The Essential Features of Craftsman House Plans

Craftsman

house plans

are an outgrowth of the Arts and Crafts style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution, architects reacted to the mechanization of life by trying to return to nature. They used wood and stone, and designed homes to blend into the landscape. In the 1880’s designers and thinkers such as William Morris, John Ruskin, and Philip Webb launched the Arts and Crafts Movement to celebrate handicrafts and to encourage the use of natural materials and simple forms. In the U.S. the brothers Henry Mather Greene and Charles Sumner Greene designed homes which combined Arts and Crafts ideals with the simple wooden architecture of Japan and China. The word “Craftsman” is derived from the title of a magazine published by designer Gustav Stickley from 1901 through 1916. True Craftsman homes are those built according to designs published in Stickley’s magazine, but other pattern books and mail order catalogues published plans with similar designs. Soon the term “Craftsman” meant any home which expressed the ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement, especially the simple and economical bungalow.

Energy Saving Tips for Homes and Green House Plans

If you are building a new home consider green power as energy sources. Wind and sun are two renewable energy sources that can be captured and used as energy in your home. Solar panels and wind turbines can offer a steady supply of electricity to your home.

If you are in the planning stages of building

green house plans

then consider the natural resources and build your home with a southern exposure. The warmth of the sun in the day will draw in heat. Also consider the natural insulation that landscaping can provide.