I don't have any insight specifically on ponds for craftsman style homes only to say that the more natural the look of the pond, the more the disconnect between architecture and pond. A home of any style does not look out of place in a natural setting that happens to have a pond within it.

Craftsman style is very versatile as you see it on ocean front homes in New England, on city blocks in the Midwest, and in mountain retreats. That versatility of context makes just about anything in the landscape work because there is not an "expected" context.

I have many landscape design books from the early 1900's and they have plans for both formal (concrete) and informal (clay lined, and "Natural" shaped.) Many designers of that period felt that if you were on a small city lot with very rectangular lines it looked silly and out of scale to try to force curves and wild natural plantings.

check out this site American Landscape and Architectural Design, 1850-1920 (American Memory, Library of Congress) for period photos: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/landscape/

... I should clarify. I would not force a natural pond into a landscape that it did not belong in. If the extended landscape can accept a natural pond, it will do so and accept a craftsman style home as well.

The landscape is more than the house and possible water feature. While the house is usually the most dominant element in most residential landscapes, the influence of everything visible (extended landscape) can accept or reject specific things that another does not. My opinion is that the Craftsman style is very versatile and it is quite likely that the extended landscape will have more to do with whether it is more accepting of a natural shape or a rectalinear shape.

Topography, lot size, and lot shape is also going to have a big affect on whether your craftsman style home is screaming for one direction or another.

Thanks for the comments and the link. I would post a photo, but we have not completed the purchase, and I don't want to invade on the privacy of the current owners.

The existing landscape is overgrown and lacks any form, but there are some valuable elements, like mature fruit trees, a nice flagstone patio, a well made pergola. Everything looks a bit random, though. There is no where for your eye to come to rest.

I guess what's missing isn't so much "square or curvy" as a need for some sort of defining structure, whatever the shape.

Perhaps this is the time to aim for the Japanese garden I've always wanted.

It sounds like you need to slow down. Once you get into your house and get a feel for living in it, it will help you focus on how you want to live "out" of it. Talking with a local designer might be the best next step after that.

The thing that most homeowners have trouble with is organizing the things they want rather rthan knowing what they want. Another tendency is to envision something in a particular place on the property and fixate on that without seeing how that fits into the big picture. A good designer will guide you through that and help you keep honest with yourself.

Work from general to drtail. A pond is more often an accessory to another use. Get the uses figured out. Then figure out what needs to be built for that use. Working in a pond or a particular style planting can easily follow.

Size requirements and limitations of your site will often make certain shapes work better than others.

It is a process.

Water features are all the rage on the garden/home improvement shows. But these features also require a different type of maintenance, maybe power, and chemicals to keep them up compared to lawn/shrub care.

If you look at the elements of the Craftsman style boiled down, one of the key points is the lack of curved lines - the concept is entirely rectilinear in nature. Therefore, a natural or free-form, organically shaped pond is less indicative of the true Craftsman style than one that is more constructed/formal with straight lines. That doesn't mean a more natural, organic approach can't work - one of the other primary tenets of this style is organic in that it should blend rather than clash with the natural environment (ala Frank Lloyd Wright, Greene and Greene, etc.) This involves a celebration of natural materials and ornamentation - if any - that is based in natural elements. And siting as well, although you don't have many options with that at this point in time :-) However, how close one wants to adhere to "the Craftsman style" in the garden is really up for grabs and to the desires of the homeowner - the architectural style does not necessarily relate to any specific landscape design style other than incorporating those elements already outlined.

I agree with Laag and do think you are thinking a bit ahead of yourself at this stage :-) Live in the house for awhile, determine how you need to garden to work for you without any specific consideration for the architectural style and then work from that premise. How the garden fits and addresses your needs is going to carry much more weight than attempting to be true to a period style that is all over the ballpark anyway. Unless you are doing a full period reconstruction/restoration.

Thanks for additional comments. Some clarification: I'm a furniture designer/builder and I'm coming at this from the perspective of a woodworker. Everything gardengal said was right on target regarding the aesthetics of Arts and Crafts. This is a no brainer in terms of restoring woodwork interior and exterior. Yes, we want to do period restoration on the structure, and it would be nice to continue this into the ladscape, as, in addition to echoing nature with the use of natural materials inside the home, Arts and Crafts was also about connecting the house to the landscape physically. At least, that is what I have read.

