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Getting To Know Vancouver’s “Craftsman” House Style

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Vancouver’s architecture is often difficult to distinguish as many of its homes are adaptations or amalgamations of more recognized styles. By cataloguing them, we gain an understanding of our homes and neighbourhoods, which gives us all a sense of pride in our city. With this is mind, the Vancouver Heritage Foundation provides Scout with an exclusive series that we call The Roof Over Your Head.

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The Craftsman style is derived from the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th Century. It was a rustic style that builders could take on with or without the services of an architect, and generally used locally sourced materials, in Vancouver’s case that meant a lot of wood. Customized components and even pre-fabricated sections were readily available using catalogues such as Sears, Montgomery Wards and Aladdin. The style promoted simplicity with clean lines and evoked strength and quality in how the exterior components were placed. Several variations of Craftsman houses developed, three of which are particular to Vancouver; Traditional Craftsman, Vancouver Craftsman and Craftsman Bungalow. Each was influenced by builders’ budgets, changes in taste, and adaptations in design to suit both large and small lots.

The Traditional Craftsman house tended to be symmetrical in its proportions. It was at least two floors, sometimes up to three on large lots in neighbourhoods such as Mount Pleasant, Kitsilano and Shaughnessy. Craftsman’s can be identified by their gables (the triangular part of the wall where the roofline meets) and porches. The large traditional Craftsman house has gables on all four sides, with the roof intersecting in the middle. Deep full width porches, a carry-over from Edwardian Builder houses, were common. Sleeping porches were popular, usually centred above the front porch. The rooflines tended to be of lower pitch, particularly in the secondary gables and dormers.
Porch posts are square or slightly flared with lower sections of stone or stucco, wood balustrades, and wide stairs. Gable ends feature exposed soffits and diagonal brackets commonly known as “knee brackets”, with substantial roof overhangs and exposed rafter “tails”. Wood detailing known as “dentils” was often found at top of the front gable. Windows at the front were set in groups of three or four, and in more elaborate examples, the upper sash was stained glass.

The Vancouver Craftsman is a smaller version of the Traditional Craftsman, often only two stories, with less deep porches, and smaller sleeping porches. The Craftsman Bungalow was also a smaller version of the Traditional Craftsman in this case only one and half stories, with an asymmetrical design. The front stairs were narrower, often moved to the side, and with less substantial posts. Several added interior floor space with a half width exterior porch versus the full width normally seen.

Craftsman’s are all around Vancouver but Kitsilano and Kerrisdale are most commonly recognized as hotspots for the style.

OTHER ROOFS OVER YOUR HEAD

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Vancouver Heritage Foundation is a registered charity supporting the conservation of heritage buildings and structures in recognition of their contribution to the city’s economy, sustainability and culture. VHF supports Vancouver’s built history by offering educational tours, talks and lectures, courses, and special events. Launched early in 2013, the Vancouver House Styles Architectural Web Tool is a free online reference cataloguing Vancouver’s common architectural styles.