Arts & Crafts Homes

NEVER A DULL MOMENT (nor expression) when it comes to Arts & Crafts eras and their revivals. One after the other, I edited two of the upfront features in this issue, and had to chuckle at their apparent contradiction. We extoll the virtues of simplicity when advising on curtains and drapery: gone were the lambrequins and velvets of Victoriana, replaced by roller shades and muslin. The bathroom, now, that’s another story! Sanitary white bathrooms and exposed plumbing, the result of a late 19th-century preoccupation with germs and vermin, were swept aside in favor of a riot of affordable color in tile and fixtures, especially in California and the Southwest. I compared photos of original color-tile bathrooms to more recent revival examples. Surprisingly, it is the originals that go over the…

Shining Spun The spun-copper pendant collection is a fresh perspective on industrial-inspired lighting from a company known for its gaslight fixtures. Designs range in price from $200 for Bullet to $425 to $525 for Warehouse District. From Bevolo Gas & Electric Lights, (504) 522-9485, bevolo.com Swimming in Place Clever 4" x 8" whole and divided fish tile swim through a centerpiece with 4" x 4" tile inspired by lotus pods and rippling water. They’re shown in proprietary glazes including Greyfire and Burnished Copper. The price is $774.12. From Terra Firma, (803) 643-9399, terrafirmaarttile.com Crystal Colors These cut-crystal knobs were recently introduced in four spectacular colors: emerald green, cobalt, pink, and black. All can be matched with Arts & Crafts-friendly plates and rosettes in passage, privacy, or mortise sets. Most sets…

A Seattle Legend Retires Larry Kreisman will retire at the end of this year from his role as program director for Historic Seattle, a post he has held since 1997. An architectural historian, preservation consultant, and author of important works on the history of Northwestern U.S. architecture, Kreisman has been a major force in the success of one of the country’s most active preservation organizations. The City of Seattle named May 31 (which is Larry’s birthday) as Lawrence Kreisman Day, and Historic Seattle has established a $25,000 preservation education fund to support program initiatives in his name. A fundraising effort is already underway (historicseattle.org). Larry Kreisman was a founder and served as director of the tour program of the Seattle Architecture Foundation, and was also a historian for the Seattle…

STORYBOOK STYLE America’s Whimsical Homes of the 1920s by Arrol Gellner and Douglas Keister. Schiffer, 2017. Hardcover, 176 pp., $34.99 Decades before Disneyland, a fairytale subset of Period Revival styles emerged in Los Angeles. These Storybook-style houses, most of them with medieval European antecedent, are exaggerated in form, distressed to suggest great age, and whimsical in attitude. Romantic and humorous, these charming houses are very much like stage sets. (Imagine thatched roofs and timbers, clinker-brick chimneys, turrets, catslides, and Hansel and Gretel.) The craze started in the 1920s, just past the peak of bungalow building, and was forgotten after the Depression. Yet the style had some impact from coast to coast. The 2001 book Storybook Style introduced this rambunctious architecture, America’s late take on the picturesque. Now comes a new…

OCT. 7 40 Great Years Known for its annual Craftsman Weekend, Pasadena Heritage is celebrating 40 years with a party at the Convention Center. Open to all, it begins with a cocktail reception and silent auction, followed by a dinner program in the original Exhibition Hall. Tickets are $250 each, with sponsorships available. Active in the establishment of historic districts since the 1980s, Pasadena Heritage also supports restoration efforts, recently offering grants for new roofs, expert repairs, and exterior painting. Pasadena Heritage Foundation, (626) 441-6333, pasadenaheritage.org OCT. 27-29 Fall in Pasadena Can’t make the anniversary party? Come for Craftsman Weekend, the largest Arts & Crafts event on the West Coast. Highlights include tours and house visits and an exclusive reception at a historic home. Workshops and seminars are held at…

WINDOW DRESSINGS changed along with everything else as the Victorian era drew to a close, and Arts & Crafts became influential, at the turn of the 20th century. Lower ceilings meant a change in window proportions. Everything was more informal: curtains often ended at the sill rather than puddling on the floor; dressings included just one or two layers (maybe with a valance or pelmet). Drapery panels attached to simple rings, hung from fabric tabs, or were shirred on rods, doing away with the fancy cording and tiebacks of the 19th century. Utility areas might have just a roller shade, which was also used in bedrooms or as a first layer. Venetian blinds and Roman shades were also seen in bedrooms. A typical treatment was a sheer or lace “glass…