Christina here. I happen to live in a house that was apparently totally redesigned in 1901 – the date is prominently carved into one of the outside walls. We have no idea what type of building was there before as it was completely transformed. All we know is that it was some kind of small farmhouse that was extended and remodelled to the owners’ specification. The result is a bit of a mish-mash, to say the least, but we love it. And it has lots of features typical of the predominant fashion of that time, the Arts and Crafts movement. I had only a vague idea what this was, so I thought I’d delve a little deeper and find out more.
The Arts and Crafts movement was a design movement that emerged during the late 19th and early 20th century. It started in Britain as a protest against what was perceived as poor quality machine-made goods produced by industrial manufacturing, and soon these ideas spread to Europe and America as well. As a reaction against the rapid industrialisation, its proponents favoured handcrafted items rather than mass-produced factory-made ones. They were afraid that old skills and crafts would disappear, and wanted to revive and preserve them as they felt some were threatened by industrialisation. There was also a measure of social reform included as the movement tried to promote better working conditions.
