Books
Radford's Artistic Bungalows: The Complete 1908 Catalog
by Radford Architectural Co.
This catalog includes a wider variety of architectural styles than the title might suggest, and some of the most interesting exteriors I've seen. Our own house, built in 1919, has curved eaves on the gables meeting curved eaves on the main roof, and we've always wondered whether the architect was on drugs. Now we know that he may have gotten his inspiration from Radford; several of the houses in this book have curved eaves meeting each other. Haven't seen that in other catalogs. The book has a wide definition of what's a bungalow, so there are houses with gambrel roofs, 3-room cottages, and 9-room expensive houses with servants' quarters. One interesting thing about the Radford plans is that, although published in 1908, virtually all of the houses have indoor bathrooms - only 2 plans in the whole book, that I recall, don't have an indoor bathroom. In 1908, that's unusual - many other contemporary plan books have as much as a quarter to a third of their models without a complete indoor bathroom or even an indoor toilet. Not only that, many of Radford's houses have both an upstairs full bath and a downstairs half-bath (toilet and sink) - almost unheard of at the time! So the architects were apparently fairly forward-thinking. A few houses even have two full baths, a feature that otherwise wouldn't become common until 40 years later.
Inexpensive reprint of rare catalog of 208 designs, including artist’s rendering of each completed dwelling, along with overall dimensions and floor plans (including interior measurements). Indispensable resource for architects, historians, restorationists, preservationists and any lover of the coziness, warmth, informality and time-honored appeal embodied in the bungalow.
|
