This bungalow on Aspen Street in Takoma Park, 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 variety of building materials. (Photo: Deborah Holmes)
The bungalow emerged as a popular housing style in America from 1910 to 1930. Simpler than the Victorians that preceded them, bungalows are typically found parked in neat rows in city neighborhoods. One such neighborhood is Takoma Park, just over the Maryland state line from Washington, D.C.
Portions of the neighborhood are listed in the National Register of Historic places and contain particularly good examples of bungalows in varying sizes and degrees of restoration.
The National Park Service describes the typical bungalow: The bungalow is a one-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. (The drawing of a bungalow is adapted from the National Park Service.)
- More information on Takoma Park
- Books on bungalows
- Bungalow House Plans
