Where compact equals comfort

Living in an American bungalow home may not fulfill the American dream for homeowners today who want footprints with mega space, yet those who adore these cool, compact homes cannot imagine living in any other style residence.

Undeniably, the homes fulfill the same need as when they were built in the United States starting in the late 19th century: They suggest simple living, and they feature ornamental designs that delight. They're also more reasonably priced than larger residences, opening up homeownership to those who otherwise might not be able to afford it.

Bungalows were built during "a period when people were saying that I want a less formal life than my mother and grandmother," said Boston University associate professor Claire Dempsey, director of the preservation studies program, who explained that this style of home followed an era of elaborate, gargantuan grande dames.

Pam Martin lives with her two daughters in a 1930s-era bungalow she purchased seven years ago for $387,000 in Melrose after a divorce and vacating a sprawling "McMansion where our hamster had its own bedroom."

For Martin, starting over meant returning to the town she grew up in, a home near family, and simplifying life.

"We call this the dollhouse," she said. "We love it, it's so homey. For me, as a single mother, it worked out perfectly."

Martin's home features such period details as columns, built-in glass cabinets and shelves, wainscoting in the hall, and a front porch.

The upstairs attic, still under renovation, contains two bedrooms, a half bath, and skylights. Downstairs, the family often gathers around the family-room fireplace, and Martin's teenager now claims the downstairs bedroom, but Martin wants it one day. "When my kids are gone I'll have one-floor living," said Martin, an advertising media buyer.

From the front her house "looks tiny, but it's deceiving," she said. Square footage is approximately 2,000.

While "bungalow" is commonly used as a generic word for a small house, that's not necessarily the case, according to Dempsey.

"We know one when we see one," she said, explaining that, like Martin's home, they often contain one or one-and-a-half stories, a big dormer in front sitting over a swooping roof, columns that narrow at the top and broaden at the bottom, use lots of natural materials such as shingles, fieldstone, shaped concrete blocks at the foundation, and have naturalistic indoor/outdoor elements of form.

The most popular bungalow style locally is the Craftsman, from the arts and crafts movement. It features top quality building materials and craftsmanship, space-efficient floor plans with kitchen, dining area, bedroom and bathroom clustered around the living room, which often features a fireplace.

The first American bungalow was built at Monument Beach on Cape Cod in 1879 by William Gibbons Preston. It was not a true bungalow, however, as it rose two stories. In the late 1890s, this style craze spread and could be purchased for a starting price of $900. The trend continued through the 1930s, with bungalows becoming popular in various regions of the country such as Hollywood, Chicago, and the seacoast communities of Massachusetts, sometimes in camp-like clusters as resorts. Some even became available by mail order to be assembled by a local carpenter.

Micki Taylor-Pinney's late father, who purchased their 1920s Lexington home in 1957 for $11,500, did much of the work himself, converting the front porch into part of the living room, and relocating the front door. But then he stopped, leaving Taylor-Pinney and her husband, Marcus Pinney, to finish the job when they bought it in 1986 for $135,000.

"My father was a do-it-yourselfer, so many projects were started but not completed," said Taylor-Pinney, director of dance at Boston University.

The couple redid the bathroom, closed in the entry hall with a French door, added window trims, renovated the kitchen and first-floor bedroom, and modernized the upstairs bedrooms, each time matching the original style.

For just two people, it is the perfect size, Taylor-Pinney said.

"How much room do you need for two people?" she asked, rhetorically. She recalls living there, however, under very different circumstances, growing up with her parents, four siblings, and a dog in the one-bathroom, three-bedroom house of approximately 1,100 square feet. And her parents ran a folk dance business out of the home, with an open-door policy and visitors often staying overnight.

"All with one bathroom on the first floor," laughed Taylor-Pinney.

Carolyn Krasner, a medical oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, wasn't even in the market when she bought her 1914 Somerville home five years ago for $500,000. She always adored arts and crafts design, and when she stopped into a realtor open house, it called to her. She sat in the inglenook, a built-in seat next to the massive fieldstone fireplace, until the agents nearly kicked her out.

"This is where I'm meant to be," she said, adding, "Bungalows have always spoken to me; they tend to be smaller, and space is utilized very well, not a lot of hallway space or lost space."

The prior owners also loved the home and preserved the original owner's paperwork: He had constructed the house for $3,500.

Since moving in, Krasner repaired the slate roof and refinished the wood floors of her approximately 1,800-square-foot home, which she described as "spacious but cozy." Hers contains three first-floor bedrooms and two bedrooms on the second floor that have low slanted ceilings.

Krasner admits her favorite reading material is the magazine "American Bungalow." "It's just gorgeous - a lifestyle magazine about bungalows," she said.

"I can't imagine a better house," Krasner said. "Not a day goes by when I don't walk into my house and feel lucky."