Distinguished by their low-slung rooflines, welcoming front porches, and rich, warm, cozy appearances, bungalow homes are something of a staple in the Los Angeles real estate market. You’ll frequently find them peppering residential areas across the region like West Adams, Angelino Heights, and Highland Park. The rise of the bungalow house in LA wasn’t a coincidence. Rather, it was born from a regional design movement, rising standards for fine craftsmanship, and, of course, the country’s post-war population boom.
The Origins of Bungalow Homes
The bungalow house finds its origins in the Indian word “bangla”, meaning “a home in the style of Bengal”. This is because British merchants and officers during the 18th and 19th centuries, stationed in India as part of the East India Trading Company, adopted the housing style as a simple, affordable means of living. The style caught on, making its way back to Great Britain, where designer William Morris was bringing attention to the Arts and Crafts movement. This philosophy directly opposed the mass-produced factory construction of Victorian architecture. Rather, Morris, through the Arts & Crafts movement, prioritized hand-crafted objects built from high-quality natural materials that highlighted a beauty in classic simplicity.
Eventually, the Arts and Crafts movement, and with it the bungalow house, made its way to the United States. This is largely credited to the popularity of Gustave Stickley’s The Craftsman magazine. But the California bungalow also collected inspiration from Japanese architecture and Shaker minimalism, creating a unique offshoot further distinguished by clear lines and a strict adherence to natural building materials.
How Pasadena Became Ground Zero for the California Bungalow
Perhaps no LA-area neighborhood embraced bungalow homes with the same fervor as Pasadena. This is largely owed to the community’s early population boom. Founded in 1875, it attracted a tidal wave of Midwesterners looking for a warmer, sunnier climate. Between 1900 and 1920, Pasadena’s population quadrupled. And the bungalow-style house, already beginning to command attention in the area, fit their needs beautifully.
Enter Charles and Henry Greene, a team of brothers who founded their own Pasadena-based architectural firm in 1894. After visiting England, the MIT-trained duo felt deeply inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement popularized there. Returning to California, the Greenes unveiled what they described as the “ultimate bungalow”. All of the hallmarks were there: the sloping roofs and the hand-sculpted craftsmanship.
But these homes had the added objective of using these natural materials to blend with their pastoral Californian surroundings. You can still find prominent examples standing today, including the Gamble House and the Blacker House. It’s important to note the Greenes’ contribution to designs for bungalow homes because they elevated the style from its humble beginnings into a genuine architectural statement. And people across Los Angeles took note.
The Great Bungalow House Boom
Perhaps bungalow homes wouldn’t be quite so ubiquitous around the Los Angeles area were it not for the city’s immense population boom. In 1900, the city’s population hovered around 102,000 residents. Just 30 years later, that number had blossomed to 1.2 million. This aggressive growth was inspired by myriad reasons: the rise of the film industry, newly discovered oil deposits, the Owens River Aqueduct, and even a burgeoning real estate industry.
Add in the growing prominence of the personal automobile and an accommodating streetcar system that allowed residents to live further from the city center, and it’s easy to see why developers threw their full weight behind single-family home projects. You think our modern residential zoning is challenging? In 1930, 94% of the city’s residences were single-family homes. And that’s a rate no other city in the country could come close to matching.
For bungalow houses in LA, it was largely a matter of being in the right place at the right time. These were quality residences that were cheap to build, quick to construct, and stylistically compatible with the promised California experience. Many regional builders pared things back down from the Greenes’ grander version of the bungalow-style house, extending more opportunities to middle-class buyers. Now, about a century later, bungalow homes remain some of the most sought-after design styles in LA. Talk about built to last!
With a brand that says as much as JohnHart’s, Senior Copywriter Seth Styles never finds himself at a loss for words. Responsible for maintaining the voice of the company, he spends each day drafting marketing materials, blogs, bios, and agent resources that speak from the company’s collective mind and Hart… errr, heart.
Having spent over a decade in creative roles across a variety of industries, Seth brings with him vast experience in SEO practices, digital marketing, and all manner of professional writing with particular strength in blogging, content creation, and brand building. Gratitude, passion, and sincerity remain core tenets of his unwavering work ethic. The landscape of the industry changes daily, paralleling JohnHart’s efforts to {re}define real estate, but Seth works to maintain the company’s consistent message while offering both agents and clients a new echelon of service.
When not preserving the JohnHart essence in stirring copy, Seth puts his efforts into writing and illustrating an ongoing series entitled The Death of Romance. In addition, he adores spending quality time with his girlfriend and Romeo (his long-haired chihuahua mix), watching ‘70s and ‘80s horror movies, and reading (with a particular penchant for Victorian horror novels and authors Yukio Mishima and Bret Easton Ellis). He also occasionally records music as the vocalist and songwriter for his glam rock band, Peppermint Pumpkin.
