Small Home Gazette, Fall 2012
Letter From the Editor: bungalow trivia quiz
If you missed this year’s Twin Cities Bungalow Club summer picnic, you not only missed good company, good food, and good weather, you also missed an opportunity to test your knowledge of bungalow trivia! It’s true— bungalows have been around long enough to have amassed an attic’s worth of little known—and perhaps little cared about—factoids.
But if you’re reading a newsletter about bungalows, you might just care enough to try to answer the eight questions below, which were gleaned from the longer list we tackled at the picnic.
If you’re stumped, the answers are listed after the questions. Have fun!
1. Who founded the Twin Cities Bungalow Club? In what year?
2. The term “bungalow” was coined by British colonialists in India who adapted and imported both the word and the house type. What is the original word for the low, thatched-roof building that was common in India?
3. What was the name of the Minneapolis Arts & Crafts organization that trained hundreds of artists in the early 20th century?
4. Name the decorative detail seen on the exterior of many Twin Cities bungalows that is an exposed part of the roof structure.
5. Some bungalows have decorative cut-outs on the ends of gable fascia boards. What is another name for these boards?
6. Between 1913 and 1927 the State of California required developers and real estate agents to submit house blueprints or photographs for approval before they could use the term “bungalow” when advertising houses for sale. True or false?
7. What was the most common style of home lighting fixtures found in bungalows during the bungalow era (1910–1930)?
A: Mission
B: Art Deco
C: Colonial Revival
D: Arts & Crafts
E: Romantic Revival
8. During the bungalow era, writers often referred to the domestic kitchen as:
A: the feminine domain
B: a laboratory
C: the cozy corner
D: the heart of the home
E: a woman’s workshop
Answers to Bungalow Trivia
1. Kristi Johnson started the Twin Cities Bungalow Club in 1995.
2. “bangala” or “bangla”
3. Handicraft Guild of Minneapolis
4. rafter tails
5. barge boards, verge boards, or fly rafters
6. False. Descriptive house names, including Queen Anne, bungalow, Cape Cod,
split-level and ranch, have never been governed. Then as now, developers and real estate agents describe houses using terms that would help sell them. When bungalows fell from favor in the late 1920s and other house types and styles became popular, “bungalow” became a derogatory term.
7. Colonial Revival. Arts & Crafts and Mission style fixtures were popular, but not nearly as popular as Colonial Revival—even in bungalows.
8. The kitchen was sometimes referred to as a laboratory—having an efficient and organized kitchen was considered paramount to running an effective household.
If the term “bungalow” had been regulated, this design might have resulted in a fine.
