AboutRichard Taylor, AIA Expertise Ask me about all aspects of house, remodeling. , and room addition design and construction. Ask me about historic homes, renovation, and restoration. Ask me about materials and techniques, and about how you can get the best value for your design and construction dollar. Ask me how you can make your home a very special place. I can't, however, answer specific structural engineering questions in this forum - that's something you'll need on-site observation for.
Experience I own a five-person residential architectural firm, and have been designing custom homes, remodelings, and room additions across the country since 1983. Check us out at Richard Taylor Architects and RTA Plans. I have written and been published extensively on the subject of residential architecture.
Organizations American Institute of Architects, City of Dublin Architectural Review Board, City of Dublin Planning and Zoning Commission, American Planning Association, Past Editor of SPLASH (a software forum), Past Editor of Open Directory Project, Boy Scouts of America
Education/Credentials Bachelor of Environmental Design (Architecture) Miami University 1983
For more about home design, check out my blog at Richard Taylor Architects Looking for great Luxury Home House Plans? Try ours at RTA Plans.
Question We are are building 2700 sq. ft. Italianate Style house in CT. We have a 8x8 cupola attached. Trying to get as detailed as possible (old style, new materials). We have overhang of 24" and eaves vary from main house, porch and garage (18" 2nd floor ,11.5 garage and 1st floor %26 16" for porch. How big should our corbels (brackets) be? When ordering composites, co Spectris, without going custom, they are only 15 x 18. We bought one but it looks too small. Any ideas or reading material would be helpful. Thanks. I could send pictures if it helps. We are not experts, so could use the help in achieving the older style look. Researched like crazy online and just seen pictures of Italianate houses but they don't say specifically how big corbels should be. Thanks
Answer Good morning Heather - thanks for your question!
Congratulations, you've just stepped into the world that Architects work in every day! We go through the same searching and head-scratching sometimes, especially when we're trying to get the details "just right".
The short answer is that there's no "off the shelf" solution. Generally, when we're doing what you're doing (and trying to use prefab parts, not custom), we begin with the corbels and brackets and work backwards - sizing the cupola details to match the available parts.
But that doesn't help you any, does it?
What you need is a couple of good references to show you the proper size gingerbread, then find something close that you can use. I usually start with the old pattern books, especially the A.J. Downing books. He (and a few others) were the kings of Romantic Styles pattern books in the 19th Century, and wrote many pattern books that were used all over the country for thousands of homes. Pattern books show house designs and lots of details. Many of these pattern books have been reprinted (I keep several at my office) and are available online at Dover Books (I think it's doverpublications.com).
I recommend you get your hands on a few of those to get an idea of what size the corbels should be.
Next, check out The Old House Journal (oldhousejournal.com) and Period Homes (period-homes.com) for articles about old house details (you may have to subscribe, but they're both excellent resources). Both magazines and websites (especially Period Homes) also have tons of ads for companies large and small that sell very specialized period parts - I have no doubt you'll find what you need at one of those sites. Good luck!
As a side note, I must ask - why isn't your Architect doing this research for you?
Hope this helps,
Richard Taylor, AIA
www.rtastudio.com
www.rtastudio.blogspot.com
