A good Craftsman home renovation keeps what makes the house a Craftsman and fixes what does not work for modern life. In practice that means:

  • Assess before you design: check the wiring, plumbing, structure and insulation, and test for lead paint and asbestos.
  • Preserve the defining features: built-ins, original trim, wood floors, the fireplace, and original windows where they can be repaired.
  • Open the plan selectively: wide cased openings and beams rather than removing every wall.
  • Match the details: trim profiles, rooflines and window proportions, especially on an addition.
  • Choose materials that suit the house: wood, stone, tile and simple hardware, chosen for durability.

Norman Builders is a design-build home builder and remodeler founded in 2007 by Ryan Norman, with an office in Newton, NH, renovating and adding on to older homes across the Merrimack Valley, the North Shore, the Seacoast and southern New Hampshire. We have not published a case study of a Craftsman bungalow, so the project examples below are older-home renovations and additions of ours, labeled for what they are, alongside general guidance for Craftsman houses.

What Makes a Craftsman Home Iconic?

Craftsman houses grew out of the Arts and Crafts movement, which favored honest materials and handwork over the ornament and mass production of the Victorian era. Gustav Stickley's magazine The Craftsman gave the style its name, and most American Craftsman houses, from one-and-a-half-story bungalows to larger two-story homes, were built in the first three decades of the 20th century. The Metropolitan Museum's overview of the Arts and Crafts movement explains the ideas behind it.

Architectural Hallmarks Every Renovator Should Recognize

  • Low-pitched roofs with wide eaves, exposed rafter tails and decorative knee braces
  • A deep front porch with square or tapered columns, often on stone or brick piers
  • Wide, simple door and window casings, often in stained oak or fir
  • Built-in bookcases, buffets, window seats and colonnades between rooms
  • Multi-pane upper sashes over single-pane lower sashes
  • A fireplace as the focus of the living room, faced in brick, stone or art tile
  • Natural materials inside and out: wood, stone, brick and tile

These are the features to protect. Almost everything else, including kitchens, baths, systems and insulation, can be updated without changing the house's character.

Planning Your Craftsman Renovation: Challenges, Costs and Codes

Assess the House First

A house built a century ago usually needs work behind the walls before it needs new finishes. Look for knob-and-tube or undersized wiring, galvanized supply pipes and old cast iron drains, little or no wall insulation, sagging floors or rotted sills, and water damage around porches and roof edges. If several of these apply to the whole house, our guide to gut renovation explains when a full gut makes sense.

Respecting History While Meeting Building Codes

Lead paint is likely in any home built before 1978, and in a Craftsman it is often on the original trim, windows and porch. Under the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, firms that disturb painted surfaces in those homes must be lead-safe certified. Old flooring, pipe wrap and insulation can contain asbestos and should be tested before demolition. New work must meet today's building, electrical and energy codes, which affects things like stair dimensions, railing heights and insulation; your building department can tell you what applies to the parts you change.

If the house is in a local historic district, exterior changes such as windows, siding, porches and additions may need approval from the district commission first. In Massachusetts these districts are created under Chapter 40C; New Hampshire towns can create them too. Check before you design the exterior.

Budgeting for Success

Older houses carry more unknowns, so set a larger contingency than you would for a newer home, and put structure and systems ahead of finishes in the budget. Our guides cover what a whole-house renovation costs and how to set and manage the budget, so we will not repeat the numbers here. Our own published projects are listed with their budget bands further down.

Timeline

Our renovation process guide puts a whole-home renovation at about 4 to 12 months or more of construction, with design, selections and permits before that. Old houses tend toward the longer end once walls are opened. George C., whose 120-year-old house in Newburyport we renovated, wrote: "once the walls were opened up there were many obstacles to be negotiated to meet the design specifications. Never once did they try to talk us out of something we wanted in our design in favor of taking a short cut that would make the work easier for them."

Preserving Character: Which Details to Save or Replicate

  • Built-ins: buffets, bookcases, window seats and colonnades are the hardest and most expensive features to recreate. Repair them in place where you can.
  • Trim: original casings, baseboards and wainscoting set the look of every room. Where trim is missing or must be replaced, have a millwork shop match the profile so new and old read as one.
  • Wood floors: original oak or fir can often be repaired and refinished, and patched with salvaged boards of the same species.
  • Windows: the National Park Service's Preservation Brief 9 on repairing historic wooden windows describes how original sash can be repaired, and paired with storm windows to improve efficiency.
  • Fireplace: keep the surround and mantel even if you change how the fireplace is used.
  • Doors and hardware: five-panel doors and original hardware can be stripped, repaired and rehung; architectural salvage dealers carry period matches.

Craftsman Home Renovation: Balancing Preservation and Innovation

Making Space: Open-Concept Ideas Done Right

Craftsman houses were built with separate rooms, but the rooms were often already joined by wide openings and colonnades. Widening those openings, adding cased openings with trim that matches the rest of the house, or reusing pocket doors gives you light and flow while keeping the rhythm of the rooms. Where a load-bearing wall comes out, an exposed beam can carry the load and look like it belongs.

