Direct from Bungalow Land: 366 Transylvania Park, Lexington, Kentucky

Bungalow mania gripped most of the United States in the first three decades of the 20th century. The versatile house type appealed to  homeowners, developers, and architects alike – and the historic advertisements for what was essentially an unpretentious building form bring joy to any lover of purple prose and hyperbole.

One California-based architect, F. G. Brown, trumpeted his designs as “perfect gems of home comfort and attractiveness” in an ad that ran in the May 1908 issue of House Beautiful. A young chemistry professor at the University of Kentucky and his wife saw Brown’s ad, and ordered a set of plans. Their bungalow still stands, 113 years later, on Transylvania Park near campus.

The Maxson Bungalow does impart a “California flavor” unlike many other bungalows in the immediate vicinity.

The frame, 1.5 story bungalow was constructed by a local builder for Dr. Ralph Nelson Maxon and his wife Jessie. I’m not sure when the house was completed, but the couple welcomed their first son in August 1908.

Bungalows were a radical departure from the ordered layout of many houses from the late 19th century – although I’m not a fan of the “open plan concept” that has folks tearing out every wall in a historic house (my first bungalow suffered that fate after I sold it), bungalows really provided a much more open and easy use of space  than most American houses at the time (see plan by Clay Lancaster, below).

Clay Lancaster included the Maxson House in his work The American Bungalow, and drew this first floor plan of the house.

While the plan of the Maxson House is very typical for an early 20th century bungalow in Lexington, the exterior details elevate it to exotic territory, with Japanese influences on the house type readily apparent. The two cross gable dormers flare to a point, and the side gable roof of the house features a flare at the ridgeline (or a “kick” if you prefer).

Another angle of the Maxson House.

The full-width porch (a must for a bungalow) has wooden posts on battered brick piers, sheltering the three bays on the façade. The porch has been altered; the original wrap-around to the side of the house removed at some point.

The original ad that inspired Ralph and Jessie Maxson.

The shingled brown bungalow is nestled under large hemlock trees, which make the house feel as if it sprung from the ground itself. It’s amazing that in an area of Lexington that has undergone so much change (much of it wrought by the nearby university), this house is still extant, bringing a piece of Southern California architecture to the Bluegrass.