Characteristics of Arts and Crafts Homes

What Defines an Arts and Crafts Home's Style?

Most home styles offer a distinctive characteristic that defines the style, like the gable dormers of a Cape Cod home or the one-story living that a ranch offers. Other home styles are harder to pick out, like an Arts and Crafts style home.

The Arts and Crafts style draws characteristics from several different architectural aesthetics. In fact, Arts and Crafts isn't exactly a single style, but rather a specific approach to many different types of architecture.

For many lovers of old-homes, Arts and Crafts are one of the most confusing styles. What does a typical Arts and Crafts style home look like? Does it resemble a Craftsman bungalow or a Foursquare with bracketed eaves? Or is it more reminiscent of a quaint cottage or an architect-designed Prairie house?

The short answer... Yes!

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The truth is, Arts and Crafts isn't so much a single style as it is a philosophy or intellectual approach to architecture and design. In this post, we're going to take a look at the history of the Arts and Crafts home and some of the distinguishing characteristics you'll find in all Arts and Crafts houses.

The History of The Arts and Crafts Movement

this new home is a modern interpretation of the classic arts & crafts style.

The Arts and Crafts movement began as a reaction to the ornate style of the Victorian age. The style originated in England in the mid-19th century and first came to America around the beginning of the 20th century. Arts and Crafts-style homes embraced handcrafted design and approachable, natural materials.

The term “Arts and Crafts” encompasses much more than an architectural style. The Arts and Crafts movement was a much broader social movement that embraced architecture and interior design, fine art, textiles, and much more.

This movement was born as a reaction to the often needless opulence of the Industrial Revolution. Arts and Crafts focused on the opposite aesthetic. Instead of mass-produced, uninspired design, the movement was all about the handcrafted and personal approach. The idea being that quality trumped quantity, and good design and good taste would prevail.

The Arts and Crafts movement is connected to the rise of the Craftsman and Bungalow style homes, which featured architecture that embraced the same mentality of simple but thoughtful and well-built homes. The Bungalow was designed to give the working class access to owning a well-designed home that was easy to maintain and manage.

Americans embraced the movement as they sought a simpler but aesthetically richer life. However, Americans at the turn of the last century were not ready to give up mass production. While this was the case, promoters of the Arts and Crafts movement like architect Frank Lloyd Wright and the furniture-maker and publisher Gustav Stickley embraced mass-production of Arts and Crafts style furniture. Stickley's hugely popular magazine “The Craftsman” encouraged readers to embrace the style by building, furnishing, and decorating their homes using the Arts and Crafts principles.

Arts and Crafts architecture was actually a subset of the movement. It was so closely tied to interior design that the furniture and fittings of a house, even more than its appearance, determine its place in the movement. Simple but sophisticated design and master craftsmanship were the cornerstones of the Arts and Crafts style.

The Key Characteristics of the Arts and Crafts Style Home

this 1920’s craftsman bungalow presents many elements of an arts and crafts home.

While it can be difficult to pick out an Arts and Crafts style home, there are several key elements that they almost all share.

• The Roof: The typical roofline of this style is low-pitched, with wide, enclosed eave overhangs.

• Exposed Beams: The roof rafters and beams inside the home are often exposed.

• Build-Ins: One key element of the design style is the use of built-in furniture like bookcases, room dividers, window sears, and china cabinets that felt like custom additions and fit into the home design perfectly.

• Windows: The Arts and Crafts style home typically is made up of windows with smaller panes set in multiple assemblies.

• Fireplace: The typical Arts and Crafts home will have a very large fireplace centered in the open living space and serves as a major focal point for the room.

• Prominent Porches: Most homes in this style feature an obvious porch equipped with prominent columns. The porch is typically located on the front of the home but will sometimes wrap around the house.

Along with these commonly-shared features, because the Arts and Crafts house encourage an informal lifestyle, unlike the Victorian home with its formal parlors, most shared some aesthetic features, like the “original” open floor plan. They also featured natural materials prominently in their construction and design, including natural stone, brick, exposed woodwork, and exotic wood species.

Many homes in this style feature airy, light-filled rooms that encourage interaction with the outdoors and indoor/outdoor living space. Because Arts and Crafts is a design philosophy, many homeowners choose to decorate with a tasteful arrangement of a few well-designed, well-made, decorative, and useful objects.

The Arts and Crafts movement is represented by homes all across America, and it inspired many design styles in every region of the country. Because the main philosophy behind the movement is that of handcrafted simplicity, Arts and Crafts homes rarely go out of style, even as design trends have evolved and changed throughout the years!

While Arts and Crafts design lost favor after World War I, the ideas behind the style – well-made, handcrafted design – remained important since the 19th century and remain so today.

If you live in the greater Madison, Wisconsin area and are considering updating or remodeling your Arts and Crafts style home, give the award-winning design team at Degnan Design-Build-Remodel a call at (608) 846-5963. We're always happy to answer your questions. We're always ready to help you make the right choices to meet your needs and fit your budget. Call today for a free no-obligation consultation to discuss your project.

This article was updated by Abe Degnan on 8/23/2022.

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We recently completed an addition for our clients, John and Amy, a professional couple with young children living in the Blooming Meadows neighborhood in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

Their home featured three bedrooms on the second floor. The existing master bedroom was outdated and impractical for modern living, and with three young children, two needed to share one of the two remaining bedrooms, and all three kids shared the second-floor bathroom. Another problem the family needed addressed was that John needed a private home office, and the one they currently had was a shared space that did not work well for his job.

Let's take a look at our creative solution for this young family!

A New Private Bathroom for the Adults!

One of the major elements on John and Amy's wish list was a private bathroom space just for them. They wanted plenty of space to get ready in the morning, away from the kids, and we delivered! The bathroom features a handcrafted Amish custom double vanity with a tower cabinet in alder wood, stained Carbon Gray. The contrasting Linnstone Quartz Calcutta pattern countertop brightens the space and ties in visually with the elegant tile work in the spacious walk-in shower. We added custom alder wood framed mirrors stained in the same Carbon Gray as the cabinets to complete the vanity. Over each of the mirrors, we installed Quoizel 2 light vanity fixtures to provide plenty of warm light.

In the shower, the 21st Century Tile 12x24 floor-to-ceiling tiles in Tivoli Silver give the room a bright and modern feel, and the low entry shower makes entering the shower safe and easy for the couple. We included a helpful niche in the shower for shampoo and other toiletries and, for contrast, used a beautiful hexagon mosaic accent tile. The glass doors give the space an open feel, making it bright and inviting. The Arbor Hills luxury vinyl plank flooring in timber adds a warm feel, giving the room a natural look with the benefit of waterproof LVP.

The Result

The final result of this second-floor master suite addition is a home that fits John, Amy, and the kid's needs and lifestyle perfectly. John now has the perfect private office space. Since John and Amy now have their private master suite, and each of the kids has their own bedroom giving them their own space to grow as they grow, their home is more comfortable and functional. And on the exterior, you can't even tell there's been an addition!

Are you considering an addition or other home improvement project? Let us help you design the perfect finished space! If you live in the Greater Madison area, call the experts at Degnan Design-Build-Remodel at (608) 846-5963. We can take your home to the next level of comfort, design, and function! Ready to learn more? We're always happy to answer your questions.