In our Haverhill first-floor renovation, we removed interior walls to connect the kitchen, dining and living areas, and as the case study notes, "Painted craftsman-style casings, window and door trim and baseboards tie the rooms together." We do not describe it as a period Craftsman, but the approach is the same: consistent trim and floors are what make an opened plan feel like one house.

Craftsman Home Renovation in Kitchens and Baths

Kitchens and baths are the rooms that changed most in a hundred years, so they usually get the biggest update. Choices that suit a Craftsman include:

  • Inset or simple shaker cabinet doors, painted in muted colors or in natural wood
  • Soapstone, quartzite or other natural-looking counters
  • Subway or handmade-look tile backsplashes
  • Panel-ready appliances that disappear into the cabinets (our appliance integration guide covers planning them)
  • In baths: white subway or small hex tile, pedestal or furniture-style vanities, and fixtures in nickel or oil-rubbed bronze

For example, our Boxford custom kitchen used painted inset maple cabinets, a walnut island and natural quartzite counters, a combination that would sit comfortably in a Craftsman.

Integrating Modern Comforts Discreetly

Run new wiring and plumbing while walls are open, put outlets and charging inside cabinets or drawers instead of cutting into original trim, and consider ductless heat pumps or a high-velocity system where there is no room for full-size ductwork. Attic and basement insulation, air sealing, and storms over repaired windows improve comfort without changing the look. Our eco-friendly remodeling ideas guide covers efficiency upgrades in more detail.

Choosing Materials, Colors and Finishes That Feel Authentic

Craftsman palettes take their cue from nature: olive and sage greens, russet and brown, ochre and slate blue on the body, with cream or contrasting trim. Inside, warm whites and earthy colors work with stained wood. Natural materials such as wood, stone, brick and tile suit the house and age well. The paint-or-stain question for original woodwork is covered in the FAQ below.

Additions, Layout Tweaks and Outdoor Connections

Designing New Wings That Look Original

An addition to a Craftsman should repeat the roof pitch and overhangs, the siding and trim details and the window proportions, and stay smaller in scale than the original house. On a bungalow, a dormer or a partial second floor often keeps the proportions better than a full second story. Our Amesbury addition (2025, $700,000 budget band) added two bedrooms and a primary suite; we matched the rooflines, siding details and window proportions so the new spaces would read as part of the original house. See home additions for how we plan one.

Porches and Outdoor Connections

The front porch is part of what makes a Craftsman a Craftsman. If an old porch has been enclosed or its columns replaced, restoring the open porch, the tapered columns and the piers often does more for the house than any interior change. Rot at porch floors, column bases and roof edges is common, so check those areas early.

Common Mistakes and Pro Tips

Avoiding Pitfalls in Craftsman Home Renovation Projects

  • Over-modernizing: removing built-ins, trim and original doors to chase a current trend.
  • Painting stained woodwork without thinking it through: it is very hard to reverse.
  • Replacing windows with the wrong proportions: new units with different sash divisions or thick frames change the face of the house.
  • Additions that ignore scale: a tall box behind a low bungalow.
  • Underbudgeting: skipping the contingency in a house where walls will reveal surprises.
  • Starting demolition before testing: lead and asbestos should be checked first.

Where to Source or Recreate Period Details

Architectural salvage yards for doors, hardware, lighting and mantels; reproduction lighting and hardware makers for missing pieces; and a local millwork shop for trim, built-ins and cabinetry matched to your originals.

From Our Projects

We have no published Craftsman case study. These are the projects of ours closest to the work described above, with the budget bands published on each:

Frequently Asked Questions about Craftsman Home Renovation

What should I preserve first?

Start with what is hardest to replace: built-ins, original trim and wood floors. Then the fireplace surround, original doors and hardware, and original windows where they can be repaired and fitted with storms. Kitchens, baths and systems can usually be updated without losing the house's character.

Can I open up the floor plan without losing character?

Yes, if you do it selectively. Widen existing openings, add cased openings or colonnades with trim that matches the rest of the house, and use exposed beams where load-bearing walls come out. Keep the floor and trim consistent across the opened rooms. A structural engineer should size any beam, and the work needs a building permit.

How do I decide whether to paint or refinish original wood?

Refinish if the wood has never been painted or the finish is only worn, because paint is hard to undo. Painting can be the practical choice when the trim is already painted, badly damaged, or a replacement that does not match. In a house built before 1978, assume old paint and finishes may contain lead and have any stripping or sanding done with lead-safe methods.

Ready to Start Your Craftsman Renovation?

If you own a Craftsman or another older home in the Merrimack Valley, the North Shore, the Seacoast or southern New Hampshire, call Norman Builders at (978) 833-7337 or request an estimate. See how we approach whole-house renovations of older homes.