Home Improvement
Bungalow Room Additions
Adding a room to a bungalow house requires careful attention to roof shape. You want the addition to look original to the home’s construction, if possible. Matching house overhangs and window shape to the new addition is important, too. By adding floor space to a small bungalow house, you can create a home with ample room without having to move.
Draw Addition to Scale
The addition requires careful planning on graph paper. You might, for example, want to construct a new room on the side of your bungalow. By drawing the existing floor plan and new room addition to scale, you can decide where to incorporate door openings, for example. By drawing the new addition in 3-D design, you can figure out if the addition looks appropriate with the existing house.
Plan Appropriate Roofing
Pay attention to the roof lines. Your new addition must fit with the existing roof to look original to the house construction. Overhangs for the addition should flow with the overhangs in place — matching them in width and all guttering in place. Plan the roofing materials, such as asphalt shingles or Spanish tile, to blend seamlessly with what’s already in place.
Continue Foundation Design
Create a foundation design that matches the house foundation. If the bungalow has a brick foundation, the new addition must have a brick foundation as well. You will need to figure out the best way to dig the new foundation and allow for crawlspace needs — such as duct work for heating and cooling. Building a full-scale basement is usually not necessary unless you really need the basement space.
Use Matching Exterior Materials
The design of windows and doors, plus house siding, should fit harmoniously. If your existing windows are large windows with individual panes, choose this design for your room addition as one option.
It’s possible to vary the window design by installing glass-block windows, for example. Make sure the windows look appropriate for the era the bungalow was built. Walk-out doors and siding should match what’s already in place, unless you plan an exterior makeover for the house. Read the rest of this entry »
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What Is a Bungalow Style House?
The bungalow style home is associated with the architectural style of the Arts and Crafts bungalow, a style popularized in the early 20th century. The term has, since 1900, come to encompass other architectural styles, including the California bungalow and the Prairie bungalow.
In the loosest of definitions, a bungalow style house is any small home sharing common characteristics with the Arts and Crafts style.
Exterior Characteristics
Bungalow homes are single family dwellings, 1 to 1 1/2 stories with low-pitched roofs. Dormers are common to the Arts and Crafts style of home, as well as the Prairie style, though the latter may exclude them. Windows vary in size and are grouped together to aid in light control.
Frank Lloyd Wright, a master of the Prairie style bungalow, positioned windows to work with the orientation of the home to maximize passive solar power. Bungalows are constructed of wood and stone and include large porches, either along the front of the home or along the side, a characteristic sometimes seen in California bungalows.
The overall exterior aesthetic of a bungalow home is of a horizontal application, with the house appearing to spring from the ground rather than having been built on top of it.
Interior Floor Plan
An open floor plan, in which rooms flow together unimpeded by long walls and doors, are common to the bungalow style. With the public spaces upfront, visitors may see the living room and dining room in the sweep of an eye with the kitchen situated toward the back of the house.
Bedrooms and private quarters are removed from public view, tucked at the back of the home. Occupants move through open hallways from public to private areas of the home.
Interior Style
Natural materials are a mainstay of the bungalow. Wood, stone and glass make up most of the interior structure with emphasis on the natural state of these as building materials. Built-in cabinetry, half-walls with wood spindles, wood beams and wainscoting are typical of bungalow interior designs.
Stone is used for flooring — usually tiles — and for fireplace surrounds. Though not commonly seen in bungalows designed for lower and middle class neighborhoods, the use of decorative stained glass is characteristic of the higher end Arts and Crafts bungalows. Read the rest of this entry »