View photos and measured drawings of floor plans, exterior elevations and construction details.

 

 

Bungalow Designs from the Historic American Building Survey 

 

Inspired by designs published by Gustav Stickley's magazine The Craftsman, Americans fell in love with bungalows in the early 1900s. Before World War II, thousands were built in all parts of the US and Canada.

 

According to the Library of Congress, typical design features include:

• a low profile of one or one-and-a-half stories
• a low-pitched roof which has widely overhanging gables or eaves with decorative braces
• the gables often form a porch with square columns or heavy battered piers, so the porch is included under the same low, overhanging roof as the main house
• the presence of built-in cabinets, shelves, and seating
• the emphasis on the natural quality of materials such as wood

The Library of Congress list of bungalow designs, shown in photos and measured drawings, includes forty homes in twelve different states.  Although most of the designs are classic American bungalows that include most of the features mentioned above, some are quite different. Samples of adobe, Mission Style and vernacular cottages show how bungalow features were included in many home styles.

Check out the extensive bibliography for sources of reprints of Bungalow and Craftsman style home plan and home kit catalogs, and for interesting websites that focus on American bungalows.

The Historic American Building Survey is a joint effort of the Library of Congress and the National Park Service. Read more about their efforts to preserve America's heritage by visiting their website: Built in America  To learn more about any of the designs listed here, search for it by its card number. Then, explore the vast and ever-growing HABS collection to view related building designs.