WHAT TO LOOK FOR A low-pitched gabled roof with wide overhangs, and under those overhangs, exposed rafter tails and triangular knee braces that were meant to be seen. A deep covered porch across the front. Square porch columns that taper as they rise, sitting on piers of stone or brick. Windows divided in the upper sash only, three-over-one or four-over-one, so the view stays open. Inside, unpainted fir or oak trim, box beams across the ceiling, and built-in cabinetry flanking a fireplace. WHAT USUALLY GETS LOST Siding wrapped over the rafter tails and knee braces, which erases the whole roofline in an afternoon. Tapered columns swapped for slim aluminum posts or turned spindles from a different century. Original trim painted white during a brightening phase. Replacement windows with the wrong grille pattern, or with none at all. Built-ins pulled out to square off a wall. Craftsman and the Bungalow, roughly 1905 to 1930
SMALL MOVES THAT BRING IT BACK Rebuild the porch columns to the correct tapered profile on the piers you already have, a carpentry job rather than a structural one. Open the eaves back up and paint the rafter tails a shade darker than the body. Hang a solid wood front door with three vertical lights. Swap the porch fixtures for lanterns in oil-rubbed bronze or blackened brass, sized larger than instinct suggests. Before committing to stripping the whole house, take the paint off the trim in one room and see what is under it. Return a picture rail at door-header height. THE MODERN VERSION Craftsman houses are being painted in deep, saturated colors now, forest and charcoal and clay, with the wood details left natural against them. It reads far fresher than the brown-on- brown palette the style usually gets shown in. Inside, trim stained rather than painted, walls kept plain, and the built-ins treated as the furniture of the room.
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October 2026
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