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Bungalow

The Old House Web

Takoma Park bungalow
This bungalow on Aspen Street in TakomaPark, Maryland, shows a classic low-slung roof, wide over-hanging eaves, a columned porch extending across the front of the house, and use of a varietyof building materials. (Photo: Deborah Holmes)

Thebungalow emerged as a popular housing style in America from 1910 to 1930.Simpler than the Victorians that preceded them, bungalows are typically foundparked in neat rows in city neighborhoods. One such neighborhood is Takoma Park,just over the Maryland state line from Washington, D.C.

Portions ofthe neighborhood are listed in the National Register of Historic places andcontain particularly good examples of bungalows in varying sizes and degrees ofrestoration.

bungalowTheNational Park Service describes the typical bungalow: The bungalow is aone-story house with one or more low-pitched overhanging gables. Exposed beams and projecting brackets help to emphasize structural form and exude a "craft" esthetic, a characteristic of the style. There is a deliberate use of natural materials like wooden shingles and clapboards, cobblestones and rough-faced brick for exterior walls, porch columns and chimneys. Porches extend across the front of the house and are supported by wide squat or battered columns. Windows are usually casement or double-hung with many small single panes combined with larger single panes. "Bungaloid" is used to describe small homes with bungalow traits. (Thedrawing of a bungalow is adapted from the National Park Service.)

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