However, the "designed" landscapes I keep coming upon in my research are either historical photos of rambling estates on 7 acres with lots of grassy areas for fox hunting, or more recent photos of modest bungalows with cottage gardens. Don't get me wrong. I like flowers, but cottage style, to my eye, just looks like a mess-o-weeds. Ok, it's nice in May. And that is pretty much what they have at this house, curvy beds with perennials. It just looks wrong. But I'd like to get a better sense of what is considered "period" before I say I'm commiting to a "period" landscape.

As for slowing down, yes, sage advice, but really, I'm ok. It's just the way I think. I need the big picture, so any pondering I do over the next couple years is in the context of the big picture. Plenty of work to do inside the house before I do anything outside.

I went ahead and ordered a book called __Outside the Bungalow__. Perhaps that will offer some insight into what might be considered a "craftsman landscape."

I have that book... I think you should find it useful/helpful. Putting the 'mess of weeds' in the context of a more formal layout might make it more acceptable for you I think. As Gardengal says, there's a lot of rectilinear - and/or smooth, formal curves - in the Arts and Crafts style. But it is also combined with relaxed plantings for the herbaceous floral parts. That book includes some garden plans from original small-scale properties that should be good at helping you assess whether the style is what you want to do. It's a style that greatly appeals to me and I would love to have an Arts and Crafts style home and garden!

Great, thanks. They have all the pictures blocked on the preview for this book, but I'm guessing the issue for making sense of a craftsman landscape is going to have a lot to do with hardscape, fences, pergolas. The house is so dominant, massive, low-slung, weighty, that a few tuffs of liriope just doesn't do the trick. But those same tuffs in a garden bordered by a massive, dry-stacked stone wall...

Thinking from the perspective of FLW and Greene. Water features enhance interest. FLW thought of windows and the fabulous stained glass and clear glass designs that he used in the windows as 'screens'. He was not interested in creating the illusion of the viewer being 'outside' when inside, iow plate glass windows that had no frames and stretched from floor to ceiling. His idea was to invite the person inside to look through the screen and wonder about what was outside. To see the outside but through a screen. This is very oriental. A water feature increases the person inside's interest in the out-of-doors. Integration of house and landscape was crucial for FLW, and Arts and Crafts. The Chicago Exposition was a turning point for FLW. He took Art Nouveau and transformed it into an astonishing architectural style.
FLW saw in his mind's eye, moon gates, shadows falling over pools of water, sunlight in rooms from two different angles, and curves that led one's eye along pathways in gardens. His Usion house was what we now call 'California ranch modern'. The patio was nestled into the house. A pond imo having grown up in a modest Prairie FLW home in Illinois, is for movement, leading eye & mind onwards and mystery. Random curves no, curves with purpose, yes!
See your pond or water feature from inside the house, from your windows. Think of enlarging your view by changing a window into a bay window--180 degrees view of outside, wall to wall. Take a slow walk around outside at dusk, at dawn, at night. Listen to the water. Hear how your yard will come alive with the pond. Creatures making sounds. Birds splashing. Ducks quacking. Fish and turtles breaching the surface to eat bugs. Dragonflies zooming around. Bats silently fluttering overhead in search of their insectivorous prey. Wind and water. Dry leaves falling into the water and blowing across the surface. Watch the moon's reflection pass over the water. In summer the sun will be higher; lower in the wintertime. Overhanging branches will allow shade in summer but a view of the warm rays of the sun in winter. Black pond water = mystery. A running water such as rocks and low-force jet coming up in middle of rock stack are very FLW. Look online at his house designed around a stream--Fallingwater. The house in LA the Hollyhock House designed with earth, fire and water at the hearth. Talieson was on the brow of a hill overlooking a stream valley in Wisconsin. I am envious as well. Wish I had a bungalow to landscape! Have fun!! :-)

I dont think you are going to find a specific Craftsman Garden style with defining elements as much as you may with an Arts and Crafts style.

My understanding is that such gardens had a more defined geoometric structure adjacent to the house with a separation between the formal and informal or naturalistic areas farther away. Use of wood and stone fabricated in a way that reflects the quality of craftsmanship would be in order.

As a woodworker, I am sure you will research the style sufficiently to decide whether your initial thoughts are "appropriate". A Japanese Garden need not be a traditional Japanese Garden. You may think of one having a pond and in a Japanese Garden context, such ponds are naturalistic to mimic a natural setting, often with a waterfall. However, it need not be the center of attention. Thus a well designed garden can have a series of smaller focal points as one meanders through its spaces.

The actual site will dictate much of the layout, but to decide on a particluar style should be balanced with your personal wishes and dreams.

