Product Description

Bungalow: The Ultimate Arts & Crafts Home is the definitive compilation of Arts & Crafts architecture, philosophy, and architectural details. Bungalow expert Jane Powell examines a variety of bungalows and Arts & Crafts homes across the U.S. and Canada, exploring and dissecting the best to come up with a book that defines the very nature of the bungalow itself.

From a sleeping porch to a claw footed tub, to hallmark uses of wood, stone, and tile, the insightful text is accompanied by Linda Svendsen's detailed and expressive photography.

With a brief history of the arts & crafts movement included, Powell's latest offering is the perfect gift for bungalow owners, Arts & Crafts enthusiasts, and those looking to restore old or build new. Go deeper into the world of Arts & Crafts, and see exactly what makes a great bungalow design-from interior design to colors, architectural elements to the littlest details.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59085 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From the Inside Flap
The term "Bungalow" is more than just a romantic term for a beautiful home. Bungalows were the first houses available to the masses that were truly modern. But there was more to bungalows than that.

The Arts & Crafts advocates believed that design could change people's lives. They believed that the design of objects mattered, they believed that the built environment mattered, and they believed that people living in these houses, having these objects, raising their children there, would result in a wholesome life, upstanding citizens, and a peaceful and prosperous country.

In Bungalow: An Ultimate Tour of Arts & Crafts Homes, the queen of bungalows, author Jane Powell, dissects one of the most endearing home styles and showcases eighty-five of the truest examples of the form across North America through the brilliant photography of Linda Svendsen.

Experience the beauty of the bungalow in this behind-the-front porch look at many homes never before photographed for any Arts & Crafts tour and discover the style and tradition of simplicity, informality, ease of construction, and affordability that will inspire homeowners to reach for higher levels of architectural form.

About the Author
Linda Svendsen, a graduate of Music and Art High School and Parsons School of Design in New York, has been a renowned photographer for more than thirty years. Her work is showcased in numerous magazines and books; she is the author of Bicycle: Around the World.


Jane Powell is the proprietor of House Dressing, a business dedicated to renovating and preserving old homes. She is a frequent lecturer and consultant, and is the author of Bungalow Kitchens, Bungalow Bathrooms, and Bungalow Details: Exterior.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Architecture isn't simple. Any given house represents the convergence of plan or type (how the house is arranged-types include four-square, I-house, shotgun, hall-and-parlor, etc.), time period (for instance, Victorian is a time period, not a type of house), and decorative style (the shape of the box and the stuff that's on it and in it-a house of the Victorian time period might be Italianate, Second Empire, or Queen Anne in style). Complicated enough for most things. But bungalows add a fourth dimension and that is philosophy. Although bungalows have an informal plan, are of a certain time period, and come in different styles (Craftsman, California, Japanesque, Swiss Chalet, Prairie, Rustic, and so forth), they are also based on a philosophy that is the foundation for how they were built and furnished, how people expected to live in them, and how the residents related to the larger society.

Customer Reviews

much more than just a coffee table book
This is my first contact with Powell/Svendsen's books, and while it is indeed coffee table size (it needs to be large to accommodate the beautiful photography)it is so charming and readable that, without so intending, I READ it (in one sitting, yet). We have several other books of gorgeous bungalows, many with the same houses as subjects, with accomanying commentary equivalent to dry stale cornflakes; this one is crumpets and cream. Like others documenting bungalow style architecture, this book is not intended as a construction or instruction manual, but as inspiration. For admirers of bungalow style and for those seeking a picture to replace the thousand words BUNGALOW is an easy choice.

A beautiful book
This book is lovely to look at with marvelous pictures. A great 'coffeetable book. My only complaint is that it is light on 'how to' information.