Striving for "honesty of design" is the hallmark of the Craftsman and Craftsman-style home. The open floor plan and earth-hugging horizontal profile was ideally suited for California's mild year-round climate. The design was heavily influenced by the architecture of the Spanish mission buildings and the Japanese aesthetic that was seen everywhere in the first decades of the 20th century. The essential distinction is that a Craftsman house is unique, typically architect designed and artisan constructed, using the natural materials and flow demanded by the site and environment in which it is built.