Definition & Description of Craftsman Cottages

General Description

• The Craftsman style, a reaction to the ornate Victorian style that preceded it, stressed simplicity and traditional materials. Gustav Stickley, one of the major proponents of the new style, believed that a craftsman cottage represented "a house reduced to its simplest form." Craftsman houses emphasize functionality and naturalness. The low, broad form of the cottages helps them blend into their surroundings. Wood, stone and stucco were the favored building materials.

Porches

• The typical Craftsman cottage presents a prominent front porch that extends the full width of the house in many examples. Porches covering about half the width of the house often appear as well. A hallmark of craftsman cottages, stone pedestals holding up the porch columns give the homes a natural look and a feeling of substance. The pedestals also come in brick and wood. Wood and stucco columns above the pedestals show up frequently as well.

Roof

• The typical Craftsman roof, low pitched and gabled, has open, overhanging eaves. Non-structural beams were sometimes added beneath the gables. Hipped roofs appear as well, but more rarely than gable roofs. The cottage might have its gables on the front or on the sides. Gabled dormers on the roof also appear often. Exposed roof rafters were common, another hallmark of the Craftsman style.

Siding

• Craftsman cottages typically have wood siding. Clapboards, where the wooden boards are thicker on one end than the other and the thicker part of one board overlaps the thin part of the next board, can be found on many Craftsman cottages. Other prominent sidings include drop siding, characterized by using the tongue and groove method to join the boards together, and wood shingles, in which small tapered sections of wood form an attractive pattern.

Front

• Another key feature of a Craftsman cottage is the prominent wooden door, which often has a decorative crown to further emphasize the entryway to the home. Doors with recessed panels also add a decorative touch to the entrance. Many Craftsman doors incorporate glass into the design, giving a touch of lightness to the heavy look of the wood.