Living the Bungalow Lifestyle in Spokane

When Janet and Kevin Conway were shopping for an Arts & Crafts bungalow in Spokane, Washington, they knew what they wanted—an unaltered home that hadn’t been “updated,” one that had original detailing and its charm intact. They didn’t mind doing some of the work themselves, having restored a previous home, a bungalow in their native San Diego. They looked for months for “the worst house in the best neighborhood” until they found the perfect candidate: a 1916 bungalow down on its luck. 

It took courage just to approach the place. Old blue paint was peeling from the siding and the roof shingles curled with black mildew; a mattress leaned against one side of the house; Christmas icicle lights dangled across the front. Alongside stairs that had been cut through the front porch, a carport jutted unceremoniously.

Inside, things were worse. Incontinent cats had run amok, using carpets and a closet as a litter box; Janet and Kevin donned face masks against the odor. Green floral wallpaper peeled from walls, the bath was so full of mildew it would need to be torn down to the studs, and the original fir kitchen cabinets had been replaced in particleboard. In the forbidding basement, inspection revealed disconcerting cracks in the foundation.

Still, the house was more-or-less original. The floor plan had not changed. Original wavy glass hung in the old window frames. Although woodwork and mouldings had been refinished in paint or urethane, they were intact; the bungalow-era doors and built-ins remained. The wide front porch promised lazy summer afternoons, the unfinished attic a new office for Janet. Best of all, the neighborhood was ideal—close by historic parks designed by the Olmsted Brothers and within walking distance of shops and restaurants.

Basics came first: new plumbing, and wiring brought up to date. The cracked, uneven basement floor had to go. Kevin jack-hammered it and hauled away 300 wheelbarrows full of concrete. He replaced the floor framing, installed a sump pump for a bathroom, and finished the basement as a comfortable, 1200-square-foot family room and guest quarters.

As the kitchen was demolished, paint shadows revealed where original cabinets had been. New cabinetwork was made from old-growth fir to ensure a perfect match, and walnut counter tops were selected to add a period note. Practicality dictated new appliances, although the 30" stove and the refrigerator from Elmira Stove Works have retro styling.

In the living room, the  fireplace had been covered with unattractive bricks in the 1970s. Grueby tiles were installed over the brick and the fireplace given more presence with a larger, wider mantel that carefully reproduces the profiles of original woodwork. Ceilings had been sprayed, at some point, with a bad “popcorn” texture finish that was now loose and cracking.

Kevin carefully pried off the top section of picture moulding in each room, cataloging exactly where each piece came from. After he’d added crack-proof drywall over the ceiling, he nailed the moulding back in place. Ceilings were finished with White Hyacinth, a color from Sherwin–Williams.

Not only the woodwork had been painted, but also the hardware. Every window latch, doorknob, hinge, and switch plate was methodically cataloged, removed, soaked, cleaned, polished, and re-installed. Woodwork was stripped, sanded, and stained in place, a time-consuming process that took the couple more than a month, working seven days a week. Janet selected warm, earthy tones from Benjamin Moore, inspired by the GuildCraft Carpets: Thyme in living and dining rooms, with accents of Turtle Green and New Chestnut, and Roycroft Adobe in the guest room. 

Janet and Kevin had learned to leave the floors for last, as they are subject to spills and damage during restoration. Wood floors—oak in the living room, fir in the kitchen, and maple in the bedroom—were refinished and sealed with a matte polyurethane finish. Rooms then were furnished with antiques and historical reproductions. Fulpur pots with a leopard-skin glaze, Van Briggle vases, Roycroft bowls, and other objects fill windowsills, bookcases, and tabletops.

The exterior, too, required substantial restoration, including foundation crack repairs and restoration of the botched front porch. The original cedar siding was stripped and ground down to the wood and the house repainted in a becoming fall palette using Sherwin–Williams’ Jute Brown on the body, with Van Dyke Brown on the trim and Fireweed on the window sash.

The Arts & Crafts movement is a philosophy and way of life, Janet and Kevin strongly feel. They wanted to create a home filled with honest work and the beauty of Arts & Crafts period design, as a backdrop for a life lived in appreciation of simple pleasures.