Craftsman Style Homes

Founding his furniture store Gustav Stickley and his brothers made furnishings in the beginning of his career. He was born in Osceola Wisconsin in eighteen fifty eight and died in nineteen forty two. He was a stone mason by trade but loved working in wood. With extensive travels and dreaming of building homes, in eighteen ninety six he traveled to Europe and got to know the arts and Crafts designers. He came back the following year and founded the United Crafts of Eastwood. In nineteen hundred and four he founded the Craftsman workshops.

The company was very successful during the early nineteen hundreds. They had retail stores in many cities across America. They wanted to build furniture that would be harmonious living, that the furnishings could ‘make life better and truer by its perfect simplicity.’ Unfortunately in nineteen fifteen he had to file bankruptcy due tastes of the people changing, and overexpansion of the business interests.

 The Craftsman style homes were becoming popular due to the monthly journal he wrote and offered designs for the bungalow that became so famous. Many of his craftsman style homes had a large impact on Frank Lloyd Wright. Stickley believed that a home should have warmth, style and be in harmony with its surroundings. He wanted only local materials to be used. The Craftsman style homes had built in bookcases and benches. He did not want a lot of artificial light, he felt natural light was much warmer.

Stickley built the first Craftsman style home for boys from home and it was a log cabin style home. But financial troubles started and Stickley had to live it himself with his family. The boarding house never came to be. He started making blueprints and designs for his Craftsman style homes and never looked back.

To walk into Craftsman style homes is like walking back in time. They are rich with moldings on the top and bottom of the walls, pure beautiful woods are placed throughout the homes. The intricate details are mind boggling to say the least. Built in little reading nooks between the fireplace just adds such a homey feel to that room. The kitchens were usually made of stone and had built ins as well. Very uncommon back in that era, the sheer warmth of Craftsman style homes will take your breath away.

There are many books written on the Craftsman style homes, and there are many designs that one can build his own home. Or buy the books for reading up on the homes and Stickley. Five brothers had a dream and a passion for building furniture and beautiful homes. There motto was ‘ALS IK KAN’ which means to the best of my ability.

Many companies sell Craftsman style homes plans, so you can build your own piece of heaven. Others will try and find one already built and maybe tweak it a little, but not much because the Craftsman style homes are almost perfect as they are. In today’s market it might be cost efficient to buy one already built. It will have so much charm and ambience to it; you will not want to leave it.