An Introduction to TheCraftsmanBungalow.com
Hello ArtsAndCraftsCollector.com! I want to welcome you to my website The Craftsman Bungalow! My goal for my site is for it to become a resource for people who love old homes – and more specifically – Arts and Crafts, Craftsman, and Bungalow home enthusiasts. I started this project with very little knowledge of how websites are actually designed, so you may notice some things change from time to time, and I’ll make plenty of mistakes as the site grows, but please bear with me as I stumble my way through this process. Hopefully along the way, I’ll learn some things, you’ll learn some things, and knowledge, experience, and inspiration about restoring old homes will be shared and gained.
I started The Craftsman Bungalow in 2011 to chronicle the restoration of the house that my wife and I are currently restoring – a 1917 craftsman bungalow in the Laurelhurst neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Whenever I ran out of material to write about my own home, I started documenting other historic restorations and landmark homes of the early 20th century, from the perspective of an Arts and Crafts, Craftsman and Bungalow home enthusiast.
When I packed up my car and headed West to Portland, Oregon in November of 2000, I had no idea how that decision would impact the rest of my life. Like our pioneering forefathers who took a similar leap of faith – I didn’t know what I’d encounter, who I’d meet, or if I’d ever return to the East Coast.
At the time, my job required a lot of traveling, and I had just started traveling regularly to Asia – as well as other parts of the Pacific Rim, Africa and Europe – which exposed me to a tremendous amount of architecture that I’d never seen before. I’d always had a keen interest in architecture, and as a boy even aspired to become an architect, but ultimately chose an engineering path. However, I always maintained an appreciation of architecture in my heart.
I was also in the process of seeking to purchase my first home, and had been looking at different style homes all over Portland, some of which were bungalows. After being exposed to what a properly restored, period authentic bungalow really looked like in the pages of American Bungalow, my mind was made up on what style of home I was going to buy – there was no doubt it was going to be a bungalow.
From that day forward, I’ve been a fervent Arts and Crafts devotee. I did go on to purchase and restore my first bungalow and my wife and I have since purchased our second bungalow, which we’re currently restoring. American Bungalow has been an integral part of that process, and we continue to draw inspiration from its pages every step of the way.
As a starting point, TheCraftsmanBungalow.com will be chronicling the house (pictured above) that my wife and I are currently restoring – a 1917 Craftsman Bungalow in the Laurelhurst neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. I’ll also be recounting some of the restoration projects we completed at our previous home. We’re now four years into the project and while we’ve been able to accomplish a lot so far (mostly the easy stuff), there are plenty of projects that are on-going, and many many more that have yet to be undertaken.
I’ll also be featuring content about other historic landmark homes, in Portland and beyond, as well as links to other things that I find interesting or amusing. As you read the site, please check back often as new content will be added regularly. And please, feel free to leave a comment, and let me know about your old bungalow or a project you’re currently working on.
Again, thanks for visiting and I look forward to hearing from you!
-Dave from The Craftsman Bungalow