Adherence to specific styles can be restrictive to one's desires. There is nothing wrong with designing what you really want and calling it something to fit into a particular style such as "Craftsman Oriental", or a Craftsman style Tea Garden.

Since both the Craftsman and Arts and Crafts styles (which tend to get used interchangeably) derive some of their influence from Asian cultures, incorporating a Japanese type garden into the landscape would not be out of line. I agree with the previous post that strict adherence to the architectural design concepts generally have little relevance to the landscape. And there are really no plants that are unique or specific to this design style, although a variety of common plant forms are often used ornamentally - ginkgo, wisteria, foxglove, hollyhocks, oaks, etc. Generally, creating an authentic 'Craftsman style' garden would mean incorporating structural elements and details that are common to the architectural style rather than focusing on layout or specific plant selection.

Gertrude Jekyll wrote a book on arts and crafts gardens - might as well go right to the master.

I am thinking, maybe anything except the pile of "natural" rocks in the far corner of the fenced yard.

I lean toward the rectilinear form--a wood frame or limestone surround--but it does seem much more important to doodle about with the location based the activity zones or access related to the pond, and not just to plop one down and then try to organize things around it. Or if you already have mature trees in your yard, then that will influence the preferred locations.

Get Thee to a Used Book Store either physically or on line and pick up some books written during the period. Mrs. Frances King wrote several: "The Little Garden" "Variety in the Little Garden". There was quite a demand for landscape design for small urban middle class homess. "Planning Your Garden" by W. S. Rogers has many many site plans for small rectangular city lots. This might be a little late, as it was published in 1929. G. Jekyll's book is for estates. Another great source is magazines of the time like House Beautiful.

I maintain that one of the alluring qualities of Craftsman or Arts & Crafts style is that it is supposed to blend with nature. Yes, the architectural features are all about vertical and horizontal line, but that does not necessarilly project throughout the landscape. Structured elements tied (visually or literally - pergolas, driveways, close walks) to the architecture are often kept in the rectilinear form. But, the idea is to be a form that integrates into any landscpe rather than to force the landscape to adapt to it.

The style may have started just after Victorian, but it has been continually in play ever since. I see it used here on ocean front "trophy homes" maybe more often than not. The houses of the Craftsman style range from tiny bungalos in tiny city lots to mansions on estates.

Part of the fun of Craftsman is that the architecture "blends" into the "natural" landscape. It is not about tearing down or breaking down the landscape to rebuild it into architectural elements. Instead, the architecture is supposed to have such a character through its delicate lines and grids that make it endearing to whatever the landscape is that it sits in.

The big value of Craftsman is its versatility. Why are so many trying to lock it down to a particular time period and setting? Insisting the line work of the architecture must be projected into the landscape is really not what the style is all about.

Just wanted to follow up to say that it looks like we will be buying this house, assuming the negotiations go well. So, very exciting times for me.

The discussion here has been helpful. The recommendation to look at books and magazines written during the period was especially helpful (King's books are available in Google books for free, I discovered). I found these sources helpful because I like to approach problems by first thinking inside the box before I attempt to venture outside the box.

When I turned to page 9 of "The Little Garden" I found this:

"Now the question rises should our little place be formal or informal in its treatment?"

I believe that is where I came in. And, as I've examined these materials, I have found that my first decision is that I'm leaning toward not having a pond afterall. I'll probably opt for more open space for the kids to run around.

I am so happy that you found the book suggestion helpful!

The Gamble House (Greene and Greene), that penultimate Craftsman home, has a pond in the back. Its on the edge of the brick terrace, edged with stones and clinker brick.

Bellingham, you sort of popped the balloon by tossing the idea for a pond. This discussion reminds me of the need for people to have to classify everything into styles, types, themes, periods, etc. "Classical" styles are conforming and therefore if one creates a garden within socially acceptable styles, one has earned notoriety or has adhered to the standards of "good taste". When someone deviates from this "normal" approach, a garden is said to be wild, natural or eclectic.

Placing a style overlay on top of the space for your garden can certainly reflect your personal preference for such, but what is more important is how you use the space to provide for your wants and needs. Whats more important to you, having a Craftsman style garden? or a functional play area for your kids? Its interesting when we discuss the appropriateness of a certain focal point like a fountain or pond and whether it "fits" into a period based garden style, and then suddenly it matters no more.

I enjoyed this thread nonetheless. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Must your garden fit a certain style or theme?