Harriet Phillips Bungalow
Encyclopedia
The Harriet Phillips Bungalow is located on NY 23B
on the western edge of Claverack
, New York
, United States
. It is a stucco
-sided frame
building dating from the 1920s.
A strong example of an American Craftsman Bungalow, it is possible that the house may have been built as a catalog home
sold—not by Sears—but by an Iowa company that preceded Sears in offering full kits that included materials and designs for such homes. In 1997 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
's southeastern corner is a garage that is similar in style
and material to the house. It is considered a contributing resource
to the National Register listing.
The bungalow is a one-and-a-half-story frame structure on a foundation
of poured concrete. It is faced in stucco
. Wide overhanging eaves, supported by occasional paired brackets
, mark the line of the side-gabled roof that is shingled in asphalt and pierced by large dormer windows in the front and rear. The other roof lines have similar treatments. A brick chimney rises on the eastern side. The northern (front) facade
has a full-length porch with an arched support.
Inside, the front entrance, offset slightly to the east, has a screen door and a bevel
ed-glass front door. The entrance leads into a first floor, which is divided into four large spaces: a front hall with a staircase, living room, dining room, and kitchen. A Tuscan order
columned archway leads into the living room from the hall. Double French doors separate the living room from the dining room, which has a bay window
on the western wall. The landing between the first floor and the half-story has a stained glass
window.
Many original finishes remain. Most reflect the Arts and Crafts styles of the era, particularly the leaded glass
in the window panes and the clear slash grain Douglas fir woodwork
, especially the full-height kitchen cabinets. Other early twentieth century styles influenced the interior decoration, however. The columned entrance to the living room is a Classical Revival
touch, and the turned spindle baluster
s on the stairway are a sign of lingering Queen Anne
influence.
influence are the broad eaves and the use of stucco as an exterior material.
It is possible that the house may be a catalog house
or "kit house", as they also are known, assembled from prefabricated materials that are sold directly to homeowners. While these houses most commonly are associated with Sears, which made most of them between 1908 and 1940, there were other manufacturers.
The Philips bungalow is very similar to a design in the 1923 catalog of another manufacturer, the Gorden-Van Tine Company of Davenport, Iowa
, which had preceded Sears in offering a complete package of design and factory-cut materials. Many details and dimensions are identical. The only changes seem to be the elimination of a den
on the first floor to allow for a larger bedroom and front hall, and the rearrangement of the staircase and upstairs bathroom to allow for a third bedroom upstairs.
Originally, the roof was covered in cedar
shake
. The porch had been enclosed soon after construction, but that has been reversed. There have been no other significant changes to the house. It has remained a private residence since it was built.
New York State Route 23B
New York State Route 23B is an east–west state highway located in western Columbia County, New York, in the United States. The route is a former section of NY 23 that runs for from NY 9G southwest of Hudson to NY 9H in Claverack...
on the western edge of Claverack
Claverack-Red Mills, New York
Claverack-Red Mills is a census-designated place in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 913 at the 2010 census....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is a stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
-sided frame
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
building dating from the 1920s.
A strong example of an American Craftsman Bungalow, it is possible that the house may have been built as a catalog home
Sears Catalog Home
Sears Catalog Homes were ready-to-assemble kit houses sold through mail order by Sears, Roebuck and Company, an American retailer. Over 70,000 of these were sold in North America between 1908 and 1940. Shipped via railroad boxcars, these kits included all the materials needed to build a house...
sold—not by Sears—but by an Iowa company that preceded Sears in offering full kits that included materials and designs for such homes. In 1997 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Property
The house is on the eastern side of Route 23B, slightly north of Willmon Road on the opposite side. The property includes a small front lawn. The surrounding neighborhood is residential, with most other houses built in the early or mid-twentieth century. At the lotLot (real estate)
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...
's southeastern corner is a garage that is similar in style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
and material to the house. It is considered a contributing resource
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the National Register listing.
