Another nice craftsman

Another great craftsman. Nice color, nice windows, nice front porch, nice fence. Nice job.

Almost...

What happened? This could be a great craftsman, but that front window just doesn't work. Oh, so close to greatness...

Sold!

A "for sale" sign went up on this house, and was followed just days later by a "sold" sign. I can see why - it's a real charmer. It's got all the craftsman touches: the low pitched roof with great brackets supporting it, a nice front porch with a lovely railing and shake detail above, absolutely terrific windows that (gasp) aren't white vinyl, a nicely maintained yard, and a really nice front door.

I have a designer friend who tells me that houses should all be painted three colors (two is bland, and four looks too busy), and this house does that. Note the sage green body, the creamy trim, and the dark window color. If it was me, the only thing I might consider would be to paint the railings to match the trim, and paint the door to match the windows.

Nice. Very nice.

Another nice craftsman

Another really nice craftsman. This one has clapboard siding, which is somewhat unusual. The house retains the brackets to support the main (and porch) roofs. The roof is hipped in front, and I love that cool little arch on the front porch. The windows have been replaced, and I suspect that the two windows on either side of the front door are new.

Like I said about the last house I discussed, the replacement windows are at least the right size and shape, but I suspect the original paned windows had mullions (those little pieces of wood or lead that divide the window into different panes). So these windows are much more bland than the originals.

Nice house!

Another Craftsman

Not much to say about this. You can see the original style, so the house still retains much of its charm. The windows have been replaced with new ones that keep the original shape, if not the panes. The nice front porch has those nifty craftsman support brackets, and if you look closely,, you can see them on the left side of the house as well. The front deck added to the left of the original porch doesn't detract too much from the original style.

I would have done three things differently:

1. I'd have replaced the original windows with some that were closer in style to the originals, or at least wood-clad on the outside so they could be some color other than white.
2. I'd have painted the trim a different color. Maybe white, to disguise the windows?
3. I'd have put one of those neat old-style wooden screen doors on, instead of that ugly white one.

The craftsman

OK, time to move on to the another fairly common style in West Seattle.

The style is usually called "Craftsman", but is also sometimes called "cottage" or "bungalow" (especially for smaller houses). It's my favorite style, and I've been looking forward to this for a while now.

The craftsman celebrates the structure of the house and is characterized by a fairly low-pitched gabled roof (occasionally hipped), with wide unenclosed eave openings. The roof rafters are often exposed, as they are below - you can see them on the front edge of the front porch and over the windows. There are often decorative beams or braces under the gables. There are always front porches (full or partial width) with the roof normally supported by square columns. The columns or column bases frequently (but not always) continue to ground level, without a break at the level of the porch floor.  The siding is usually wood (shakes, as in the house below), but clapboard siding and stucco are occasionally seen as well. The windows are often fairly narrow, paned windows - sometimes even leaded glass.

The house below is a nice example. Note the shake siding, the low-pitched side-gable roof, the exposed rafters on the porch and under the eaves, the decorative braces on the front porch. It aslo has narrow, paned windows. The exception here is that the columns that support the front porch don't continue all the way to ground level.

Perfect Craftsman

Mrs. E tells me that I'm sometimes overly critical in here, so here's a house that I can find nothing wrong with.

I love this house. I love the Craftsman style. I love the paint colors. I love the window styles and the trim. I love the front porch, especially the stone supports and that wonderful little touch of shingles above it. I love the front door. I love the fence and the simple, neat landscaping.

This is perfection, to me. The only thing I'd do to this house would be to duplicate the nice stone supports on the front porch and cover the chimney with them.