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ROB^ LEA
NNAThe comfortable house
There’s a tendency to think of America’s “old houses” as
falling into three big categories: Colonial, Victorian, and
Craftsman. An over-simplifi cation, of course: “Colonial”
might encompass everything from First Period through
Greek Revival; “Victorian” runs from Gothic Revival
through Second Empire and Queen Anne; “Craftsman”
enfolds California bungalows and the Prairie School. Some
people insist that an old-house designation ends with the
Second World War, as building technology changed so much
during the 1940s. Others are ready to add a fourth broad
category, Modern, bringing Cliff May ranches and Wright’s
Usonian houses into the fold.
What’s been overlooked? I’d say it’s the large number of
historical revival houses built from ca. 1915 through about- Nostalgic, nicely detailed, familiarly modern, and
carpenter-built, these are the American Foursquares, Dutch
Colonials, Tudors, and Spanish Colonials found coast to
coast. Introducing a category we then called Post-Victorian,
Old-House Journal gave these houses stature in a series of ar-
ticles in 1982 that started with one entitled “The Comfortable
House.” (It was, of course, a time when indoor plumbing,
central heat, and garages had already become standard.) A
few years after, with our support, the late art historian Alan
Gowans wrote a groundbreaking book of the same name,
tying together the social and architectural history of the era.
Better recognized now, these houses are still comfortable,
and good candidates for restoration. Just look at the 1940s
brick Tudor in this issue (p. 84), with its fanciful roof lines
and sunroom, beloved by two generations of the same family.
Not a fl ashy mansion, but so attractive!
If you own a house of this vintage, or would like to,
here’s a library of inspiration: The Comfortable House by
Alan Gowans; Beyond the Bungalow by Paul Duchscherer;
The Tudor Home by Kevin D. Murphy and Paul Rocheleau;
Tudor Style by Lee Goff and Paul Rocheleau; Storybook Style
by Arrol Gellner and Douglas Keister; Red Tile Style by
Arrol Gellner and Douglas Keister; The California Casa
by Douglas Woods and Melba Levick; The Colonial Revival
House by Richard Guy Wilson; At Home in New England
by Richard Wills. In print or not, you can fi nd them.
From the Editor
Dutch Colonial is
among the favorite
styles of the period
1912–1940.