Yeah it looks like an early 20th century 1920s Craftsman style home. (1905-1929) It’s likely made of extremely high quality old growth wood and a rather lovely home to live in if well maintained.
it looks like an early 20th century 1920s Craftsman style home
As you're likely aware, American Craftsman is an architectural style inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement.[1] In an historical double entendre, "Craftsman" can mean something else entirely, and yet can still be American Craftsman, as this home is. These particular style American Craftsman home in particular, among the many types of American Craftsman, with the front covered porch on the short end of the rectangular shape, were sold out of the Sears Catalog.[2] Sears Craftsman... get it? Sears sold various architectural styles, such as Cape Cod, but I think far and away the most popular was their American Craftsman home kits, which the OP's home appears to be. Not all Sears kit homes were American Craftsman, and not all American Craftsman homes are Sears kit homes. But a lot of them are both.
It’s probably galvanized steel which people still use. Copper is common where I live as is aluminum but it wouldn’t be weird to see galvanized steel either.
Most likely the roofing people replaced with like material where possible. That’s a fairly common choice on old homes, unless the old material is unsafe, not good, or impossible to source.
I love homes from this era! The quality of the materials, at least among the homes still standing, is often excellent. This is anecdotal, but I find that they also tend to have a lot of natural light and stay cooler in the summer.
Yeah they’re great if maintained. They do tend to have a lot of windows (and larger windows) than typical modern homes. I suspect it’s because windows are expensive and the homes still standing were generally the higher quality homes of the era. Also - no AC back then so windows were very much functional appliances.
Double hung sash windows are especially popular in this era because they are designed to maximize airflow. You’d open the bottom sash’s on the cool side of the house to let cooler air in and open the top sash’s on the other side to let hot air out. This also creates an airflow across the home.
Yeah I’ve done extensive work on the house and anywhere that’s original is in great shape. All the wood is old growth. It had termite damage at one point but the termites only ate areas where newer (lesser quality) wood was used.
Heck, even the mirror in the bathroom opens and closes perfectly and it’s 110 yrs old.
The downsides are there was zero insulation in the walls when we bought it and the leaded glass windows are single pane. I’ve mostly fixed the insulation problem but the windows will always be pretty to look at but inefficient.
Comments
Yeah it looks like an early 20th century 1920s Craftsman style home. (1905-1929) It’s likely made of extremely high quality old growth wood and a rather lovely home to live in if well maintained.
As you're likely aware, American Craftsman is an architectural style inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement.[1] In an historical double entendre, "Craftsman" can mean something else entirely, and yet can still be American Craftsman, as this home is. These particular style American Craftsman home in particular, among the many types of American Craftsman, with the front covered porch on the short end of the rectangular shape, were sold out of the Sears Catalog.[2] Sears Craftsman... get it? Sears sold various architectural styles, such as Cape Cod, but I think far and away the most popular was their American Craftsman home kits, which the OP's home appears to be. Not all Sears kit homes were American Craftsman, and not all American Craftsman homes are Sears kit homes. But a lot of them are both.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_and_Crafts_movement
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Modern_Homes
Neat info! Yes I believe it was a kit. Would love to find the original catalog where it’s from.
Confirmed, 1908 craftsman :) The roof is 20 years old, maybe that’s when the switch to aluminum started?
It’s probably galvanized steel which people still use. Copper is common where I live as is aluminum but it wouldn’t be weird to see galvanized steel either.
Most likely the roofing people replaced with like material where possible. That’s a fairly common choice on old homes, unless the old material is unsafe, not good, or impossible to source.
I love homes from this era! The quality of the materials, at least among the homes still standing, is often excellent. This is anecdotal, but I find that they also tend to have a lot of natural light and stay cooler in the summer.
Yeah they’re great if maintained. They do tend to have a lot of windows (and larger windows) than typical modern homes. I suspect it’s because windows are expensive and the homes still standing were generally the higher quality homes of the era. Also - no AC back then so windows were very much functional appliances.
Double hung sash windows are especially popular in this era because they are designed to maximize airflow. You’d open the bottom sash’s on the cool side of the house to let cooler air in and open the top sash’s on the other side to let hot air out. This also creates an airflow across the home.
I never knew that about the double sash windows but it makes sense.
Yeah I’ve done extensive work on the house and anywhere that’s original is in great shape. All the wood is old growth. It had termite damage at one point but the termites only ate areas where newer (lesser quality) wood was used.
Heck, even the mirror in the bathroom opens and closes perfectly and it’s 110 yrs old.
The downsides are there was zero insulation in the walls when we bought it and the leaded glass windows are single pane. I’ve mostly fixed the insulation problem but the windows will always be pretty to look at but inefficient.
To be fair, "nothing" is like, the best thing you'll find when you look at the insulation in old houses.
In some cases you can add a separate plain, featureless double pane window behind your original feature windows and get the best of both worlds.