The comfortable house

I have a book titled "The Comfortable House"  by Alan Gowans.  It's one of those things that I remember a little differently than how the book really is.  Let's just say it is more scholarly than I remember and then let's talk about how I define the comfortable house.

By comfortable house, I mean the everyday houses built in America in the early part of the twentieth century.   They weren't fancy or expensive. Many of them were sold as kits.  They come in different styles...cottages and bungalows and four squares and farm houses and dutch colonials.   They have bead board and built ins and kitchens painted a soft creamy color.  They have upstairs bedrooms with slanted ceilings.  And a front porch and a back porch.  They are simple and lovely and homey.

My very favorite comfortable houses were set in bungalow courts, which are small neighborhoods of houses that faced a central common space.   Everyone sat on their porches and hung out.  Or at least, that is how I imagine it..

Bungalow court

For more bungalow court photos, click here