Bungalow and foursquare kitchens

Kitchens in bungalows and foursquares of the 1910s and 1920s were small and plain, with painted cabinets, a beadboard or white tile wainscot and a floor of linoleum, softwood or tile. In Cuyahoga County, which takes in Cleveland Heights, 28%¹ of homes were built before 1940.

Updated October 12, 2026

Illustration of a 1920s foursquare kitchen in Columbus with cream painted cabinets, a white tile wainscot, a green-and-cream linoleum floor and an open pantry door. — Illustration

What defines the look

Built for the family, not servants: Most bungalows, American Foursquares and Tudor Revival houses had kitchens built for the family's own use by the woman of the house, not just for servants.²
Small, but part of the main floor: Bungalow-era kitchens may have been small, but they were part of the main floor plan and had built-ins and electricity.²
Simple painted cabinets: Original bungalow-era kitchens were often small, plain and utilitarian, with simple painted cabinets.²
Beadboard or white tile below: The lower walls of an original bungalow-era kitchen often had a wainscot of beadboard or white tile.²

Illustration of an original built-in cupboard with leaded-glass doors and oak trim next to a kitchen door. — Illustration

Illustration of painted beadboard wainscot meeting a green-and-cream linoleum floor under a kitchen window. — Illustration

Linoleum, softwood or tile underfoot: Original bungalow-era kitchens had floors of linoleum, softwood or tile.²
Kitchen and dining room at the back: The A. B. Graham House in Clintonville, a Craftsman bungalow built in 1918, has its living room on the front half and its kitchen and dining room at the back, a floor plan its National Register nomination calls often seen in bungalows.³
Built-ins in the rooms next door: Cleveland Heights notes that its bungalows may have space-saving built-ins such as bookcases, china cabinets or benches.⁴
Natural wood, art glass and earth tones: Bungalows in Cleveland Heights typically used natural wood, stone, art glass and decorative tile, in natural earth-tone colors.⁴

Before the cabinets come out

In Columbus, the kitchen inside an old house is mostly your own call, even on a listed property. Columbus's historic architectural guidelines don't affect a property's existing use or most interiors; architectural review happens only when an owner proposes exterior changes.⁵ In Columbus, a property in a special zoning district, area commission area or historic district, such as German Village, may need additional approvals before work begins.⁶ A new window over the sink or a vent through a side wall is the kind of change that can need a review the cabinets never will.

Original pieces tend to hide in the corners of these kitchens. When the owners of the A. B. Graham House remodeled its kitchen, they kept an original cupboard on the room's west wall.³ Then and now, the rooms that go with a bungalow-era kitchen include a back hall or mudroom, a bathroom and one or more pantries.² A built-in cupboard, a pantry or a back hall can often stay as it is while new cabinets go in around it.

Arts & Crafts Homes suggests using several different counter surfaces in an old-house kitchen, which it calls more historical, and more practical, than long runs of matching laminate or granite.² For homes built before 1978, the EPA advises hiring contractors who use only lead-safe certified renovators.⁷ Bungalows and foursquares predate 1978 by decades, so plan for lead-safe methods anywhere old paint on cabinets, trim or window sashes will be cut, scraped or sanded.

Where these kitchens are in Ohio

These guides follow the houses, and in Columbus the place to start is Clintonville. Columbus's Clintonville Neighborhood Plan says the area has a particularly large concentration of American Foursquares, Colonial Revivals, Cape Cods and bungalows.⁸ Citywide the older stock is a smaller slice: 12%¹ of homes in Columbus were built before 1940. Kitchen remodeling in Columbus

Around Cleveland, many of these houses stand in the older inner-ring suburbs. Most of Cleveland Heights' housing was built from 1910 to 1930, and the city is home to hundreds of bungalows.⁴ In the City of Cleveland itself, 49%¹ of homes were built before 1940. Kitchen remodeling in Cleveland

Kitchen costs, layouts and project types in general are on the kitchen remodeling page.

Placed in Ohio because the sources above show these homes there.

Talk through your bungalow or foursquare kitchen

Call now(833) 517-7015Answered 8am–8pm ET

Calls are recorded. You'll be connected to one independent company that handles kitchen remodels in your area. We never call or text you. Privacy Policy ·Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Sources

Page updated October 12, 2026. How we source our numbers

U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year, table B25034. Released January 29, 2026. Cuyahoga County, OH, Columbus city, Ohio, City of Cleveland.
Arts & Crafts Homes, Revival Kitchens (Patricia Poore). Released August 27, 2013. View source. Industry source.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Nomination: A. B. Graham House, Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio (ref. 15000323). Released 2015. View source.
City of Cleveland Heights, Architectural Types: Bungalows. No publication date. View source.
City of Columbus, Columbus Register of Historic Properties Architectural Guidelines. Released 1997. View source.
City of Columbus Building and Zoning Services, Typical Residential Projects. Released March 2026. View source.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Remodeling Your Home and Indoor Air Quality. Released February 17, 2026. View source.
City of Columbus, Clintonville Neighborhood Plan. Released 2009. View source.