Book Rack (no. 74)

Craftsman Workshops

1904-11 (ca.)

Oak

Collection of Crab Tree Farms

The profusion of bookcases in the Living Room of the Log House were supplemented, both in that room and out on the porch, with a number of these book racks according to the 1917 inventory. With limited access to electronic entertainment and more than one half a mile from their nearest neighbors, one imagines that reading–and the availability of different literature on hand–was a useful and pleasant way in which to pass the time. The volume of book shelves in the Log House, as well as the built-in ones in the Twin Cottages also point to the level of education in the Stickley household. While it is often noted that Stickley's formal schooling ended before high school, we should not mistake him for one who was uneducated. Quite the opposite, in fact as throughout his career he displayed a genuine curiosity to learn, which culminated in founding a magazine to which he regularly contributed. Judging from the resources available to read in the Log House, this love of learning was something Stickley sought to instill in his children.