American Craftsman is an American domestic
architectural
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...
style, inspired by the
Arts and Crafts movement, which included
interior design,
landscape design,
applied arts, and
decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. Its immediate ancestors in American architecture are the
Shingle
Shingle may refer to:
Construction
*Roof shingles or wall shingles, including:
**Wood shingle
***Shake (shingle), a wooden shingle that is split from a bolt, with a more rustic appearance than a sawed shingle
***Quercus imbricaria, or shingle oak ...
style, which began the move away from Victorian ornamentation toward simpler forms; and the
Prairie style of
Frank Lloyd Wright. The name "Craftsman" was appropriated from furniture-maker
Gustav Stickley, whose magazine ''The Craftsman'' was first published in 1901. The architectural style was most widely used in small-to-medium-sized Southern California single-family homes from about 1905, so that the smaller-scale Craftsman style became known alternatively as "
California bungalow". The style remained popular into the 1930s, and has continued with revival and restoration projects through present times.
Influences
The American Craftsman style was a 20th century American offshoot of the British
Arts and Crafts movement,
which began as early as the 1860s.
A successor of other 19th century movements, such as the
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
and the
Aesthetic Movement
Aestheticism (also the Aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century which privileged the aesthetic value of literature, music and the arts over their socio-political functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be prod ...
,
the British Arts and Crafts movement was a reaction against the deteriorating quality of goods during the
Industrial Revolution, and the corresponding devaluation of human labor, over-dependence on machines, and disbanding of the
guild system
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
. Members of the Arts and Crafts movement also balked at Victorian eclecticism, which cluttered rooms with mismatched, faux-historic goods in an attempt to convey a sense of worldliness. The movement emphasized handwork over mass production, and was in some ways just as much of a social movement as it was an aesthetic one, emphasizing the plight of the industrial worker and equating moral rectitude with the ability to create beautiful but simple things. These social currents can especially be seen in the writings of
John Ruskin and
William Morris, both highly influential thinkers for the movement.
[Anderson, Anne (2004). "Arts and Crafts Movement". In Adams, James Eli (ed.) Encyclopedia of the Victorian Era, vol. 1. Danbury, CT: Grolier Academic Reference.] In addition, adherents sought to elevate the status of art forms that had here-to-for been seen as a mere trade and not fine art.
The American movement also reacted against the eclectic
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
"over-decorated" aesthetic; however, the arrival of the Arts and Crafts movement in late 19th century America coincided with the decline of the
Victorian era. While the American Arts and Crafts movement shared many of the same goals of the British movement, such as social reform, a return to traditional simplicity over gaudy historic styles, the use of local natural materials, and the elevation of handicraft, it was also able to innovate: unlike the British movement, which had never been very good at figuring out how to make handcrafted production scalable,
American Arts and Crafts designers were more adept at the business side of design and architecture, and were able to produce wares for a staunchly middle class market.
Gustav Stickley, in particular, hit a chord in the American populace with his goal of ennobling modest homes for a rapidly expanding American middle class, embodied in the Craftsman
Bungalow
A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas.
The first house in England that was classified as a b ...
style.
In architecture, reacting to both
Victorian architectural opulence and increasingly common mass-produced housing, the style incorporated a visibly sturdy structure of clean lines and natural materials. The movement's name American Craftsman came from the popular magazine, ''
The Craftsman
Craftsman may refer to:
A profession
*Artisan, a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative
*Master craftsman, an artisan who has achieved such a standard that he may establish his own workshop and take o ...
'', founded in October 1901 by philosopher, designer, furniture maker, and editor
Gustav Stickley. The magazine featured original house and furniture designs by
Harvey Ellis, the
Greene and Greene company, and others. The designs, while influenced by the ideals of the British movement, found inspiration in specifically American antecedents such as
Shaker furniture and the
Mission Revival Style
The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...
, and the
Anglo-Japanese style. Emphasis on the originality of the artist/craftsman led to the later design concepts of the 1930s
Art Deco movement. The architect and designer Frank Lloyd Wright, himself a member of the Chicago Arts and Crafts Society, was inspired by the style to become an innovator in the
Prairie School
Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in ...
of architecture and design,
which shared many common goals with the Arts and Crafts movement.
File:Gamble House.jpg, The Gamble House, an iconic American Arts and Crafts design by Greene & Greene in Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
I ...
(1908–1909).
File:Castle in the Clouds.jpg, Facade of the Castle in the Clouds
Castle in the Clouds (or ''Lucknow'') is a 16-room mansion and mountaintop estate in Moultonborough, New Hampshire, opened seasonally to the public by the Castle Preservation Society. It overlooks Lake Winnipesaukee and the Ossipee Mountains fr ...
and lawn overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, built 1913–1914.
File:Edward Schulmerich House 2008.JPG, The Edward Schulmerich House in Hillsboro, Oregon, completed in 1915.
File:Abernathy-Shaw House c.1908.jpg, The Abernathy-Shaw House in the Silk Stocking District of Talladega, Alabama. It was built in 1908.
File:F. E. Cottrell apartment building, exterior views, 2019 - DPLA - 34af09e1b7db4691997b09e364a9ea71 (page 3).jpg, F.E. Cottrell Apartment Building in the Old West End District (Toledo, Ohio), built 1914–1915.
The Boston Society of Arts and Crafts
The Arts and Crafts Movement first emerged in the United States in Boston in the 1890s. The area was very receptive to the ideas of the Arts and Crafts movement due to prominent thinkers like the transcendentalist
Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Harvard Art History professor
Charles Eliot Norton, who was a personal friend of British Art and Crafts leader
William Morris. The movement began with the first American Arts and Crafts Exhibition organized by the printer Henry Lewis Johnson in April 1897 at
Copley Hall,
featuring over 1,000 objects made by designers and craftspeople.