The bungalow is a one-and-a-half-story frame structure on a foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
of poured concrete. It is faced in stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
. Wide overhanging eaves, supported by occasional paired brackets
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
, mark the line of the side-gabled roof that is shingled in asphalt and pierced by large dormer windows in the front and rear. The other roof lines have similar treatments. A brick chimney rises on the eastern side. The northern (front) facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
has a full-length porch with an arched support.
Inside, the front entrance, offset slightly to the east, has a screen door and a bevel
Bevel
A beveled edge refers to an edge of a structure that is not perpendicular to the faces of the piece. The words bevel and chamfer overlap in usage; in general usage they are often interchanged, while in technical usage they may sometimes be differentiated as shown in the image at right.-Cutting...
ed-glass front door. The entrance leads into a first floor, which is divided into four large spaces: a front hall with a staircase, living room, dining room, and kitchen. A Tuscan order
Tuscan order
Among canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
columned archway leads into the living room from the hall. Double French doors separate the living room from the dining room, which has a bay window
Bay window
A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room, either square or polygonal in plan. The angles most commonly used on the inside corners of the bay are 90, 135 and 150 degrees. Bay windows are often associated with Victorian architecture...
on the western wall. The landing between the first floor and the half-story has a stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
window.
Many original finishes remain. Most reflect the Arts and Crafts styles of the era, particularly the leaded glass
Leaded glass
Leaded glass may refer to:*Lead glass, potassium silicate glass which has been impregnated with a small amount of lead oxide in its fabrication...
in the window panes and the clear slash grain Douglas fir woodwork
Woodworking
Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...
, especially the full-height kitchen cabinets. Other early twentieth century styles influenced the interior decoration, however. The columned entrance to the living room is a Classical Revival
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
touch, and the turned spindle baluster
Baluster
A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, one of various forms of spindle in woodwork, made of stone or wood and sometimes of metal, standing on a unifying footing, and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a...
s on the stairway are a sign of lingering Queen Anne
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
influence.
History
Bungalows, small houses with broad, sloping roofs, first became popular in California and then spread to the rest of the country. The Phillips house exhibits a primary characteristic of the form, in the recessed porch, which treats the space as more part of the interior than as an appendage. Aspects further associated with the American CraftsmanAmerican Craftsman
The American Craftsman Style, or the American Arts and Crafts Movement, is an American domestic architectural, interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts style and lifestyle philosophy that began in the last years of the 19th century. As a comprehensive design and art...
influence are the broad eaves and the use of stucco as an exterior material.
It is possible that the house may be a catalog house
Sears Catalog Home
Sears Catalog Homes were ready-to-assemble kit houses sold through mail order by Sears, Roebuck and Company, an American retailer. Over 70,000 of these were sold in North America between 1908 and 1940. Shipped via railroad boxcars, these kits included all the materials needed to build a house...
or "kit house", as they also are known, assembled from prefabricated materials that are sold directly to homeowners. While these houses most commonly are associated with Sears, which made most of them between 1908 and 1940, there were other manufacturers.
The Philips bungalow is very similar to a design in the 1923 catalog of another manufacturer, the Gorden-Van Tine Company of Davenport, Iowa
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
, which had preceded Sears in offering a complete package of design and factory-cut materials. Many details and dimensions are identical. The only changes seem to be the elimination of a den
Den (room)
A den is a comfortable, usually secluded room in a house. In the United States, the type of rooms described by the term den varies considerably by region...
on the first floor to allow for a larger bedroom and front hall, and the rearrangement of the staircase and upstairs bathroom to allow for a third bedroom upstairs.
Originally, the roof was covered in cedar
Cedar wood
Cedar wood comes from several different trees that grow in different parts of the world, and may have different uses.* California incense-cedar, from Calocedrus decurrens, is the primary type of wood used for making pencils...
shake
Shake (shingle)
A shake is a basic wooden shingle that is made from split logs. Shakes have traditionally been used for roofing and siding applications around the world. Higher grade shakes are typically used for roofing purposes, while the lower grades are used for siding purposes...
. The porch had been enclosed soon after construction, but that has been reversed. There have been no other significant changes to the house. It has remained a private residence since it was built.