Overview
Gustav Stickley so synthesized, romanticized and popularized the Arts and Crafts-style home in his Craftsman magazine that today the term has become synonymous with any home in that style.Stickley used The Craftsman to promote his ideas about domestic architecture. Eventually he published his own house designs--221 numbered designs--with working plans made available to build the houses. In addition to providing plans of those houses appearing in the magazine free to subscribers, his architectural department produced plans for houses on request, for a fee. A total of 254 home designs have been identified, with many more probably waiting to be found. These designs ranged from mansions to mountain camps, and most were built in the rapidly expanding suburbs at the turn of the twentieth century. This book makes all Stickley's known designs available in one place for the first time.
Most of the images reproduced here come from The Craftsman magazine and well over half appear here for the first time since they were published almost a hundred years ago. Each house is presented with an exterior illustration to show the reader how Stickley envisioned it, along with floor plans. For houses that have features of interest, additional illustrations and architectural elevation drawings are presented. The most unique features of this book are comparative photographs in color and historical photographs of existing homes built from the plans.
Probably thousands of these houses in suburbs and towns across America were built in the early days of the twentieth century and are waiting to be discovered and enjoyed. We are only now realizing the profound effect that Gustav Stickley had on modern design, and this compendium takes a big step toward exploring his impact on popularizing residential home styles in the twentieth century.
Ray Stubblebine, a professional photojournalist, is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Craftsman Farms Foundation and editor of the foundation's newsletter. He is a writer and a speaker on the Arts and Crafts movement in America, whose articles and photographs have been published in Style 1900, Old House Journal, Old House Interiors, New Jersey Monthly, New Jersey Design, and the New York Times. He lives in Oradell, New Jersey.