What style houses are these? (cost, building, square foot, repair)

[fisher33]

i've heard it is expensive and i've also heard it's very difficult to do any remodeling due to the roof, if you wanted to build out or up later. lots to consider. thanks for the post!

[Moth]

Originally Posted by azoria

McMansion

Yep. That they are.

[fisher33]

they can be built smaller... we're looking at about a 2200 sq. foot house at most.

[Coldjensens]

You would be far better off to hire a competent architect to design a house for you in your favorite style using real architectural elements rather than phoney ones and designing in quality rather than focusing on "pretty" and maximizing square footage.

New houses are generally not quality. Not even the big builders. The reason is that people want and pay for "oooh pretty" effects and massive square footage. Quality is very expensive. Many people do not care whether their house is built to last more than 30 years. they do not plan to keep it that long anyway. Very few people are going to pay 80% more for the same size home just beacuse the cosntruciton is quality. It seems that people would rather pay only for features and footage and then either pay for endless repairs or sue their builder for defective construction.

Would you rather have a real bay window that you can have a window seat and/or use to grow plants, etc, or a fake one that is only a few inches deep, but kind of looks like a bay window from the outside? Now factor in tha tthe real bay window costs $5,000 and the fake one costs $600.

If you go with a gothic or queen anne style, do you want a real tower that you can actually put a chair in, or a two foot tower that is tacked on for looks only? On this one factor in about $3,000 for the phoney tower vs. $20,000 - $30,000 for a real one.

Personally if I were going to build a custom home, I would choose less square footage, fewer features and opt for quallity. I would also use steel stud construction since it is impossible to buy decent lumber anymore. Even 2x6 studs have minimal actual structural strength.

It is not widely publicized, but modern houses do occaisionally collapse due to poor construction and poor materials, even the "high end" houses. In modern terms "High End" only means larger, more decorateive features and higher end appliances. The quality is really no better.

You can still find architects and contractors who can produce a quality home, but they are hard to find and you need to be prepared to pay through the nose (whatever that means). The only way that you can get quality lumber is to use recycled wood, or go to independant sawmills (most of them are Amish). Steel studs are far stronger, but it will be hard to find someone to design with them and harder to find someone who knows how to build with them.

There is a builder in South Carolonia who built somevery nice homes in Beauford S.C. They copied architectural styles from an area known as "The Point" I thin that the sub was called New Pointe or something like that. I saw them many years ago when I did not know as much about construciton so they may not be as great as I remember them being.

[fisher33]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

You would be far better off to hire a competent architect to design a house for you in your favorite style using real architectural elements rather than phoney ones and designing in quality rather than focusing on "pretty" and maximizing square footage.

OK I'm starting to get a little frustrated. First of all, my original post asked what kind of houses these were. I didn't say anything about focusing on "pretty" or maximizing square footage. In fact - I just said in my last post that I want a SMALLER house. Guess you only read what you wanted to.

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

New houses are generally not quality. Not even the big builders. The reason is that people want and pay for "oooh pretty" effects and massive square footage. Quality is very expensive. Many people do not care whether their house is built to last more than 30 years. they do not plan to keep it that long anyway. Very few people are going to pay 80% more for the same size home just beacuse the cosntruciton is quality. It seems that people would rather pay only for features and footage and then either pay for endless repairs or sue their builder for defective construction.

I also said the builder is a reputable one - not a big builder. I DO care about the quality of a house. Why would me asking about what type of house these are infer that I do not care about quality?? Where are you and cosmic getting this from? Just b/c the style of the house is a mix of different styles that means the house is cheap? I'm afraid I don't understand the thinking there.

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Would you rather have a real bay window that you can have a window seat and/or use to grow plants, etc, or a fake one that is only a few inches deep, but kind of looks like a bay window from the outside? Now factor in tha tthe real bay window costs $5,000 and the fake one costs $600.

If you go with a gothic or queen anne style, do you want a real tower that you can actually put a chair in, or a two foot tower that is tacked on for looks only? On this one factor in about $3,000 for the phoney tower vs. $20,000 - $30,000 for a real one.

