What style is this house (houses, bungalow, construction, Craftsman)

[ftgrfr]

Is it a bungalow, or farmhouse ranch, or ?. It is in North Carolina. From the outside it looks OK, but inside is a complete disaster. I don't know how anyone could ever have lived in it.

[Chango]

At a glance it looks like a 1 story Greek Revival farmhouse that has been Bungalow-ized later on in it's history.

The giveaway are the windows. They may be Victorian era but they certainly aren't bungalow style.

My $.02 anyway.

[ftgrfr]

That's interesting. I did not know bungalows had distinct windows.
Thanks for your input.

[Zot]

Neo Borg.

[richb]

It's 19th century construction for sure. It could be Folk Victorian if its was built in the 1880's or 1890's. If its older then that its probably the Greek Revival (1850's or 1860's) like the other poster said, its hard to tell with the vinyl siding covering it.

The main shape of a greek revival and folk victorian houses are very similar, the detailing would be different. Greek Revival would have had more simple details then the Victorian.

The porch supports and the brick are later remodeling projects for sure, probably the 1920's or 30's. Both Greek revival and victorian would have been outdated at that time. Its an attempt to make it more arts and craft (or the bungalow style). Both Victorian and Greek Revival have tall narrow windows (often tall enough to be doors) Early 20th styles were generally shorter and wider in the window department.

Cute house though. Are you looking to recreate the historic look of it?

[Clark Park]

Here is my guess: It was a late 19th Century Victorian vernacular house. By vernacular, I mean to say it was built by a builder or individual with a simple floor plan - often you could just buy blueprints. It was not designed by an architect and not really in any particular "style." Like a "Four Square" or a "Farm House." Having said that I think it was modified in the "Arts & Crafts," "Craftsman, " ... and yes, "Bungalow" style which was the rage from 1900 to about 1925.

So, here is a scenario ... the origional owners built or bought a simple Victorian cottage in the vernacular style. Twenty years later the house looked dated and needed to be updated, so they got rid of some the Victorian woodwork - the porch ballusters and railings - and the very Arts and Crafts Style squared pillars were added. The siding and roof came much later.

[Chango]

Originally Posted by ftgrfr

That's interesting. I did not know bungalows had distinct windows.
Thanks for your input.

Yea, bungalows usually have wider and/or groups of windows. The whole idea behind the Bungalow was to create a more naturalistic house and bring the outdoors inside (to some limited extent).

Greek revival was basically inspired by ancient greek temples; they usually mimicked the proportions (not size!) but did not necessarily include the details of ancient greek architecture. If you look at the main mass of the house (minus the porch), you can see the resemblance:

[K'ledgeBldr]

All of that is Greek! As in- you're talkin' Greek.

First- lets forget about the porch. I'll come back to that.

It's a Cape Cod Colonial-
Symmetrical single windows and a centered entry. The earliest forms had central chimneys; but later incarnations had "bookend" chimneys.

The porch could have been built when the house was built, or could have been a later addition. The porch was a condition of geography- the Southeast. There was no air-conditioning at the time so shade was paramount during the hot days of summer.

[T. Damon]

You usually are pretty good K'ledgeBldr but it is definitely not in any way shape or form a Cape Cod Colonial! First off, you aren't gonna find a Cape Cod in North Carolina except for a rare oddball. The roof is not steep enough to be considered one and the window proportions are not indicative of a Cape Cod, which really describes a minimal traditional home from the 1930's or later (as opposed to a Colonial (not revival) Cape, of the 17th and 18th century.)

The description of it being a Greek Revival (a simple, one story example) also seems most accurate to me. The simple lines of the roof, the balanced proportions and simple fenestration suggests it as much. What is hard to discern, and what would absolutely place it as such, is whether it has (or had) a wide cornice board just under the roof, which all Greek Revivals possess.

As others have noted the porch may or may not be original, the porch columns, if original, were likely rounded Doric, but square columns were not unheard of, those with battered sides like a craftsman bungalow as these are would be very unlikely. If it is not a Greek Revival, and it does seem that it could of the mid to late 19th century circa, though it might be a bit younger, it would then be described as a Folk National house. That's my educated, (architect) guess.

[ftgrfr]

Consensus leans toward Greek Revival, however, it was always my belief that the Greek Revival style has the front entry on the gable end. Guess I'm wrong on that.