A sub-section of bungalows included those small homes of the period built in “rustic” style.

The rustic style incorporated elements such as construction using logs with the bark still on, rough stonework, and a particular sensitivity to the blending of landscape to structure.

The rustic style may look rough-hewn, but the execution was as careful as in any other house of the period. Woodwork was carefully and strongly made, and stonework was laid with a view to careful fitting and natural beauty of the materials.

It was a bit of a ‘folly’ type of architecture, meant to evoke feelings of a building or structure ‘at one’ with its landscape. Gazebos, bridges, picnic shelters, benches, and small cabins (and occasionally large lodges as seen in National Parks) all benefited from being built in the Rustic Style.

This delightful small house used the rustic style to great advantage for fitting in the home to its forest setting.

The owners of this cozy little cottage, Theodore Fisher and Victor Wise, were also the architects and they showed good taste and careful planning in the arrangement of this rustic forest retreat. Clad with lumber with the bark left on, and using cobblestones or river rock for the foundation, this summer home blends well into its setting. In 1913, the home cost about $ 1,400. (without plumbing), a bargain that we wish we could replicate today.

The porch of the forest retreat has a rustic railing encircling it, and the overflowing window box is also instrumental into making the cottage a part of its forested environment.

The Living Room is lighted on three sides, and with its stone fireplace and window seat, makes a cheerful room. The woodwork was stained a green brown and the spaces between the vertical woodwork is covered with green burlap. The wicker furniture adds to the lightness of a summer retreat.

The floorplan of this forest home shows a basic layout, the position of the window seat – overlooking the lush window box – and a screened sleeping porch at the rear, connected by a passage and a bathroom to the main house.

This rustic-style retreat gave its owners a true get-away home from city bustle. Natural materials, used with an eye to beauty and charm, and set into a forest setting allowed a peaceful retreat with the modern amenities of the day.