Arts & Crafts Homes Winter 2016

“HOW DO YOU KEEP COMING UP with new ideas?” people sometimes ask— people who know I’m decades into an old-house career. The answer transcends magazines or Arts & Crafts, of course. Anyone who is deep into a subject knows that knowledge leads one deeper still; there will always be another layer to plumb (not to mention another bathroom). I’ve had to be mindful, in fact, to come up with old ideas. Certain advice reveals its wisdom only when we hear it again and find it still applies. I’ve been thinking about what I’d be sure to tell the new owner of a Craftsman house or bungalow. Here’s a start. Send me your rules! DON’T RUSH IN: Good advice for everyone, perhaps especially for owners of 20th century houses, who may…

Desert Warmth The Saguaro Forms and Cactus Flowers throw is based on a stylized 1927 Frank Lloyd Wright design of a desert landscape, later adapted for a stained-glass window. In 100 percent cotton, the throw measures 51" x 69". It’s $80 from Fair Oak Workshops, (800) 341-0597, fairoak.com Terra Cotta Welcome The handmade terra-cotta welcome sign in green and copper features an oak and acorn motif. It measures 6" x 11¼" and weighs a hefty two pounds. Other styles feature ginkgos, maple leaves, and dragonflies. Tiles are $65. From Fay Jones Day Tile, (541) 424-3359, fayjonesday.com Cast in Beauty The energy-efficient Horizon Traditional Cast radiant fireplace offers a diverse choice of quality faces, surrounds, and fire beds in aluminized steel. The compact design fits both top- and rear-vent fireplace openings.…

Kevin W. Tucker is the first director of the Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement in St. Petersburg, Florida. “When it opens in early 2018,” says Tucker, “nowhere else will one be able to enjoy such a comprehensive perspective on the creative energy, beauty, and legacy of the American Arts & Crafts movement.” The museum will be the home of the collection of the Two Red Roses Foundation, established by retired businessman Rudy Ciccarello in 2004. The Foundation’s extensive collection of work in the Arts & Crafts genre includes unparalleled works of furniture, metalwork, lighting, ceramics, paintings, prints, photography, and other objects produced between 1900 and 1930. Tucker comes to the museum from the Dallas Museum of Art, where he curated the first comprehensive examination of the life…

SPANISH COLONIAL STYLE Santa Barbara and The Architecture of James Osborne Craig and Mary McLaughlin Craig By Pamela Skewes-Cox and Robert Sweeney. Rizzoli, 2015. Hardcover, 256 pp., $55 The architects James Osborne Craig and Mary McLaughlin Craig exerted their influence on the popularity of Spanish Colonial style for two generations; Osborne was active from 1915 until 1922, and Mary’s career followed, from 1923 to 1956. Working in Santa Barbara, the Craigs helped develop Spanish Colonial Revival and other historical styles, but their influence was felt well beyond Southern California. Theirs is a romantic and still beloved architecture of whitewashed stucco, undulating plaster and beamed ceilings, and rooms centered on the hearth. Neither husband nor wife had a formal degree in architecture, yet the couple (he from Scotland, she from South…

NOV. 10, 2015 Hollyhock Lecture Artisanal woodworker Erik Mortenson will speak about his restoration work on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House at an event rescheduled from March. Mortenson, of Tried & True Millworks, has worked on many significant Arts & Crafts homes in the Los Angeles area and has recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest. Now a museum owned by the City of Los Angeles, Hollyhock House reopened to the public early in 2015. Mortenson designed, built, and installed many reproduction finish elements there, including clerestory windows, a replica light fixture, and a folding screen in the dining room. The event will be held at Dearborn House in Seattle. Tickets: Historic Seattle, (206) 622-6952, historicseattle.org THROUGH April 3, 2016 California Dreaming William Seltzer Rice was a young American artist of…

COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND FLOWER-LADEN FLOATS put Pasadena in the spotlight every January, but its amazing architecture draws visitors all year. Sunshine drew wealthy vacationers and new residents along with notable architects. On most streets, you’d be hard pressed not to spot a bungalow or Craftsman-influenced structure. Navigate more than two dozen Landmark or National Register Historic Districts by car: first stop is The Gamble House, Pasadena’s crown jewel, designed by Charles and Henry Greene in 1908 for David and Mary Gamble of Procter & Gamble. With unparalleled woodwork, it is the masterpiece of the architects’ Japo–Swiss aesthetic. Tour the house early afternoons Thurs.–Sun. (advance ticket purchase is recommended). The interior tour can take two hours or more. After strolling the gardens, stop at the Bookstore, once the garage—which got its…