I don't understand the point of these soap boxes. They have no merit. Who would say the latter? Why would you think I would want the latter?? Again, you're assuming a lot about me b/c I asked what style some houses were.

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Personally if I were going to build a custom home, I would choose less square footage, fewer features and opt for quallity. I would also use steel stud construction since it is impossible to buy decent lumber anymore. Even 2x6 studs have minimal actual structural strength.

Again, I never said I didn't want a quality built house. In fact - that's EXACTLY what I DO want. Who would want a crappy house??

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

You can still find architects and contractors who can produce a quality home, but they are hard to find and you need to be prepared to pay through the nose (whatever that means). The only way that you can get quality lumber is to use recycled wood, or go to independant sawmills (most of them are Amish). Steel studs are far stronger, but it will be hard to find someone to design with them and harder to find someone who knows how to build with them.

There is a builder in South Carolonia who built somevery nice homes in Beauford S.C. They copied architectural styles from an area known as "The Point" I thin that the sub was called New Pointe or something like that. I saw them many years ago when I did not know as much about construciton so they may not be as great as I remember them being.

This is the only bit of helpful information in your post. Thanks for letting me know about the lumber and the Amish sawmills. I am aware they produce very high quality products because they take so much pride in their work. It's called Beaufort, SC and there is more than 1 good builder in SC.

Thanks for the post!

[MikeJaquish]

To answer the original question:
'Round here, 'round Raleigh NC, we just might call these homes "Transitional."

And local custom builders tend to do a very nice job with them.
And your material gain from steel over dimensional lumber will not be observable in your daily life, certainly not in proportion to the expense of steel.

To quote Microsoft and Dell:
"Did you find this response helpful?"

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by MikeJaquish

And local custom builders tend to do a very nice job with them.
And your material gain from steel over dimensional lumber will not be observable in your daily life, certainly not in proportion to the expense of steel.

True unless it gets really windy (like in a hurricane), or the house gets old.

the cost of steel stud construction is more but not dramatically so last time I checked. the difficulty is finding someone who knows it well enough to do it effeciently.

For the OP my point was that you might one to pick one style of architecture that you like, rather than the mish mash of different styles shown in the pictures. You might want to incoproate real archtictural elements rather than faux elements shown in the pictures. If you like tudor, build a true tudor. If you like Colonial revival, build a true colonial revival. This will give you a truely unique home with lasting appeal.

If you are going to build a custom home, it might be worthwhile to spring for true quality rather then following modern practices. Of course that depends on how long you want the house to maintain its appeal.

[Briolat21]

Okay.. has anyone noticed that tastes have changed over time?

Just because many of the modern "traditional" houses, are a mixture of previous traditional features - does not mean they are crap.

To the people in their neat brick Georgians, Arts & Craft bungalows probably looked like a hodge-podge (exposed lumber - is it a tudor? Wait its got a gable - is it a colonial? Wait its got a large open front porch -- probably a Victorian farmhouse). NO. Its a craftsman bungalow.

Tastes change over time. Who's to say that in 80 years, this style of neo-traditional house won't have its own name?

oh .. that's right... no one here thinks these houses will exist in 80 years because they'll all have collapsed under the weight of their own pretensions.

Sorry.. I think any one who cares to cast aesthetic judgements on others is a bit overdone themselves.

You can build ANY type of house in a quality fashion - you just have to be willing to pay for it.

[fisher33]

great post briolat! a couple of the posters on this thread are stubborn and set in their ways. they would fight with their own reflections.

i agree with you - any style house can be quality built, you just have to pay for it.
it is frustrating i asked what kind of house and they rant about quality?? weird.

thanks for your reply!

[fisher33]

Originally Posted by MikeJaquish

To answer the original question:
'Round here, 'round Raleigh NC, we just might call these homes "Transitional."

And local custom builders tend to do a very nice job with them.
And your material gain from steel over dimensional lumber will not be observable in your daily life, certainly not in proportion to the expense of steel.

To quote Microsoft and Dell:
"Did you find this response helpful?"

I rate this post a 10 out of 10! haha. Thanks for the post!