The architecture of Spanish missions influenced bungalow design.
There are three main types of bungalows, according to Treena Crochet, president of a Boston-based interior design firm. These are craftsman, prairie and mission style. There are other styles, as architecture authorities William Phillips Comstock, Clarence Eaton Schermerhorn and Tony P. Wrenn point out, and styles merge to some extent. Further, fashions vary in different parts of the country because of local availability of materials, ideas brought by foreign settlers and the influence of leading figures. Does this Spark an idea?
Craftsman Bungalows
Craftsman bungalows typically have one to one-and-a-half stories and are covered with a low gabled roof, i.e., a roof of low pitch, often with exposed end rafters. A deep porch over the front door is also a key feature, offering cooling shade, especially important in hotter parts of the country. Colored art glass and beveled glass are often featured in windows and doors. Craftsman bungalows often incorporate built-in furniture, such as chests, bookcases and window seats. They had, for the time, well-equipped kitchens and bathrooms. Gustav Stickley's design aims included covering the exterior in shingle, or overlapping wooden panels, of pine, cedar or redwood. The living room would be an ample-sized general room with a large fireplace built in limestone. The dining alcove, separated from the living room only by an arch on two posts, would be a continuation of the living room with built-in furniture including a primitive sideboard and a serving shelf.
Prairie Style
Architect and interior designer Frank Lloyd Wright created what is now known as the Prairie School of architecture. The Midwest has many examples of bungalows and other buildings in this style. They usually have hipped roofs of low pitch and with roof gables parallel to the street. The eaves are broad and overhanging, sometimes over second-story bedrooms and porches. In the days before air conditioning systems, the generous eaves provided much-needed shade. Large masonry squares are often employed to support porch roofs. Often, horizontal lines on the exterior of the buildings are prominent, evocative of native prairie landscapes. This is achieved by the use of alternating bands of materials, e.g., brick and concrete. Windows are often grouped in horizontal bands and feature art glass, which brings a play of colored light into the home. Inside some prairie bungalows, the space is divided by pocket doors, or sliding doors, which have beveled glass inserts. These can, for example, separate the living room and dining room. This way of allowing space to be used flexibly was a design feature inherited from the Victoria era.
Mission Style
Although this style emerged in the late 19th century, the name comes from the Spanish missions that came to California, Texas and Florida in the 1700s and the term "mission revival" is often used to acknowledge this. Adobe bricks or rough-cut stones are used to build the exterior of these modestly sized homes, typically of one story, with a small attic. The walls are then sometimes covered with a rough stucco finish. The roofs are typically covered in clay barrel tiles, which are semi-cylindrical. These are laid alternately in columns to show their convex and concave sides in Moorish fashion. Round arches feature prominently, taking their influence from mission cloisters. Interiors tend to be plain and functional, often with stucco walls and tiles or mosaics on the floors. In some mission-style bungalows, room dividers accommodate bookcases with leaded-glass detailing.
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