I think I should explain the “look” we are trying to achieve with our house.  New Zealand has a large amount of “bungalows” done in both a California style and its own variation of the bungalow that I think of as “New-Zealand Pioneer bungalow”.  The thing is Kiwi’s don’t “know” that they have bungalows.  Generally speaking their bungalows are not done with the some of the more high-end customizations and variations that are in most of what are known as California Bungalows (built in Buffets, bookcases, elaborate fireplace decoration, etc.) but that is due to the fact that those added extras increased the cost of bungalows even in California, and in the 20’s and 30’s Kiwi’s had to be much more careful of their spending, they didn’t (and still don’t, truth be told) have the same ratio of disposable income per capita.

Anyways, Matthew and I would like nothing better then to build a California Bungalow, unfortunately that style of construction is still associated with “old fashioned / out of date” and hasn’t had the resurgence in interest in it that it has in the States.  Consequently there aren’t any builders here in New Zealand that have any experience in building New Construction that “looks” like the old style.  As a side note, in the US the new construction of old style bungalows has reached a new high, the last time Matthew and I were in Santa Barbara, we saw along one of the back streets near my brother’s house, 3 new homes under construction (in different stages) that represented 3 different styles of popular California Bungalow construction.  What was really amazing was the fact that while they were completely new, and you could tell that they were new from their placement and surroundings, but they were so well done, that you could have dropped them in an old 30’s neighbor and they would have looked like they had always been there.  They got all the little details right that are so often missed in Neo-Bungalow.

Well because no one here is doing anything like that, I’m going to end up with a Neo Neo California / New Zealand Pioneer bungalow.  It will be a house made with visibly modern materials and construction methods and I will use trim and decoration and “misdirection” on the outside to let indicate it’s design inspiration.  On the inside however, I can be a bit more careful and authentic.  Paint (and the painting method) are important parts of the “look”, I have got a range of Arts & Crafts Colors from Roycrofts paints (the RGB values) that I will use, but the interior detail that when you see it will take your mind to that Arts & Crafts period is a Wallpaper Border.

We will be using a range of Bradbury & Bradbury wallpaper borders (and some actually full wallpaper in specific usages) in our house to achieve an effect that will be tailored to each room.

Here is a sample of the one that will be used most prominently thru out the main living areas of the house.

And here is what it will look like inside our house looking out form the kitchen

And here is our Library (office)

It may be a Neo-Neo Arts & Crafts, but when I’m done I’m hoping it will feel like an OLD FRIEND on the inside!