The Bungalow on its Home Ground
The big cities skyline in California is dominated by gleaming skyscrapers and high-rise buildings. However lots of people prefer to live in bungalow in the comfortable suburbs rather than in hustle and bustle downtown.
The California Bungalow is a form of residential architecture of one-and-a-half storey that was widely popular in America from 1910 to 1925. “Because of its mild climate and the reasonable availability of land, California became the destination of a new “gold” rush at the turn of the century. Young people came to make living growing things, and older folk sought it as a retirement place. Residents along the Pacific seaboard did not have the strong antique consciousness of …show more content…
To their builders and owners, bungalows meant living in a close proximity with nature.
James M. A. Darrach introduces the idea that the bungalow is “a dwelling or shelter planned primarily to bring under roof the greatest number of the charms of the outdoor life – a house whose atmosphere is, as far as possible, that of the woods and fields.” Consequently, the garden, however small, is well-maintained.
Considering a fireplace as the main point in the living room one can assume that dwellers enjoy having heart to heart talk and are outspoken. Be of not large size, as it was constructed only for one family, the building provides privacy and independence.
Ironically, although it may be considered as old-fashioned in compare to modern and pricey penthouse apartment, the bungalow that had once been the symbol of retreat to the countryside became the architecture of the city and its suburbs.
Moreover, the bungalow is still identified with the rural charm and a better, golden day. Be it ever so humble, it embodied an ideal for the majority of Americans – the free-standing, single-family dwelling set down in a garden – an ideal that clings to us