So...it's sinking in that I am actually going to own and renovate the kind of house I have always loved best. It's not a heavy-duty Craftsman house--it's a more workaday home with basic Craftsman elements, but still!
I grew up literally surrounded by Craftsman homes. While my own family home was a simple stucco with just a few key Craftsman characteristics, all the houses around us were marked in their Craftsman elements. Directly across the street were a lovely, simple one-story stucco cottage with a beautiful cozy side porch, a rambling two-story classic Berkeley brownshingle, and a third house that had too many trees in front of it for me to recall its style clearly, but I think it would be called an Italianate Craftsman. Next door to us was another brown shingle on the left, and on the right was an architectural treasure--a high Tudor revival in spectacular condition, on stunning grounds, with its living room built directly over a rambling creek. It was designed by the architect John Hudson Thomas, Google tells me. People walking in the neighborhood would regularly wander into our driveway to get a better look, it was so beautiful.
There were hardly any craftsman homes in Austin (and none in neighborhoods I could afford) and there are likewise few here in Charlottesville. Both of these cities were very small during the first part of the twentieth century, and were built up well after the Craftsman era ended. Charlottesville is peppered heavily with small, red brick 1950s ranch houses and 1960s brick duplexes, but my new street is almost all Craftsman style. How could I have gotten so lucky?
Many years ago I abandoned the idea that I would ever live in a craftsman of my own. When I was in my twenties the Arts and Crafts movement suddenly became all the rage, and the houses became extremely desirable and expensive. Non-Craftsman houses were being hideously remodeled to LOOK like Craftsman homes. When WalMart began selling craftsman-style light fixtures, I decided it was all over, and that I had to move on.
But no more! After decades of letting my books on Arts and Crafts architecture molder on the shelves, I can't believe I get to pull them all out and think about paint schemes and other finishes. I am NOT a purist, and this house is so simple that I don't think there are elements that require restoration or extensive reconstruction, though if I'm lucky enough to find the original house plans, I would love to return any features that have disappeared over the decade. The interior will be very eclectic in style, but when the time comes to paint the exterior, I am really looking forward to selecting some rich, warm colors that will make it feel homey in more ways than one--a little bit of Berkeley here in Charlottesville.
