Craftsman Style

Our new home and farm, currently under construction (read about it here), is designed with the Arts and Crafts movement in mind. We are not following the style exactly in everything we are doing, but the overall aesthetic reflects the general ideals of the movement. From the site Arts & Crafts Style:

The Arts and Crafts Movement revived traditional artistic craftsmanship with themes of simplicity, honesty, function, harmony, nature and social reform. The movement promoted moral and social health through quality of architecture and design executed by skilled creative workers, and was a revolt against the poor quality of industrialized mass production.

More from that site:

The ideals of the Arts and Crafts Movement are aesthetically expressed, in the past and present, in beautifully handcrafted household objects, useful and uncluttered home decor, homes and landscapes built with local materials, and home environments blended with nature.

The truth and beauty in these simple ideals can be an inspiration in today's busy and often crazy world. Here are a few Craftsman Style ideals for you to enjoy and use as you see fit:

• simple, refined aesthetics (beauty)
• simple, functional design (utility)
• living simply
• social reform (individuals more rational; society more harmonious)
• the virtue of a well decorated middle class home
• handcrafted objects
• high quality craftsmanship
• the joy of working and crafting with one's own hands
• creating objects well designed and affordable to all
• creating harmony with nature
• using and sustaining natural materials
• maintaining a sense of space and environment
• staying spiritually connected to home and nature
• creating space for inner peace away from jobs and factories

The Roycroft Logo,  trademarked by Elbert Hubbard in 1906

From Wikipedia: Roycroft was a reformist community of craft workers and artists which formed part of the Arts and Crafts movement in the USA. Elbert Hubbard founded the community in 1895 in the village of East Aurora, Erie County, New York, near Buffalo. Participants were known asRoycrofters. The work and philosophy of the group, often referred to as the Roycroft movement, had a strong influence on the development of American architecture and design in the early 20th century.