Craftsman Bungalows

When I started in Real Estate, I always thought I wanted a newish built house because I was always afraid of older homes with their "problems". Needless to say, when we were searching for our first home, I was captivated by the Bungalow charm - especially in the historic neighborhoods. We began our search for homes with character, typically older homes that have been fully renovated. We ended up finding one that was beyond perfect - it was the perfect size, the renovations were fantastic, new windows, new almost everything without losing the charm and character we wanted. I had even said at one point that I wanted a yellow house on Poplar St. We waited long enough and a listing came up that didn't even fall in our radar, because we were looking for a house that was at least 1200sqft, and this one came in a little under - so we never even saw the listing online. However, the house was listed on the day we saw the sign (Sat) and the earliest appointment was on Monday. So we went there to see this "doll house" that the realtor describe, at this point we lost all hope of finding the house we want anyway, and I was ready to just "settle" for a house, any house.

When someone tells me, "Oh, it's such a Doll House! You will just love it!" I literally think of "Dolls" everywhere. That may be partially from my lack of "abstract thinking," but I generally think of pink walls, glass encased porcelain dolls with the horrific facial expressions that I had nightmares about as a kid, country wooden doll benches with a heart cut out, off-white doilies everywhere, framed pictures of dolls, big nasty pink afghan thrown neatly over a 1970's brown sofa, and last but not least dusty fake foliage draped down the coffee table, book cases, dining table, and various other accent tables.

Although we loved this Poplar St house, it wasn't quite a bungalow - the style said Ranch on the listing. When we sold it, we searched all over town for a Bungalow and after 6 weeks - 6 days before we closed on our Poplar St house, we found one through a guy who also happens to be a Real Estate Agent who needed to get rid of this Bungalow with "ugly wood siding". We were only looking to rent, and he offered us a reduced rent if we helped fix up the house - I thought this was a ridiculous idea because the house need work in every single room, and almost every single thing needed to be done. We asked him if he would be interested in selling it and he said, "yes" reluctantly, however he explained how he didn't have the time to renovate it and that the home would be better off if someone was interested in bringing it up to date. Of course, I chimed in and asked for a price. Mind you, this guy owned this house for about a year and eight months - he did nothing to the house. It sat empty for over two years without running water. He bought it for $64,000 from a guy who had dementia and had to sell to go to a nursing home. He wasn't going to let it go for nothing - so we had this "offer" in mind, that he can make some money off the house, but he can't try to sell us this diamond in the rough for twice the price he paid for it. We had a threshold to offset how much money we would have to put into it. After a pause, and some consideration, he started exactly the amount that I would have offered if he had me make an offer.

So it all worked out, we got the house for the price we wanted, about $56 a squarefeet, and we'll bring the home up to $110 a squarefeet when we resell.

I started looking up some Craftsman Bungalow styles, because we are really into older antique homes - and I came across some really good information from http://www.antiquehomestyle.com/styles/bungalow.htm.

Bungalow Characteristics

• Usually 1 – 1 1/2 stories usually (occasionally 2-story)
• Low pitched roof
• Entry typically opens directly into living room
• Often has a large front porch that creates an outdoor room
• Easy access to outdoor spaces like verandas, porches, and patios
• Open floor plan maximized for efficiency and flow from room to room with minimal space wasted on hallways
• Often small with reliance on built-ins for organization
• Siding varies. Stucco is the siding of choice for many California-style Craftsman bungalows. Western-style are typically more rustic with shingle or lapped siding, and Chicago-style bungalows are frequently brick.

What is a bungalow?
Bungalow style means different things to different people and is therefore not a particularly precise term. It generally connotes a Craftsman-style house, and is widely used by most people that way.
Blurring the definition are some who describe any small house built from 1900 to about 1950 as a bungalow. They may call them Spanish or English bungalows regardless of whether or not they have any true bungalow characteristics.

Some of these pictures are Modern Bungalows.