Neglected Beauty

The uniquely American Craftsman bungalow began dominating the landscape in the United States just before World War I. This style of house began popping up during a housing boom that started when banks offered home mortgages for the first time.

The architecture on these houses are simple, stylish, warm and functional. For millions of people, this was the first house they ever owned --- including me. I owned a house very much like this one and was the coolest place I've ever lived.

Because these houses were built during the growth periods of cities, most of these one-time dream homes are located near downtown areas on what is now less-than-desirable real estate. As middle class people moved to suburbs, lots of these homes were left behind to become crack houses. That's the case for this house on East Eleventh Street in one of the very worst parts of the Oak Cliff area of Dallas. This house has all of the classic elements of a great Craftsman bungalow --- a wrap around front porch with two seperate entrances, a fire place in the living room and very cool Dutch windows on all sides of the house. As evidence of how shitty this neighborhood is, a window pane on one of the front windows is riddled with bullet holes.