Arts & Crafts #1

This house design, in truth, doesn't have very many characteristics of the Arts & Crafts style. The exterior is too plain, lacking corbels, exposed roof beams, and the like. What's a corbel?

This is a corbel. Lesson over. However, many aspects of this floor plan remind me of houses in my old neighborhood.

The front, right side

the front, left side

Some things worth noting:

• This house design would be suitable as a duplex. Two houses (one a mirror image of this plan) could be easily placed side-to-side.
• The master bath is arranged in somewhat of a "railway car" layout. All the appliances are along the one wall, with a closet lining the opposite wall. See the image, below, to see that this arrangement works.
• Though the master bedroom is entered via the "bathroom" (sort of), the "room" where the sinks are is carpeted, and separated from the bathroom proper, via a door.
• There are built-in cabinets (familiar?) in the dining room. I tend to think there should be a well-defined place to store dishes, serving pieces, etc. The wide counter, as well, makes a good place for serving buffet-style.
• The garage doors face the back. In the neighborhood of my childhood (of 1930's and 40's houses), all the streets were served from behind by alleyways.
• Yes, there is a laundry chute, too. And it wouldn't be worth much if it didn't also provide access from the second floor.

On the second floor plan (below), you might want to note the following:

• The entrance foyer is open to the upstairs, and a plant ledge fronts the railing in the hallway.
• The back bedroom is suitable for guests or use as a mother-in-law suite.
• The bonus room over the garage is optional. If eliminated, there would be no need for the dormer or the outside stairs. To me, this evokes older designs (that originally predated the advent of the automobile) where the garage was not attached to the house. Many of these added-on garages provided attic storage, etc., on the second floor.

First, some exterior images. This is the front porch, showing the front door and the windows in the living room.

This is the deck, in back, and the stairs up to the bonus room over the garage..

This is the usual view from just inside the front door. Note the 2-story open entrance foyer.

This is looking upward to show the railing and plant ledge.

The hallway, and the door into the master bedroom "suite".

This is looking into the master bath. I opened the doors so you could see the bath. The checkerboard tile seemed appropriate, if my memory serves. No, you simply cannot get woodwork like this in today's houses. It's expensive, and require a certain level of craftsmanship that is (sadly to say) generally lacking.

This looks back toward the hallway, from inside the master bath.

Here are the vanities. It's a rather small area, but I do like the coziness. Yes, it reminds me of design ideas of a prior "era".

The master bedroom. And its window.

Looking back toward the bath, still in the master bedroom.

This looks into the kitchen (obviously) from the hall. For some reason, there is a problem with this particular shade of green and the programs that produced these images. At least it seems more noticeable.

The kitchen, looking toward the dining room.

This is the dining room, and the large built-in cabinets along the outer wall. That's a door on the left that opens onto the deck.

Final view of the kitchen, from just inside the sliding glass doors.

This is the hallway looking toward the front door.

This looks up the stairs. Yes, this view is very reminiscent of older houses. And that's what I was trying to achieve.

The upstairs hallway, showing the bullet window over the front entrance.