Arts & Crafts Movement Resource Directory.
stermitz@tango.org
About the Directory
The great depression finally put an end to the optomism and abandon of the twenties. Houses became much more practical, without the sheltering porch and even the sheltering roof. Artistically, the Bauhaus movement in Germany and modern materials like concrete and steel had an influence on house architecture. Frank Lloyd Wright is remembered today primarily for his later period which had more references to Modernism than to the Arts & Crafts era.
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- Deco/Modernism (ca: 1930-1970)
- The Ranch Style (ca: 1940-1980)
- Good article on the Bauhaus Movement
Art Deco/Modernism (ca: 1930-1970)
Deco more typically refers to decorative styles rather than architecture, and the famous Miami
beach houses are better classified as belonging to Modernism or International style. Some commercial and government
buildings appear with Deco Style architecture.
The Modern/International style was born in the Deco artistic movements, such as the Bauhaus movement of
Germany. This style emphasizes almost exclusively shape, form and building massing, as opposed to
decoration. You see plain-cubes or piled-block concrete houses, flat roofs, windows of metal
that wrap around a right-angle corner.
You also see curves, swooping parabolas and overhanging or cantilevered balconies. Frank Loyd Wright is famous for his designs of houses and buildings
in this style, in particular his house Falling Water in Pennsylvania.
Most "modern" architecture all the way through the present day may be consider to be of this style.
The Ranch Style (ca: 1940-1980)
Growing out of the Modern style, but owing as much to the earlier Bungalow, Prairie and Cottage styles
is the much-maligned American Ranch home. The criticism usually comes from a generation that grew up in
suburbs of ranch houses, but who is not yet distant enough in time to look objectively at the
fifties styles. I often hear ranch homes described as having no style.
This is not true at all; there was a very conscious attempt to emphasize the horizontal and to create
an open floor plan. Large ranch homes may sprawl 2000-3000 square feet with rooms and hallways
flowing into one another, and sliding glass doors opening the interior of the house into the back
patio. The formal dining room is more of an extension of the kitchen and living room than a separate room.
As a Realtor I notice that the quality of construction in even modest fifties ranch houses is usually
better than in houses from the 1970's. The floors are of oak even when covered with a carpet,
the exterior is of solid brick rather than cheap composite siding, bathroom tile work is common and the color schemes (pink and grey?!) can look adventurously attractive.
Architectural Police Tip:
A common renovation mistake occurs when the roof is popped up to add space without regard to the
horizontal philosophy of the ranch design. The resulting creation seems neither fish nor fowl.
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