The History of Bungalow Moulding
"Here in Seattle, our rich history helped to shape the local architectural landscape, including the use and variety of moulding profiles."
Depending where you go in the country, you'll find all kinds of different moulding styles. Take Seattle as an example, where our rich history helped to shape the local architectural landscape, including the use and variety of moulding profiles. At Dunn Lumber, we know that moulding can be extremely regional, which is why we went to several local remodeling contractors and asked what mouldings best represent the homes in Seattle's neighborhoods. They picked six different styles—including the bungalow profile—which are all on display at our Bellevue moulding showroom.
The bungalow style is the bread-and-butter profile of the moulding world. This collection of classic early twentieth-century design is typical of patterns found across the country in the homey bungalows, foursquares, and cottages built between 1900 and 1930. Simple post and lintel treatments of basic side trim topped by filleted and capped-head casings define the look, with common picture rails, crown moulding, base caps, and panel battens to dress up the wall and give style and proportion to the room.
I sat down with certified interior designer Keith Miller of Miller Interior Design, who walked me through the history and appeal of bungalow-style moulding in Seattle:
“The bungalow style came about as the industrial revolution was occurring, and was a smaller-scale response to the opulence of the Victorian era. Bungalow style uses flat stock; you might have a little bit of turnings and kerf cuts, but it’s reduced and simplified because the idea was to keep basic housing that respected human dignity.
The houses started flattening, getting lower and more horizontal to acknowledge landscape as the primary part of a homeowner’s experience. City planning was a big factor for local development of the bungalow style. People came to Seattle from San Francisco saying, "We’re going to plan this just like San Francisco." They set the lot size for row housing, and based the improvements on practicality. You'll see that even now all through our city, until you get up to the north end where the lots started spreading out a little bit.
Everything changed after the Great Fire, when the city burned to the ground from a mistake at a glue manufacturer in the heart of downtown. All of this wood construction was destroyed, and that infuriated and scared the city. They said "We're changing everything. Let’s move things back so that we have individual construction per lot and a five foot setback too." They didn’t change the lot size from what row housing required (row houses are designed to be wall-to-wall, like townhouses connected to each other). This meant bungalows had to be really small houses. People coming into this region at the time were also looking for something new. The gold rush was a seductive vision for many, and the bungalow became the perfect, modest companion for those in full-fledged pursuit of the gold rush dream.”
At Dunn Lumber, we know moulding is worth experiencing firsthand. That’s why we created our Bellevue moulding showroom, where you can tour six different styles to see how they uniquely complement floors, walls, windows, and doors. The showroom is a place for homeowners to envision their dream home, get answers from our experienced team members, or sit down with their contractor to lay out some plans and talk.
You can find the right style of moulding for your home at all nine of our Puget Sound Dunn Lumber locations.
