide trim around the windows is sized to look like it could be structural.  All of our homes and cottages feature these craftsman design elements; their beauty is in their structure.

Normally, craftsman homes are bungalows, one, or one and one-half story homes that are designed to look like a one story.  A defining feature of the craftsman style is the roof pitch and type.  The roof is expansive, low-pitched, gabled and with wide overhangs.  Often, a shed dormer with a low-slung roof is included; this adds visual interest as well as providing light and additional living space in the interior of the house.  Shingle treatment in the gables helps to break down the large expanse of wall, adding interest to the gable end.

Entrances have a covered roof over them either in the form of a small bracketed canopy or a larger veranda, thus providing shelter and a sense of welcome where visitors make the transition from public space into private space.  Screened porches and open verandas also provide a transition between the indoors and the outdoors while extending the living space to the outside.  Outdoor living spaces are more comfortable when they have some form of enclosure, either structural or implied.  Our home and cottage designs provide this sense of enclosure by tucking verandas and porches under the broad gabled roof.  Enclosure is also implied by the craftsman style wood or stone columns, which support the wide overhang of the roof.

 

Craftsman homes are situated low to the finished grade.  The relationship of the house to the grade is important as it provides easy transition from indoors to outdoors, while eliminating the need for railings and a lot of steps.  When thinking about adding decks or patios to your home or cottage, step down the deck rather than leaving the deck sitting high off the ground, as low decks are more visually pleasing.

Craftsman homes were traditionally quite dark, whereas our homes and cottages have multiple groupings of windows affording plenty of light.  Rather than using large walls of glass, the window groupings contribute to a sense of scale and rhythm in the house.  We also include more windows on walls that may suit a view.

In keeping with the craftsman style, the interior of our homes and cottages celebrate the old hand crafts with extensive woodworking and trims.  The craftsman style is observed in doors and windows, door and window trim, baseboards, cabinet detail, plate rails, plant ledges and railings.