The exhibition's success led to the formation of the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts in June 1897 with
Charles Eliot Norton as president.
The society aimed to "develop and encourage higher standards in the handicrafts." The Society focused on the relationship of artists and designers to the world of commerce, and on high-quality workmanship.
The Society of Arts and Crafts mandate was soon expanded into a credo that read:
The society held its first exhibition in 1899 at Copley Hall.
Notable Craftsman designers

In Southern California, the Pasadena-based firm
Greene and Greene was the most renowned practitioner of the original American Craftsman Style. Their projects for
Ultimate bungalows include the
Gamble House and
Robert R. Blacker House
The Robert Roe Blacker House, often referred to as the Blacker House or Robert R. Blacker House, is a residence in Pasadena, California, United States, which is now on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1907 for Rober ...
in Pasadena, and the
Thorsen House in Berkeley, California—with numerous others in California. Other examples in the Los Angeles region include the Arts and Crafts
Lummis House by
Theodore Eisen
Theodore Eisen (July 10, 1852 - March 14, 1924) was an American architect. He designed many houses in Los Angeles, California.
Early life
Theodore Augustus Eisen was born on July 10, 1852 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father, Augustus Ferdinand Eisen ( ...
and
Sumner P. Hunt
Sumner P. Hunt (Brooklyn, NY, May 8, 1865 – Los Angeles, CA, November 19, 1938) was an architect in Los Angeles from 1888 to the 1930s. On January 21, 1892, he married Mary Hancock Chapman, January 21, 1892. They had a daughter Louise Hunt.
Li ...
, along the
Arroyo Seco in Highland Park, California and the Journey House, located in Pasadena.
In Northern California, architects renowned for their well planned and detailed projects in the Craftsman style include
Bernard Maybeck, with the
Swedenborgian Church, and
Julia Morgan, with the
Asilomar Conference Grounds and
Mills College projects. Many other designers and projects represent the style in the region.
In San Diego, California, the style was also popular. Architect
David Owen Dryden
David Owen Dryden (July 1, 1877 – June 4, 1946) was a renowned San Diego builder-architect best known for his craftsman-style bungalows in the suburbs north of San Diego's Balboa Park including the North Park, Mission Hills and University Hei ...
designed and built many Craftsman
California bungalows in the
North Park district, now a proposed
Dryden Historic District. The 1905
Marston House of
George Marston in
Balboa Park was designed by local architects
Irving Gill and William Hebbard.
In the early 1900s, developer Herberg J. Hapgood built numbers of Craftsman-style homes, many from
stucco
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
, that comprise the lakeside borough of
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey. Residents were called "Lakers." The homes followed signature styles, including bungalows and chalets. Hapgood eventually went bankrupt.
The
Castle in the Clouds
Castle in the Clouds (or ''Lucknow'') is a 16-room mansion and mountaintop estate in Moultonborough, New Hampshire, opened seasonally to the public by the Castle Preservation Society. It overlooks Lake Winnipesaukee and the Ossipee Mountains fr ...
, a mountaintop estate built in the
Ossipee Mountains
The Ossipee Mountains are a small mountain range in the New England state of New Hampshire, United States. The remains of an ancient volcanic ring dike,Hall, Anthony, ''Igneous Petrology,'' Longman, 1987 p.75 - 76 they lie north of Lake Winnipesa ...
of New Hampshire in 1913–1914 for
Thomas Gustave Plant Thomas Gustave Plant (1859–1941) was born in Bath, ME, the son of French-Canadian immigrants, who made his fortune manufacturing shoes under the Queen Quality Shoes label. His largest shoe factory, the Thomas G. Plant Shoe Factory (1896-1976) ...
by architect
J. Williams Beal
John Williams Beal (May 9, 1855 - July 7, 1919) was an architect in Boston, Massachusetts.
Biography
He was born on 19 May 1855 in Scituate, Massachusetts, to John Beal and Lucy Ann Beal.
He married Mary Washburn.
He trained at Massachusetts In ...
, is an example of the American Craftsman style in New England.
Common architectural features
* Low-pitched roof lines, usually a
gabled roof, occasionally a
hip roof
* Deeply
overhanging
eaves
The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...
* Exposed rafters or decorative
brackets under eaves
* Wide front porch beneath extension of main roof or front-facing gable
* Tapered, square columns supporting porch roof
* 4-over-1 or 6-over-1
double-hung windows
*
Shingle roofs and siding;
* Hand-crafted stone and/or woodwork
* Mixed materials throughout structure
"Erehwon Retreat"
Retrieved 24 September 2020
See also
* American Foursquare
The American Foursquare or American Four Square is an American house style popular from the mid-1890s to the late 1930s. A reaction to the ornate and mass-produced elements of the Victorian architecture, Victorian and other Revival styles popul ...
* Bungalow
A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas.
The first house in England that was classified as a b ...
* California bungalow
* Mar del Plata style
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Craftsman Perspective
��Site devoted to Arts and Crafts architecture, featuring over 220 house photos, including Craftsman and Mission styles
''American Bungalow Magazine''
��dedicated to discuss remodeling, restoring, furnishing, and living in different types of Bungalow style homes including Craftsman.
*
Craftsman Magazine
'—Every issue of Gustav Stickley's magazine digitized on the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections website.
{{Authority control
20th-century architectural styles
American architectural styles
Arts and Crafts architecture in the United States
Arts and Crafts movement
Decorative arts
History of furniture
House styles