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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Shop Talk Museum’s Old House Workshop Rides The Momentum Of The Arts And Crafts Movement

If the Arts and Crafts Movement hadn’t already occurred 100 years ago, someone would probably invent it today.

So many of the attitudes that launched the movement in late-19th century Britain - frustration with technology and it’s destabilizing influence on the workplace … a yearning for closer connection with nature … the desire to “simplify” life - sound like an Auntie’s book-reading topic.

Cheney Cowles Museum will explore the Arts and Crafts phenomenon during its seventh annual Old House Workshop starting Tuesday. Workshop coordinator Marsha Rooney says this year’s sessions will focus “less on how to rewire your house,” as in years past, “and more on the general philosophy behind the movement.”

The original Arts and Crafts Movement faded after World War I, in part a victim of its own success. So popular were the furnishings and decorative arts that they began to be mass-produced - compromising their integrity, not to mention contradicting the “handmade” principles behind Arts and Crafts.

Yet the simple, sturdy, honest elegance of Mission furniture and Craftsman bungalows kept them from disappearing entirely.

Fifteen years ago, Americans began rediscovering the charm of Arts and Crafts, “and for the past decade that interest has been rampant,” says Cheney Cowles Museum director Glenn Mason.

Now every other furniture store carries reproductions of Gustav Stickley’s tables and chairs, and designs that pay homage to Frank Lloyd Wright.

Mason, along with Seattle designer Ron Thomas and San Francisco writer Paul Duchscherer, will provide historic perspective, and local homeowners Bob and Pat Coe will discuss their efforts to rehabilitate an existing bungalow.

Holly and Kurt Peterson will describe their quest to transplant the magic of Charles and Henry Greene’s Craftsman-style architecture from Southern California to rural Spokane County.

Holly Peterson is no newcomer to Arts and Crafts, having grown up in the Pasadena area, where the brothers Greene helped define the American bungalow.

With the aid of Pasadena architect Doug Ewing and Spokane builder Shawn Gabel, the Petersons set out to borrow the best of what Greene and Greene had to offer - the characteristic Craftsman scale and proportion, complemented by earth tones and carefully detailed finish work - while avoiding the potential pitfalls of slavish authenticity.

For instance, they wanted an open floor plan, rather than the compartmentalized room arrangements typical of early bungalows. And they liked the exposed rafter tails and shingle look, but could live without the dark interior wood and wide balusters common to the style.

Mainly, though, says Holly, “We didn’t want something that looked like it had been brought in by a helicopter. The whole idea behind a Craftsman house is that it (appears to have) emerged from the earth.”

Outside, the 3,700-square-foot home’s brownish-green color, with charcoal fascia and brick-red sashes, help it fit comfortably into its 10-acre site. And inside, windows and walls are arranged to give each room views in at least two directions.

But what speaks most eloquently of Craftsman tradition are the numerous built-in cabinets and drawers, all faced with vertical-grain fir salvaged from train-trestle timbers.

“We wanted this home to have staying power,” says Holly, “so there’s a lot of intention behind almost every detail in the house.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 4 Color Photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WORKSHOP LINEUP Cheney Cowles Museum’s annual Old House Workshop begins Tuesday. The cost is $8 per session, or $21 for the series ($40 per couple). Pre-registration is strongly recommended; call 456-3931, or stop by the museum at 2316 W. First. This year’s topics include: “Introduction to the Arts and Crafts Movement,” with museum director Glenn Mason and Seattle designer Ron Thomas, 7-9 p.m., Tuesday. “Arts and Crafts at Home,” featuring two local residences - one new, the other rehabilitated - plus slides of Craftsman architecture around Spokane, 7-9 p.m., Feb 20. “The Bungalow: the American Arts and Crafts Home,” a presentation by San Francisco interior design historian and author Paul Duchscherer, 7-9 p.m., Feb. 27. Related free events: “The House,” a video on the history, shape and symbolism of the American home, 7:30 p.m., Wednesday. “Reproducing Historic Wallpapers,” a lecture by Argine and Bob Carter, owners of Mt. Diablo Handprints of Benecia, Calif., 7:30 p.m., Feb. 21.

This sidebar appeared with the story: WORKSHOP LINEUP Cheney Cowles Museum’s annual Old House Workshop begins Tuesday. The cost is $8 per session, or $21 for the series ($40 per couple). Pre-registration is strongly recommended; call 456-3931, or stop by the museum at 2316 W. First. This year’s topics include: “Introduction to the Arts and Crafts Movement,” with museum director Glenn Mason and Seattle designer Ron Thomas, 7-9 p.m., Tuesday. “Arts and Crafts at Home,” featuring two local residences - one new, the other rehabilitated - plus slides of Craftsman architecture around Spokane, 7-9 p.m., Feb 20. “The Bungalow: the American Arts and Crafts Home,” a presentation by San Francisco interior design historian and author Paul Duchscherer, 7-9 p.m., Feb. 27. Related free events: “The House,” a video on the history, shape and symbolism of the American home, 7:30 p.m., Wednesday. “Reproducing Historic Wallpapers,” a lecture by Argine and Bob Carter, owners of Mt. Diablo Handprints of Benecia, Calif., 7:30 p.m., Feb. 21.