HOME STYLES

Modern Updates to Classic Styles

As you look at new houses and house plans, you tend to see whatever the latest trend is everywhere you look ... at least on the front facade.  Right now it's a white house with black windows and a few farmhouse siding details added, or a 2-story with some shakes in the gables and a bit of stone on the porch columns to mimic a craftsman home.  While it's a nice break from the sea of houses that were built without any real style from a few years ago (McMansion anyone?),  I believe the houses that as the most comfortable to live in follow a continuous style throughout the design.  That's one of the attractions to many older homes and why many people want the feeling they get from an old 1920's bungalow or 1950's ranch. 

My plans tend to follow several classic design styles shown below as they provide a great foundation for detail, clean lines, and creating a feeling of calm and flow as you move through the space.  The plans are also influenced by many of the Not So Big^© design concepts that emphasize quality materials and details over size, as well as current building science and a healthy dose of reality for what's cost-effective.  So the goal is to create a design that is well thought-out and right-sized for your daily use, providing an inherent comfort for your day to day living.  Of course the design style and final size is up to you and driven by your wants and dreams!

Here are some examples of homes I've designed to a specific style.  Other designs I've done include Mountain, Colonial, and Victorian ... so feel free to reach out for more information!

Modern Style

With their clean lines and simple forms, Modern style homes tend to focus on open floors plans and a connection to nature through the use of well placed windows and doors.  Unlike Contemporary style which tends to be cold and stark, Modern style is more about comfort and warmth with uncluttered spaces and simple but well thought-out details.  Mid-Century homes are great examples of this style and can be found throughout the country.

Farmhouse Style

Farmhouse style homes are designed to invoke a practical simple feeling that harkens to rural houses and their sparing use of natural materials such as wood and stone.  Typical structural elements include gable roofs and front porches, often mixed with simple rustic details.  Interiors often focus on the kitchen as the heart of the home, with wide-plank flooring, wood wall accents, and stone fireplaces.  Modern farmhouse designs bring updated functionality with open floor plans and practical spaces like mudrooms, while keeping an unpretentious atmosphere through simple interior trim and finishes.

Prairie Style

As one of my favorite home styles, Prairie style homes are distinctive in their iconic low-pitched roof lines with wide overhangs that give a horizontal emphasis to nestle them into the land they sit on.  Pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright, Prairie style homes focus on a connection to nature with their use of natural materials and an abundance of windows, as well as functional built-ins and open floor plans.  Wright's later designs using simple structures led to the suburban ranch designs and Mid-Century Modern homes of the 1950's and 60's.  With the versatility of the style, my updated designs have either stayed with the more classic Mission-style interior details that are heavy on the use of wood trim, or have moved towards more Modern-style interior details with simpler details.

Craftsman Style

With their basis in the 1900's bungalows and smaller homes, Craftsman style is focused on using simple materials in detailed ways to highlight the craftsmanship of the builder.  Features often include deep front porches, gabled roofs with wood accents, tapered columns, and the use of stone to ground the house.  Like most classic styles, the interiors can lean toward the traditional wood-centric trim details or move to more modern simplistic details ... both with a focus on built-ins and natural materials to give a warm and cozy feeling throughout.