Revival Woodwork

Some new projects around the country illustrate how the use of revival millwork elements and period details lend scale, quality, and style to a porch, a house, or a backyard structure.

Author:: Patricia Poore
Publish date:: May 11, 2011

The Incredible Green Home

“four squares” motif on staircase, revival millwork — A familiar “four squares” motif repeats on the handsome staircase.
Erick Gibson

This new Foursquare was built by the company Bethesda Bungalows on an infill lot in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The project is called “the incredible green home” because of its energy-efficient construction: it received platinum-level LEED certification. But the beauty of the house comes from its extraordinary details, influenced by bungalow-era and Prairie School details. It was designed by revival architect Christian Gladu of Bend, Oregon.

kitchen nook with storage — In the kitchen, an efficient nook includes storage; beadboard is a popular wall cladding.
Erick Gibson

Overhanging eaves, grouped windows with substantial trim, a tapered entry door, and decorated square columns create interest outside. The same quality continues on the interior, where the dining room is elevated and the platform surrounded by large boxed columns. A built-in breakfast nook in the kitchen includes storage underneath the benches.

Arts & Crafts Modern-Rustic

Craftsman with board-and-batten siding — This new house in North Carolina is a contemporary take on Craftsman style. Multiple cladding materials lend scale; the garage (foreground) has board-and-batten siding.
Roger Wade

Craftsmanship and intimate spaces define another new house, designed by architect Shawn Leatherwood. It’s part modern, part rustic, and part North Carolina vernacular, but millwork details are clearly influenced by houses of the Arts & Crafts period.

guest pavilion with timber truss — The guest pavilion has a handsome timber truss.
Roger Wade

The exterior is clad in clapboards, shingles, and board-and-batten siding, all of which lends scale to this rambling house tucked into a hillside. A timber truss, half-timbered details, and large under-eave brackets (on the garage extension) are handsome elements.

Arts & Crafts columns, revival columns — Arts & Crafts columns sit on cabinets to create a colonnade between rooms.
Roger Wade

Inside, square piers and columns separate rooms. A period-inspired wood wainscot lends scale to high-ceiling rooms.

Arts & Crafts Garden Structures

Garden structures are important in this period, too, and demand stylish millwork. Although derived from classical architecture, the pergola is a bungalow-era staple. Attached to the house or freestanding in the garden, a pergola consists of a colonnade (row of columns or piers) supporting an open roof, on which vines are often trained.