One of the finest Arts&Crafts style bungalows. Meticulously restored with quality workmanship. Old world front porch, spacious rooms w/ open floor plan, hardwood floors, fab kitchen with Viking Stove and large eating area, (3)three full baths( updated), library AND large family room. Stunning oak woodwork Family room could be 1st floor Master Suite.

About 8 years ago, when I was looking for a place to live, I read ads just like this and asked myself, “What is a bungalow, anyway?” I knew what a ranch was and a colonial, but a bungalow? Curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to do a little digging. Although entire books and countless articles have been written about the subject, here’s a brief discussion about bungalows.

The word itself is an adaptation of an Indian word and describes a sort of hut found in a region of India. In the U.S., bungalows appeared around the beginning of the 20th century, generally as small homes or cottages. They became the most popular architectural style of the Arts and Crafts Movement in America, which was at its peak during this time.

Bungalows were considered very modern in their day. They shook off the fussiness of their Victorian predecessors with clean lines, open floor plans, built-in furniture and minimal ornamentation. They featured “sanitary bathrooms” and efficient kitchens.

Bungalows can differ widely in appearance, with California, Craftsman, Spanish, Japanese, and Swiss adaptations to name a few. Most of the homes in Michigan are closer to the Craftsman style shown in the ad than the other styles which are more common on the west coast.

Here are some of the design elements typical of the style:

• Single story or 1 1/2 stories with two bedrooms and a bathroom on the ground floor.
• Front door opens directly into the living room (no entrance hallway), where there is often a prominent fireplace.
• Front porch extends across the front of the house with overhanging roof.
• Natural materials such as wood and stone.
• Lots of windows, often grouped or in horizontal bands.
• Roof very visible from the street. In warmer climates, the roof is often low-pitched with overhanging eaves. In the Midwest, where there’s lots of snow, the roofs are often steeper.
• Dormers.
• Ornamentation as part of the structure, such as substantial pillars often of stone or brick, brackets and exposed roof rafters.
• Built-in cupboards, benches, china cabinets, bookcases, etc., often ornamented with stained glass designs.

As I learned more about the style, I realized that bungalows were everywhere. There were certainly a lot of them in the town where I grew up (Wyandotte, Michigan). Most were modest, cozy homes. Many were sold as kits from Bay City, Michigan companies like Aladdin Homes and Sterling Homes (oh yes, they were also sold by those Chicago retailers, Sears and Montgomery Ward), although there are examples of high-art bungalows by prominent architects as well.

Look around you. Unless you live in a modern subdivision, chances are you’ll find a bungalow or two in your neighborhood. And if you want more information about the style and the Arts and Crafts Movement in general, check out the other articles and the Resources section on our website. But be careful, it’s addictive! I should know -- the bungalow at the bottom of the page is the one I finally found for myself.