190 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



May, 1908 



»ome California Bungalows 



By Helen Lukens Gaut 



HE chief characteristics of the true bunga- 

 low are wide, low spreading roofs, which 

 often sweep down and form covering for 

 porches; large healthy stone or brick chim- 

 neys, patios with fountains, spacious ver- 

 andas, and large living and dining-rooms, 

 so arranged that by using portable wood 

 screens they can be partitioned off, or thrown into one 

 spacious apartment. 

 Bungalows are in- 

 variably unostenta- 

 tious on the outside, 

 concentrating a 1 1 

 beauties and elegan- 

 cies for the interior. 

 Their appearance be- 

 speaks a blithsome, 

 informal hospitality. 

 The approaching 

 guest is never seized 

 with panic of diffi- 

 dence, any more than 

 is a bird affrighted 

 when winging its way 

 to some leafy branch, 

 for a bungalow is 

 closely akin to Na- 

 ture, and is kindly and 

 uncritical. 



In India bunga- 

 lows are frequently 

 hoisted on stilts from 

 eight to twelve feet 

 high, an architec- 

 tural maneuver in- 

 tended possibly to se- 

 cure the resident 

 against creeping 

 things. Here, how- 

 ever, where we have 

 more birds than 

 snakes, and where 

 people have plenty to 

 do without climbing 

 into their houses, the 

 Americanized bunga- 

 low can not nestle too 

 close to the ground. 

 Wide cemented 

 porches are frequent- 

 ly laid flat on the sur- 

 face, so that indoors 



The Spacious Veranda Has Cemented Floor and Steps, and Roof of Heavy Rough 

 Timbers, Supported by Posts on Cobblestone Foundations 



and outdoors join hands. These porches are usually low- 

 walled with cobblestones or klinker brick, above which is 

 swung many a rustic basket filled with trailing vines. Porch 

 furniture, that it may harmonize with the Japanese motiff 

 so frequently expressed in roof lines, often consists of wicker- 

 work chairs and couches, Japanese lanterns, vases and rugs. 

 Sometimes a court is placed at the front of a house, as 

 in the attractive Mission home shown in our illustrations, 



or in the shingled 

 bungalow pictured in 

 another. Most build- 

 ers, however, find it 

 preferable, because of 

 greater privacy and 

 quiet, to give the 

 court a place at the 

 rear. These courts 

 usually have their tiny 

 fountain with spor- 

 tive gold fish, abun- 

 dance of vines and 

 flowers and rustic 

 seats. The beauty and 

 restfulness of these 

 little sun-parlors ca- 

 ress tired nerves 

 and make new men 

 out of old. Window 

 boxes, gay with 

 bright-hued gerani- 

 ums and delicate 

 greenery, are like 

 smiles on the face of 

 a bungalow. These 

 boxes, often of rus- 

 tic design, are popu- 

 lar, for they add 

 greatly to the appear- 

 ance of a home. The 

 bungalow, by rights, 

 demands a happy, 

 riotous untrimmed 

 garden of ferns, 

 grasses, papyrus, 

 clambering roses and 

 wide-spreading trees, 

 but instead of always 

 having what it 

 should, it is often em- 

 barrassed by a closely 

 shaved lawn, sym- 

 metrical borders. 



