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Early Twentieth Century Styles (2.1.1.1.5)

Craftsman Bungalow (2.1.1.1.5.5)

The Craftsman Bungalow style was popular with homeowners desiring a modestly scaled but up-to-date residence during the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s. They were built throughout the city and are particularly prevalent in the Westover neighborhood along Hughes Boulevard and in the 1100, 1200, and 1300 blocks of Herrington Road. In Elizabeth City the style is characterized by low pitched--usually gabled--roofs that are often juxtaposed into irregular rooflines, wide overhanging eaves with triangular brackets, exposed roof rafters, and broad porches carried by tapered pillars raised on brick pedestals. Finishing elements on local Craftsman Bungalow houses were often adopted from the contemporary Colonial Revival style. Gable-front and side-gable forms are equally popular, with the former being more suitable for smaller houses and the latter, when expanded by wide shed-dormers, capable of accommodating bedrooms upstairs. While most bungalows in Elizabeth City are frame, there are notable brick examples, particularly the Gurley-McCabe House (107 North Griffin Street, 1915), a distinctive gable-front form with stylish details.

The smaller, gable-front Craftsman Bungalows are found primarily in working class neighborhoods. The house at 705 South Martin Street (1930s) is a representative example of this house type in its most basic form (even though re-sided with aluminum), while the larger Montgomery-Corbett House (749 Riverside Avenue, ca. 1925) displays Colonial Revival Doric pillars on the porch and a Palladian window in the gable; the Palladian window (or variation thereof) was popular in middle class houses both in Elizabeth City and rural Pasquotank County during the 1920s and 1930s. Identical houses erected for brothers Jim and Rob Fearing (1004 and 1006 West Main Street, ca. 1919) illustrate the side-gable form of the bungalow that was popular with middle class merchants and professionals. The Burfoot-White House (1008 West Church Street, 1920) exemplifies this form invigorated with a picturesque juxtaposition of subsidiary gables.

Other Craftsman Bungalow style houses embody more stylish elements. The W. Ben Goodwin House (1105 West Church Street, 1923) has a prominent front gable and eaves supported by rectangular brackets that recall the style's oriental origins. While simple triangular brackets are common in modest examples, the stepped and curved brackets of the wood-shingled Pugh-Needham House (1018 West Main Street, ca. 1916) indicate that even small-scaled Craftsman Bungalow houses can be rich in detail. Other typical Bungalow elements seen here are a lattice-like porch balustrade and a rectangular bay window resting on projecting floor joists. The continuous porch spandrels that appear on numerous porches of Elizabeth City's American Foursquare houses were also popular with Craftsman Bungalow houses. Examples include the Jim and Rob Fearing Houses (1004 and 1006 West Main Street, ca. 1919) and the Thomas J. Merritt House (806 Raleigh Street, ca. 1927), where the effect considerably invigorates the modestly scaled dwellings. The most unusual of the city's bungalows is the George W. Beveridge House (1006 Riverside Avenue, 1926). While the completely wood-shingled one-and-a-half-story house exhibits unexceptional features, its location--situated entirely on brick piers thirty feet into the Pasquotank River--makes it one of the most remarkable early twentieth century residences in eastern North Carolina.