This site is dedicated to the Arts & Crafts Movement architecture of the San Francisco Bay Area. Periodically it is updated with new links and content, so check back from time to time.

The Arts & Crafts Movement had its roots in the Mid 19th Century in the UK with the designs and works of such individuals as William Morris, Charles Rennie MacKintosh, and Richard Norman Shaw. The Arts & Crafts Movement gained followers in the east coast of the US through the efforts of Gustav Stickley, Elbert Hubbard and The Roycrofters, and many major architects at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Architects educated in schools on the east coast such as the brothers Charles and Henry Greene made their way to California before the turn of the 20th century. The first important style imported from California was the California Bungalow that was attributed to the Greenes. They were best known for their work in So. California around Pasadena, and their work gave rise to the Arts & Crafts Movement in the southern portion of California. They designed the ultimate bungalow in the Gamble House in Pasadena. Other local architects emulated their work, and the bungalow was a home well suited to the warm climate.

California provided a wealth of opportunities for the Arts & Crafts Movement to flourish. The Gold Rush during the middle of the 19th century spurred the growth of the region. Fortunes were made by many individuals in mining, transportation, banking and other industries. The varied climate, geography, and abundance of natural scenery and materials provided the followers of the Arts & Crafts Movement with wealthy clients willing to explore the elements of living in harmony with nature espoused by the style.

The earliest history of the Arts & Crafts Movement in California might be credited to a Swedenborgian minister named Joseph Worcester, who in 1876 designed his own shingle-style residence in Piedmont. Rev. Worcester was a capable amateur architect and was associated with many significant architects and artisans. Among them were Bernard Maybeck, A.C. Schweinfurth, A. Page Brown , and Charles Keeler. Worcester also built a small number of shingle-style homes in the Russian Hill area of San Francisco.

Many of Charles and Henry Greene's most important works were in northern California. Their most elaborate project was a country estate for Mortimer Fleishhacker in Woodside called "Green Gables". Other prominent Bay Area architects that made significant achievements include John Hudson Thomas, Julia Morgan, Willis Polk, Ernest Coxhead, John Galen Howard. Along with a variety of lesser known architects, they created residences which are defined a style known as the First Bay Tradition and are found throughout this region in many neighborhoods and cities.

The Second Bay Tradition was a transition period that followed the decline of the Arts & Crafts Movement in the 1930's. Style characteristics were still present in some designs, but the essence and character of the Movement seemed secondary to the concept. Many architects of this period were students of Bernard Maybeck and John Galen Howard, such as William Wurster, who brought the Arts and Crafts esthetic into the modern age. In 1952, Wurster even purchased and remodeled a Berkeley home designed in 1906 by Howard. Warren Callister and Joseph Esherick also enthusiastically used wood to soften the hard edge lines of modernism in their building designs.

Housing and community planning evolved toward a more modernist approach. The post-WWII era was the expansion of the sprawl of the suburban housing developments. Much of the housing principles endorsed and promoted by Charles Keeler through the Hillside Club and his book, "The Simple Home" were ignored by this time. Very few housing developments were created with a sensitivity to relationship with the natural environment. One exception to this trend was an innovative style of housing that originated in the Bay Area by a visionary developer named Joseph Eichler. Eichler homes, as they were known, were either loved by those who lived in them or or despised by those that saw them. A low slung house proportional somewhat to a bungalow, these homes did not present much of an image toward the streetscape. They look as though the house is turning its back towards those that approach them. The homes relationship to the natural surroundings is primarily with the outside space contained within its own backyard. The Eichler may have been influenced to a significant degree by the Usonian and Prairie houses of Frank Lloyd Wright. The large roof overhangs may have been influenced by Bernard Maybeck. Their harmony with nature and Japanese character could have been drawn from the books of Greene & Greene. Are they Arts & Crafts style? Not at all in the traditional sense, but the Eichler has indeed transcended from the Arts & Crafts Movement. The Eichler home was also the work of architects, as Joseph Eichler enlisted the design work of firms such as Anshen and Allen to produce them. Eichler was also ahead of his time in pioneering civil rights, as the first developer to make his developments accessible to minorities. An article of interest reveals how living in Frank Lloyd Wright's Bazett-Frank House in Hillsborough inspired and influenced Eichler. Unlike true Craftsman homes and bungalows, Eichlers have been mass-produced by the thousands throughout northern and southern California. Most of them are found in the Bay Area.

The style of the Arts and Crafts Movement is undergoing a contemporary revival. Many modern houses, townhouses and apartments are built with the look and character. However, the 21st century versions lack the sense of harmony with the natural environment that architects like Maybeck were so successful at achieving. The high cost of land, materials and labor make building a true Craftsman home in the Bay area only something those of considerable wealth can afford.

Speaking of high real estate costs, while prices in the Bay Area have plummeted with the current economic recession, you wouldn’t know it with this Maybeck house for sale; check out these SFGate links. 1471 La Loma Ave., Berkeley, also known as the "Cubby". The cubby was designed by Maybeck in 1925, as a garage to house his prized Packard automobile. The Packard was a gift from a client, Earle C. Anthony, the owner of two Packard showrooms in San Francisco and Oakland for whom Maybeck designed a lavish, Mediterranean-style home in Los Angeles. The ‘cubby' set to sell is a follow-up article with more in depth information on this rare Maybeck house.

