V OLU'ME XVII 
June, 1910 
Number 6 
A bungalow at South Pasadena, Cal., built of redwood shingles and brick that is interspersed with clinkers. The floor plan appears below. Les¬ 
ter S. Moore, architect 
All Types of Bungalows 
WHAT THIS MUCH MISUSED TERM REALLY MEANS—THE POSSIBIL¬ 
ITIES OF THE TYPE FOR SUMMER HOMES, AND ITS LIMITATIONS 
by Russell Fisher 
Photographs by W. L. Burn, Gabriel Moulin and others 
T HE term “Bungalow’’ provides a curious example of how 
we Americans overwork a word that is euphonious and 
the meaning of which, because of the word’s comparatively 
recent assimilation into the language, is some¬ 
what uncertain. One hears nearly every type 
of country or suburban home called a bungalow, 
provided only that the house is somewhat in¬ 
formal or picturesque in its lines. Someone has 
facetiously remarked that in the new diction¬ 
aries a bungalow should be defined as “a house 
that looks as if it had been built for less money 
than it actually cost.” 
It seems worth while, in view of the popular 
misconception of the word’s actual significance, 
to look into its derivation with the purpose of 
finding out just when it may properly be applied 
and when it is a misnomer. 
According to the authorities, a bungalow is “a Bengalese 
house,” but it is not the typical native’s home in India. These 
are of an entirely different type from our conception of the word. 
The only bungalows to be seen in India are the 
“Rest houses,” erected by the English govern¬ 
ment along the main roads of travel. These 
are inns or hotels, consisting of a large central 
building divided in the middle by a hall sepa¬ 
rating large rooms, with a kitchen in a separate 
building that is reached through a covered 
passageway. In these Rest houses the bed¬ 
rooms are in still another adjoining structure, 
always a long low building with the bed-cham¬ 
bers opening upon a straight corridor. A low. 
rambling mass, with wide verandas, overhang¬ 
ing eaves, floors of stone or concrete and sin- 
gle-story construction, are the characteristics of 
Broad windows in the living- 
room give a view over the 
patio 
(20/) 
