What is Bungalow? When you see a cozy one storied dwelling, with low-pitched roof and very wide eaves, lots of windows and an outside chimney of cobble or clinker-brick half hidden by clinging vines -- that is a bungalow, whatever other houses may be.
Today's bungalows continue a living, eclectic design tradition. Wall sconces, art glass and stenciled decoration highlight the original beauty of architectural features like wainscoting, box-beam ceilings, and wide wood moldings around the fireplace.
The palette is muted: quiet greens, creams and mustard enhance natural wood, stone, terra cotta and brick. Natural light and the treatment of the garden as an "exterior room" link indoor and outdoor space. Craft is made visible in mortise-and-tenon furniture, hand-hammered copper fixtures, built-in benches and bookcases.
Here are the description of the design:
- Walls: wainscoting, stenciling, muted cream, yellow, sage. Fieldstone, brick.
- Ceilings: beams, log accents.
- Floors: wood, tile or stone.
- Cabinets: built-in shelves or hutches; details like mullioned doors, beveled glass. (Bungalows in California tend to use redwood, while Midwestern and east coast Craftsman houses use more oak.)
- Fireplace: stone or brick with wide wood molding on the sides, a mantel above, a beveled glass mirror. Decorative tile around the edges. An over mantel rustic landscape or scenic tiles.
- Furniture: built-in benches, breakfast nooks. Mahogany with mortise-and-tenon and peg construction, inlaid tiles, green marble.
- Lighting: Craftsman lights on either side of mantel. Prairie style lamps with leaded glass panels, brass base. Simple hanging globe fixtures in inglenook. Hand-hammered copper candlesticks.
- Windows: Lots of windows for natural light; many-paned windows, particularly large lower panes and small upper panes; stained glass with Arts and Crafts designs.