    

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Image of Mortimer Fleishhacker Residence, Green Gables Story of Mortimer Fleishhacker Residence, Green Gables Image of Roman Water Gardens Green Gables was Greene & Greene's Largest Project Another Green Gables story Historic Building Survey Form for Green Gables Charles Greene, Carmel and Monterey area Julia Morgan Photos & Drawings

Bernard Maybeck, George Boke House Bernard Maybeck, First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley, 1910 Bernard Maybeck, Harrison Memorial Library, Carmel Bernard Maybeck, San Mateo County houses Maybeck house for Charles Keeler 1895 drawing    Exterior view    Interior Living Room Roy Flamm Photos of Bernard Maybeck Buildings Wallen II House by Bernard Maybeck, 1937, Kensington, CA. Edgar Kahn House, Redwood City, CA

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In Association with Amazon.com, welcome to the SFBA Arts & Crafts Bookstore.
Amazon has a wide selection of our favorite books on the Arts & Crafts Movement. To make your selections easier, I have listed the best choices under specific categories by architect or other general topic. There are some specific books I highly recommend, and have indicated these . I either own these, read them or are familiar with them. I have also written some reviews at Amazon to further assist in your decision to buy the book. I add more books under their appropriate category as soon as I find they are available.

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Building with Nature: Inspiration for the Arts & Crafts Home
By author Leslie M. Freudenheim

Additional Arts & Crafts Movement books on Bernard Maybeck, Charles Keeler, John Galen Howard, and Berkeley Walking Tours are available from the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.

On the Edge of the World: Four Architects in San Francisco at the Turn of the Century
Toward a Simpler Way of Life, The Arts & Crafts Architects of California

Arts & Crafts Houses II:    Charles Rennie MacKintosh, Hill House; C.F.A. Voysey, the Homestead;
Greene and Greene, Gamble House(Architecture 3S)
Cottages by the Sea, The Handmade Homes of Carmel, America's First Artist Community   Highly Recommended!
Five California Architects  A chapter about the Greenes, plus Maybeck
Greene and Greene    by Edward R. Bosley
Greene and Greene    by Marvin Rand   
Greene and Greene: Architecture As a Fine Art
Greene & Greene: The Blacker House
Greene & Greene: Creating a Style    by Randell L. Makinson   
Greene & Greene for Kids [ILLUSTRATED]  
Greene and Greene: Furniture and Related Designs
Greene & Greene: Masterworks
Greene & Greene: The Passion and the Legacy
Images of the Gamble House : Masterwork of Greene & Greene
Toward a Simpler Way of Life, The Arts & Crafts Architects of California

John Galen Howard and the University of California:
The Design of a Great Public University Campus  by Sally Byrne Woodbridge
Toward a Simpler Way of Life, The Arts & Crafts Architects of California

Arts & Crafts Masterpieces:   Edward Prior, St Andrew's Church, Roker; Charles MacKintosh,
Glasgow School of Art; Bernard Maybeck, First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley...
Bernard Maybeck: Artisan, Architect, Artist (California Architecture & Architects Vol 8) : :
Bernard Maybeck at Principia College
Bernard Maybeck: Visionary Architect by Sally Woodbridge  hardcover    paperback  
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley (Architecture in Detail)  
Five California Architects  A chapter about Maybeck, plus the Greenes
On the Edge of the World: Four Architects in San Francisco at the Turn of the Century
Toward a Simpler Way of Life, The Arts & Crafts Architects of California

Hearst Castle: The Biography of a Country House   by Victoria Kastner, Victoria Garagliano (Photographer), George Plimpton
Julia Morgan: Architect   by Sara Holmes Boutelle, Richard Barnes (Photographer)  
Julia Morgan: Architect (American Women of Achievement)  by Cary James
Julia Morgan, Architect of Dreams  by Ginger Wadsworth
Julia Morgan, Architect, And the Creation of the Asilomar Conference Grounds
Julia Morgan: Pioneer Woman Architect   by Glenna Dunning
Toward a Simpler Way of Life, The Arts & Crafts Architects of California

Artists in California, 1786-1940    by Edan Milton Hughes
Artists of the American West   by Doris Dawdy
2002/2003 Davenport's Art Reference and Price Guide   by Ray Davenport
Toward a Simpler Way of Life, The Arts & Crafts Architects of California
Who Was Who in American Art: 1564-1975 (3-Volume Set)   by Peter Hastings Falk
Who Was Who in American Art: Artists Active 1898-1947   by Peter Hastings Falk

On the Edge of the World: Four Architects in San Francisco at the Turn of the Century
Russian Hill: The Summit 1853-1906 (Neighborhood History, 1)
Splendid Survivors: San Francisco's Downtown Architectural Heritage

On the Edge of the World: Four Architects in San Francisco at the Turn of the Century
Toward a Simpler Way of Life, The Arts & Crafts Architects of California

The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright    hardcover    paperback
The California Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright
Details of Frank Lloyd Wright: The California Work, 1909-1974
Fallingwater Using 3d Studio: A Case Study and Tutorial/Book and Disk
Frank Lloyd Wright : Architecture and Nature
Frank Lloyd Wright's California Houses (Wright at a Glance Series)
Frank Lloyd Wright's Fireplaces (Wright at a Glance Series)
Frank Lloyd Wright's Hanna House: The Clients' Report    hardcover    paperback
Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Houses (Wright at a Glance Series)
Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie
Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian Houses: The Case for Organic Architecture
A Guide to Frank Lloyd Wright's California
Prairie Style : Houses and Gardens by Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School
The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion

Arts and Crafts Studio of Dirk Van Erp

Storybook Style: America's Whimsical Homes of the Twenties   by Arrol Gellner, Douglass Keister (Photographer)
Toward a Simpler Way of Life, The Arts & Crafts Architects of California

The General Arts & Crafts Books have been moved to their own page.
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The Gardening & Landscaping Books have been moved to their own page.
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The Furniture & Woodworking Books have been moved to their own page.
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The Stained Glass and Ceramic Tile Books have been moved to their own page.
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Last updated 03-30-2009     

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