Craftsman homes in Los Angeles

What makes it Craftsman

A Craftsman house is built to show how it's built. From the street, look for a low-pitched gable roof with wide, overhanging eaves, exposed rafter tails along the edge, and triangular knee braces tucked under the gables. Most have a deep front porch held up by thick, often tapered columns that sit on piers of brick, stone or river rock. Siding is usually wood shingle or clapboard, and the windows are wood, often with several small panes above one large one.

Inside, the wood does the talking: beamed ceilings, built-in bookcases and buffets, window seats, and a fireplace at the center of the living room, faced in brick, stone or art tile. Living and dining rooms usually open to each other through a wide cased opening. In Southern California the smaller one-story version became so common that it got its own name, the California bungalow.

How LA got so many

The name comes from The Craftsman, the magazine Gustav Stickley published from 1901 to 1916. Southern California was growing fast, and the bungalow suited it: quick to build, modest in cost, and built around a porch. Plan books and precut kits spread it further. In Jefferson Park, City Planning notes that a significant number of houses were built from kits or plan books from companies like Sears and Pacific Ready-Cut Homes.

Pasadena and the Arroyo Seco were the center of the style's high end:

• Charles and Henry Greene moved to Pasadena in 1893 and opened their office there the next year. Their big houses from 1907 to 1909 include the Blacker House and the Gamble House, designed in 1908 for David and Mary Gamble of Procter and Gamble. The Gamble House is a National Historic Landmark, owned by the City of Pasadena and open for tours, with hand-shaped wood, art glass and furniture designed for its rooms.
• The Heineman brothers were Pasadena architects whose Craftsman work stands in Pasadena and in the Harvard Heights district of West Adams.
• Sylvanus Marston is widely credited with the bungalow court, a group of small cottages around a shared garden, starting with St. Francis Court in Pasadena in 1909.
• Ernest Batchelder made decorative tile in his shop by the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena, and his tiles still face fireplaces in bungalows across the region.

Down the Arroyo, Highland Park had its own Arts and Crafts scene, shaped by Occidental College and Judson Studios, the stained glass makers.

Where to find them

• Pasadena. Pasadena has the Gamble House and Bungalow Heaven, a 16-block area that in 1989 became the city's first landmark district, with most of its bungalows built between 1905 and 1920. South Pasadena and Sierra Madre have Craftsman homes on shady, older streets.
• Northeast LA. Highland Park sits inside the Highland Park-Garvanza HPOZ, the largest of the city's historic districts at about 4,000 structures. Eagle Rock, Glassell Park and Mount Washington have 1910s and 1920s bungalows on flat streets and hillside lots.
• West Adams. West Adams has big two-story Craftsman houses in Harvard Heights, mostly built from 1902 to 1908 and home to the only Greene and Greene house in the City of Los Angeles. Jefferson Park, which City Planning says is often called "The Bungalows," is full of one-story Craftsman homes.
• Elsewhere. Echo Park, the Hollywood flats, Venice, Old Torrance in Torrance and Belmont Heights in Long Beach all have Craftsman bungalows from the 1910s and 1920s.

You'll often find Craftsman houses on the same blocks as 1920s Spanish homes, since many of these neighborhoods kept building as tastes changed.

Buying one: what to look for

Original, restored or remodeled. Over a century, plenty of Craftsman homes have had porches enclosed, wood windows swapped for vinyl, siding covered in stucco, or built-ins painted or pulled out. Look for original windows, doors, built-ins, beams, tile and fireplace surrounds, and ask for the permit history.

Inspection points specific to the style:

• Foundations and earthquakes. Many houses this old sit on a raised foundation with short cripple walls, and were built before foundation bolting was standard. Ask whether seismic bolting or cripple wall bracing has been done, and have the foundation itself checked.
• Electrical. The oldest homes may still have knob-and-tube wiring in places, which can affect insurance and usually needs updating.
• Original windows. Old wood windows can often be repaired with new sash cords and weatherstripping instead of replaced. Homes built before 1978 may have lead paint, which matters for window work and any remodel.
• Sewer and plumbing. Clay sewer lines crack and let in roots, and older galvanized supply lines corrode. A sewer camera inspection is a good idea.
• Wood where it meets weather. Porch posts, rafter tails, shingles and siding near the ground can rot or attract termites. Termite inspections are common in California sales, and the report is worth reading closely.

Preservation rules. Many of the best Craftsman areas are Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (HPOZs), including Highland Park-Garvanza, Harvard Heights, Jefferson Park and Western Heights. Exterior changes in an HPOZ, like new windows, porch work or additions, generally go through design review. City Planning lists the city's historic districts. Pasadena, South Pasadena and other cities run their own landmark programs.

The Mills Act. Owners of some qualifying historic homes may be able to enter a Mills Act contract with their city, which can reduce property taxes in exchange for a commitment to restore and maintain the house. Rules, application windows and limits vary, so treat this as general information. Start with the City of LA's preservation incentives page and verify the details with the city and a tax professional.