All hail the return of the bungalow
NEWS that Sir James Dyson has bought a bungalow in Singapore for £26.5 million is the latest proof that, after years in the doldrums, these derided properties are recapturing the imagination of buyers worldwide.
Bungalows originally came from India’s Bengali region—the word, which means ‘in the Bengal style’—where the British constructed single-storey buildings with wide, overhanging eaves and large verandahs as rest houses for travellers. In 1869, architect John Taylor built the UK’s first modern bungalow in Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, which was regarded as a refreshing departure from ornate Victorian architecture. Thirty-five years later, the Americans followed suit in California and Washington and the style took off across the world.
