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Architecture/Puzzled with house style

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Expert: Rikki Nyman - 3/10/2009


Question

house pic.
We have owned this 1960's house for one year and have remodeled the entire inside.  We are now ready to move on the exterior but have no idea what would be best.  We have searched the Internet and many neighborhoods looking for a similar house but cannot find any matches or ideas on how to improve the look.  A few ideas we have considered are adding a pitched roof, adding a covered porch across the front or totally removing the facade.  We would love to know what style our home is and any suggestions on how to improve the look of our home??   Thank You!

Answer
The reason you haven't been able to find anything about the style of your house is because not that much has been written yet about that period. I guess we don't really have an historical perspective on the 1960s and 70s yet.

The best book I've found that begins to look at that period is "A Field Guide to American Houses" written by Virginia and Lee McAlester. They would classify your house as Neoeclectic; personally, I would call it Neo-Norman. Neoeclectic is a mushy term, encompasses too much, and in the end means almost nothing.

Neo-Norman accounts for the Mansard roof, which was popular in the US during the 1880s in Italianate-style houses. Mansard roofs also appeared here and there during the 1930s though not in great numbers. Neo-Norman also accounts for the the false half-timbering, which is reminiscent of the French-Norman or Provincial styles of the late 1920s. These design details can be found much further back in European architectural history.

What makes your house unique is the combination of elements. It's a snapshot in time of a style, trend, fashion that was very popular during the early 1960s when Mansard roofs popped up all over the place. There is a strong Modern influence too.

You have two choices. One is to capitalize on the style and enhance it, or turn it into something else entirely.

My first thought is to retain the style but enhance the façade by creating the Mansard roof across the front. The symmetry is important I think, and that segmental hood over the entry is pretty attractive. A repetition of that detail would reinforce the design. If you were to add the Mansard roof and a two-story bay window on each side that effectively functioned as a wall dormer, that could be attractive. (The proportions would need to be correct, so an architect would be the best advisor.)

You have something so unusual and potentially attractive as itself, I think it would be pretty cool to retain the original style. Unfortunately, I don't think you'll find too much help online.

If you want to take the alternate approach and create something else, you can do that. Decide what style appeals to you and hire a good architect to redesign the skin of your house. This option will most likely be more expensive as it would require a completely new roof structure in keeping with your desired style. There may also be structural limitations, so the advice of a licensed architect who understands your concerns, preferences, and budget is your best bet.

Hope this helps!

Rikki Nyman
www.antiquehomestyle.com
www.midcenturyhomestyle.com

Rikki Nyman

Expertise

Residential architectural questions concerning houses designed between 1900 and 1950, where the question pertains specifically to styles, designs, plans, building materials, color schemes, paint colors, interior finishes and so on. I am NOT qualified to answer engineering questions or issues involving construction methods, plumbing, electrical and the like. For example, I can describe what an appropriate color scheme would be for a vintage 1920s kitchen, or sources for plans for Storybook Style houses. I can not tell someone how to replace the electrical wiring in their old home.

Experience

I have been researching old houses and writing about them for more than five years. (See www.antiquehomestyle.com, which is my site.)

Organizations
Oregon Historical Society Architectural History Center, Portland Oregon

Publications
www.antiquehomestyle.com

Education/Credentials
B.S. History, Minor in Architectural Design

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