More Than a Revival
The Arts & Crafts Revival is about 45 years old—and thus more enduring than the original American movement of the early 20th century.
Today’s arts & crafts sensibility reaches past reproductions and even interpretive work. It has spread beyond the cognoscenti, beyond those who know the history of the movement. Arts & Crafts tenets have been embraced widely. These include an understanding of the local and vernacular, an appreciation of traditional skills, sustainable practices, and a preference for “fewer, better things.” In both architecture and interior design, the current wave of Arts & Crafts is producing stunning, livable new houses.
The Arts & Crafts Revival is about 45 years old—and thus more enduring than the original American movement of the early 20th century. Contemporary artists and craftspeople are producing work equal to and often better than that of a hundred years ago. It’s impossible not to appreciate the beauty and quality of their textiles, their pottery and tile, their work in metal and glass and wood. In common with the original movement, today’s artisans consider the peculiarities of place, use discernment, marry design to craft, and often work cooperatively with other artists and tradespeople. Their clients are looking not for what is trendy or for the cheapest option, but rather for a connection to the maker.
If you are building, adding to, or remodeling a house in the Arts & Crafts spirit, the pages that follow will give you a vocabulary of design. You’ll be introduced to the diversity of influences: English, Scandinavian, Japanese; Stickley and Craftsman, Prairie School, California Bungalow. You may begin to see where your house fits in (or at least where your tastes lie), and that will help guide your decisions.
Enjoy this special issue dedicated to the output of today’s revival—individuals and companies we’ve come to know through their commitment to a deliberate Arts & Crafts approach. Many were recommended over the years by our readers. Alas, we could have filled twice as many pages! Find more at artsandcraftshomes.com, in various article posts and in the Products & Services section.
Patricia Poore,Editor
ppoore@homebuyerpubs.com
10 Harbor Rd., Gloucester, MA 01930
Patricia Poore is Editor-in-chief of Old House Journal and Arts & Crafts Homes, as well as editorial director at Active Interest Media’s Home Group, overseeing New Old House, Traditional Building, and special-interest publications.
Poore joined Old House Journal when it was a Brooklyn-brownstoner newsletter in the late 1970s. She became owner and publisher and, except for the years 2002–2013, has been its editor. Poore founded the magazines Old-House Interiors (1995–2013) and Early Homes (2004–2017); their content is now available online and folded into Old-House Journal’s wider coverage. Poore also created GARBAGE magazine (1989–1994), the first unaffiliated environmental consumer magazine.
Poore has participated, hands-on, in several restorations, including her own homes: a 1911 brownstone in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and a 1904 Tudor–Shingle Style house in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she brought up her boys and their wonderful dogs.
