Plans for the Craftsman Cottage

As we get started on the Craftsman Cottage, we have a plan we are working to.  But as I've learned the hard way,  sometimes we find surprises as we peel back layers that make us change direction a bit.  So far so good, but you never know what we might find!

So let's look at the current plan:

On the first floor, I'd like to open up the wall between the foyer and living room, to create a bit more space.  Right now it feels pretty tight as you come in the front door.  It's not a dramatic change, but will make the living room feel bigger and also showcase the lovely craftsman staircase (I can just imagine how pretty it would be with a holiday garland hanging from it!).  This will make the floor plan more open, but still leave some distinction between the living room and kitchen/dining room. 

The wall between the living room and foyer will disappear

Similarly, I'd like to open the wall between the kitchen and dining room.  The kitchen is a bit dark, with its one window.  And thanks to the big bay window, the dining room is really bright.  I'd like that light to flood through both spaces. 

And speaking of the dining room, we are going to add a back door here!!  I'm installing a sliding patio door, in large part because it will bring in lots of morning sunlight, while also providing a view of the big backyard.  A sliding door helps, because you don't need to worry about the space a door swing would take up, that could interfere with your dining table and chairs. 

If budget allows, I'd like to put a deck off of the dining room.  I'm sure that would be a feature a new homeowner would really enjoy.  

The downstairs half bath is way too big.  So, I'm changing it to provide more privacy for the bathroom, while also creating additional storage. More storage is always a good thing!

The other major change - I'll be enclosing part of the front porch to create a small bonus room.  With so many people working from home, having a spot to close off for a home office is a big plus.  And with its view of the greenbelt and the Casco Bay Bridge, it's a pretty nice spot to stare out the window when you're on a Zoom call! 😂 

Upstairs, we're making much bigger changes.  The most dramatic update will be 'Project Raise the Ceiling.'  I'm hoping to have 9 feet of ceiling space on the 2nd floor, a big change from the current 6 feet 6 inches (which is just a crazy low ceiling!).   It requires quite a bit of structural change, which gives me the opportunity to move some walls around.

One of the biggest changes is creating a primary suite.  The back bedroom will get about 3 feet bigger and thanks to the existing oversized bathroom, I'm stealing a few feet from that to add a half bath.  (Sure, it would be nice to have a full bath adjacent to the bedroom, but this will be a nice update). 

The sloped ceiling makes bathroom planning a challenge! 

The second bedroom will also get larger, thanks to a new structural support post that we need to add to change the ceiling height.  We will steal that space from the hallway (which was overly large) and by removing the chimney, I get more space upstairs (and in the kitchen!). 

I'm really pleased with the second floor layout - it will be so much more livable (especially for tall people!).  Demo has started and we're off to a good start!  So stay tuned as we start making the changes! 

The third bedroom remains the same size.  It's perfect for a kids room or a home office.

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Craftsman Cottage - Is This a Kit House?

This is such an interesting house.  Not quite a bungalow.  Not quite a traditional four square.  And it definitely has Craftsman elements.  But what is it really?

I've been chatting with Julie Larry, an architect who spent many years at Portland Landmarks and has an encyclopedic memory for architectural styles in the Greater Portland area.  Her first thought it this could possibly be a kit house.  (Julie has a fascinating article about them on the Portland Landmarks site - you can read it here) 

What, you ask, is a kit house?  Well in the early 20th century, Sears Roebuck sold kit houses by mail order.  You could order the kit and they would send it to you - staged over time to match your building schedule.  Reading through their 1925 catalog is fascinating.  You could imagine a lot of these advertisements updated for today with modular homes!

These homes included everything.  You could choose your hardware, plumbing fixtures, lighting, heating system, etc.  

I've seen so many houses with the 'Stratford Design' doorknobs!

I went page by page through their old catalogs, but haven't found a house that matches yet.  But there were multiple companies that offer kit homes, so it's still possible.

The best way to see if you have a kit house is to look at the joists in the house itself.  Typically, they had numbers stamped on them, usually 2-10 inches from the end.  Our house currently has plaster/drywall covering the joists, but once we get that removed, I can't wait to see if there are some numbers stamped there!

So stay tuned as we start a little investigation!  One clue that just popped up is our stained glass window.  A friend's son has a Craftsman home in Massachusetts with the exact same stained glass window as ours!  Is that a key element?  Not sure, but it's interesting to know there are others like it in New England.

And interestingly, you can still buy kit houses today.  Look at these available on Amazon - Kit House. 

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Introducing the Craftsman Cottage

I wasn't sure how long it would take to find a new project - but here it is!!!  And it's going to be amazing!

In general, this is a Craftsman style home.  Craftsman style became very popular after the Victorian era - they focused on simple designs with bold lines - very different than the fussy Victorians!  (Want to know more about Craftsman, here's a blog post I did 10 years ago about Craftsman style) Our new Craftsman has lots of craftsman features include these amazing rafter tails, which are on deep eaves projecting away from the building.

It also has typical tapered columns on the front porch and decorative brackets for the deep eaves.

A feature that I absolutely love is this box bay window off of the dining room

I'm pretty sure there are some interesting features hidden under that vinyl siding, but we'll have to wait to discover what's there.  I want to focus on the interior first!

And while the exterior has lots of craftsman details, the curious thing about the Craftsman Cottage is the interior is a typical fourquare home.  There aren't any cool built ins or architectural elements that we all love about a Craftsman.  But it is an incredibly practical home that works well for today's lifestyle - as well as 100 years ago.  (What's a Foursquare? It's a home with a square footprint, with 4 rooms on the first floor and four on the second floor)

As with most Foursquares, you enter through a small foyer with a staircase to the second floor.

Foyer leads to kitchen, living room and staircase to second floor

The kitchen is straight ahead.  This kitchen had seen some updates in the past, but it is clearly ready for more.  

There is a powder room off of the kitchen.  It's not fancy, but hey, a powder room on the first floor is pretty great.  We can fix it up!

The dining room is fantastic.  I love the big, box bay window across the far side.  Isn't that the perfect place for some cushions to create a reading nook?

Dining Room

Dining Room connects kitchen and living room

There is a nice sized living room with a stained glass insert in the front window.

Lots of potential, don't you think???  Does this floorplan remind you of another home we've done?  It's very similar to the Charming Cottage that we did a couple of years ago.   And while the Charming Cottage was built 20 years later, the floor plan was still very popular.

Upstairs there is a hallway, 3 bedrooms and a bathroom.  The hallway is super big.....I might be changing that! The bump out you see in the photo is the flue for the furnace.  If we remove that, it will free up a lot of space!

The 'gotcha' upstairs.... is  the ceiling. It is extremely low - 6' 6".  That's a challenge for lots of reasons and we will be figuring out how to change it! 

A 6' 6" ceiling is a challenge.  We can change it, but it's not easy

The bathroom is at the top of the stairs and is surprisingly big!  I'm trying to figure out how to better utilize this space.

The first bedroom upstairs is the smallest, but has the potential to be a cute room.

The second bedroom is long and narrow.  

The last bedroom is the one I want to make a primary suite.  I know it doesn't look like much now, but it's got potential!

We have some investigation to do to see if the changes I want to make are possible.  Stay tuned for more updates.  This is going to be a fun one!!!

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