Updating Classic America: Bungalows

Bungalows are back! And whether you're remodeling, renovating, or simply researching, you'll find all you need to know on the subject in Bungalows, the first title in Taunton's new Updating Classic America series. Bungalows provides a history and overview, along with proven, tasteful design solutions for a variety of bungalow-style remodels, additions, renovations, and new construction. Respected architects and bungalow owners Louis Wasserman and Caren Connolly will inspire you to put down the coffee table books and get to work on your own home. Bungalows contains a wealth of successful design ideas for updating vintage homes and creating well crafted contemporary bungalows.

In this book you'll discover:

• more than 20 bungalows from around the country
• a history and overview of the form as well as an extensive resource list to architects, designers, and materials
• before-and-after floor plans
• options for a wide variety of budgets, styles, and sizes of homes

"The appeal of the bungalow today is the same as it was one hundred years ago. From the exterior, the owners appreciate the sense of solidness, security, and connection to the street. On the interior, the warmth of details, quality of finishes, and clarity of the room arrangement delight both homeowners and their guests."

--from Bungalows

About the authors
Louis Wasserman is an architect and Caren Connolly is a landscape architect whose work, including research funded by the National Endowment of the Arts, has been nationally recognized. They have taught art, architecture, and landscape architecture nationwide. They live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Introduction

1. Bungalows Are Back
An Ideal Home for America
Bungalow Hallmarks
Birth of the Bungalow
Bungalow Options
From Duplex to Deluxe
Continuing the Tradition

2. Remodeling Inside the Walls
Rescuing a Home
Secreted Square Feet
From a Frog to a Prince
A Starter Becomes an "Ender"
Updated and Upsized
Including the Kitchen Sink

3. Beyond the Walls
Why Add On?
Why Not Add On?
A Home with a Hearth
Living Better Eclectically
Restoring Warmth
Third Time Is the Charm
You Don't Have to Leave
What Were They Thinking?

4. Brand-New Bungalows
Why Build New?
Choose Your Strategy
Coming Up with a Plan
A Woodsy Bungalow
Northwest Prairie
Traditional Lines, Modern Materials
In the Newport Tradition
Historic Housing

5. The Once and Future Bungalow
Innovation in the Kitchen
Whimsy in the Bathroom
Drama in the Attic
With One Foot in the Past, Bungalows Gallop into the Future

Sources

Index

When we first told friends, family, and other architects that we were writing a book about Bungalows, the typical response was formed by their geographic location. "Oh! Berkeley Bungalows!" Or, "I just love the Chicago Bungalow." Everyone seemed to think that the Bungalow was a housing style particular (and dear) to their own region. When we went on to explain that our book would profile Bungalows all over the country, including new Bungalows, they were surprised. Surprised and a little perplexed. "What exactly is a Bungalow?" was the next (and immediate) question.

A ubiquitous housing type, Bungalows are accepted more as a backdrop to the residential landscape than they are understood as an architectural style. We hope the examples in the following chapters will show that the beauty of the Bungalow style is that it is a universal housing type as well as a vernacular architecture, responsive to its site and context.

We moved to Milwaukee after many years of bouncing back and forth between the two coasts. Growing up, Louis lived in a beautifully detailed and compact modern house, designed by his architect father. From an early age he appreciated excellent craftsmanship, respect for materials, and deep community roots. Caren's experience as an "Army brat" was much different. Her housing experiences varied from living in converted barracks in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and a cottage in Carmel, California, to a villa in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

But we both knew what we wanted for our first home. We wanted a Bungalow.

Louis appreciated the attention to detail and the flexibility of the plan. As an architect, he knew that he could knock out a few walls and not lose the integrity of the Bungalow style. Caren appreciated the Bungalow neighborhoods, with their sense of place. The Realtor appreciated that she had two people who wanted to look at the 50 Bungalows listed with her agency. As is the case with many Bungalow families, we moved in, refinished the floors, remodeled the bathroom, added a bath, and contemplated moving. Somehow, like many Bungalow families, we have never gotten around to making that move.

Low to the ground and centered, Bungalows tend to weather fashion trends better than other housing types. Never known as status symbols, they are quiet, comfortable, delightful, and enduring. They grow on you and change with you. We really enjoyed telling the stories of the owners of the Bungalows in this book, and we look forward to inspiring people to explore all the opportunities Bungalows offer for creating a house that celebrates individual families while being a wonderful neighbor.