If you live in Lower Rockridge (affectionately known as “Baja Rockridge” to those who live here) and your home was built between 1905 and 1930, chances are it’s a Craftsman home. Lower Rockridge, below College Avenue and the BART station, was primarily developed in the early 1900s as a residential neighborhood known for its concentration of affordable Craftsman cottages. Most were one story when they were built, though subsequent owners have often added a second story.
Long-time Rockridge resident, historian, and Rockridge Voice contributor, Annette Floystrup remembers growing up in a Craftsman on 63rd Street near Hillegass after her family immigrated here from Denmark when she was only five years old.
“Built in 1917, our house had a front hallway with mahogany inlays, a living room with built-in bookcases and window seats, and double pocket sliding doors leading to a dining room.
Floystrup recalls how her home, like many Craftsman homes, had a dining room with a coffered (box beam) ceiling, wainscoting that reached three-quarters of the height of the walls, topped with multi-grooved plate rails, and a built-in hutch with glass doors.
Features of a Craftsman Home
Craftsman homes are generally recognized by their emphasis on handcrafted materials, natural wood, simple lines, and a close connection between the house and its surroundings.
This often includes:
- Stucco or brown shingle exteriors with clinker brick, regular brick, or stone chimneys
- Low-pitched roofs with broad overhanging eaves and elbow brackets
- Large inviting front porches, often with substantial newel posts
- Interiors featuring built-in cabinetry, buffets, and window seats
- Extensive use of natural wood in trim, wainscoting, box-beam ceilings, and hardwood floors with decorative inlays
- Open floor plans designed to eliminate the formal Victorian parlors
- Central fireplaces with wood mantels, often with bookcases on either side, and either tile, stone, or cast concrete surrounds
The Craftsman style of architecture was popular in California, the Midwest, and other parts of the U.S. and Canada. It was an offshoot of the British Arts and Crafts movement that began in the 1860s as a reaction against the excesses of Victorian homes as well as the deteriorating quality of homes built during the Industrial Revolution. In California, Craftsman homes were primarily relatively small, one-story bungalows, often less than 1,500 square feet in size.
A Bit of History
American furniture designer Gustav Stickley began publishing The Craftsman magazine in October 1901, and for the next 15 years it had a major influence on American architectural and decorative tastes.
Starting in 1904, Stickley expanded that influence by selling designs and blueprints that builders could use to construct bungalows with local materials. The decade from 1905–1915 saw thousands of these homes constructed, as they were efficient to build and comfortable to live in, with little wasted interior space. Eventually, “Craftsman” became an umbrella term encompassing a wide range similar architectural designs.
Arlene Baxter has been an active real estate broker for the past 30 years and has a particular passion for Arts & Crafts homes, which include Craftsman bungalows, Brown Shingles, First Bay Tradition, and homes in the Prairie style popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright. Over the years, she has listed and sold numerous homes in these styles throughout Rockridge.
Arlene explains:
“After the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire in 1906, there was tremendous demand for additional housing. This was the same year that the Laymance Real Estate Company developed three tracts, Rock Ridge Place, Rock Ridge Terrace and Rock Ridge Park.
“During the development of the Rockridge neighborhood, Bungalow Fever was at its peak. Up until about 1920, numerous varieties of Craftsman homes were designed and built by architects as well as by owner/builders, with extensive use of local redwood, as well as fir and other honest materials.”
However, World War I shifted priorities and made everything more expensive. Middle-class families increasingly bought blueprints from Sears, or kit homes, the most common local source being Pacific Ready-cut Homes in Los Angeles.
“With the advent of the Great Depression and changing architectural taste, the Craftsman building boom made way for Mediterranean, Tudor, and other revival styles into the 1930s and 1940s. Subsequently, Mid-Century Modern, with cleaner lines and brighter interiors, became the dominant style,” Arlene continues.
Craftsman Homes, Cottages, and Bungalows
While Craftsman homes can be found throughout Rockridge, they are especially common in Lower Rockridge and the area below or bordering the east side of College Avenue. Upper Rockridge, above Broadway, was historically wealthier and more exclusive, and consequently has a greater variety of larger homes, including spacious Brown Shingle and Prairie-style houses as well as various revival styles.
The Craftsman cottage was the smaller, simpler, and more affordable expression of the Craftsman tradition. These compact, one-story homes brought the Arts and Crafts ideals of simplicity, good craftsmanship, and natural materials to middle- and working-class families.
As the form evolved, the Craftsman cottage helped give rise to the California Bungalow, one of the most influential and widely built forms of early 20th-century housing in California.
Special thanks to Arlene Baxter (eastbay.bungalows@gmail.com) for contributing to this article, and for her recommendations for financial rebates available to Craftsman homeowners below:
Financial Rebates
There are numerous financial rebates that can help homeowners as they explore upgrades. Visit TheSwitchIsOn for customized lists of qualifying rebates. Also, contact BAYREN (Bay Area Regional Energy Network) to help guide your path towards energy efficiency. They have recently added a rebate to help remediate knob and tube wiring.
