What style is most desirable ? (Glen Cove, Merrick: neighborhoods, buy, contractors)

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by ClarkStreetKid

We love those and looked at a few on the Island a while back. If the house is unaltered the floor plans will seem odd. One we looked at had the bedrooms on either side of the large living room. Most of the ones we looked at didn't have hallways but each room just opened into the one next to it. Also remember that since these houses could be from the 1920's the rooms will be scaled to furniture from that era. In other words no queen or king size beds and large dressers will fit into the master. Also the second floor is usually just attic space, so don't let that second story window fool you.

Here the floor plan of one.
Oh, Bungalow: Layout

Adding a resource to check out more of the catalog houses and period homes: Small Houses of the Twenties - The Sears. Roebuck 1926 House Catalog A Dover books Architectural Edition.
Also: 101 Classic Homes of the Twenties - Floor Plans and Photographs by Harris McHenry & Baker Co. A Dover publication

Part of the scale issue with some of the bungalows found on LI is that they were built specifically for summer living. My current home is a prime example. Many of these homes lack adequate closet space and the rooms are utilitarian; after all, people were spending as much time outside as possible. Bedrooms were for sleeping, living rooms to pass the time on a cold or rainy day.

The true Craftsman/California Bungalow are more spacious and utilize space much more efficiently with built ins, under stairway storage and such.

[TheTruth08]

Sounds like the craftsmans might be a little to small. But they are very charming to look at.

[ClarkStreetKid]

Might be small compared to what we're used to today, but people raised families n those fine old homes. I don't know how they did it but somehow they did.

[zulu400]

Originally Posted by TheTruth08

For LI styles:
Colonial and Ranch.

Outside of LI:

I don't know what thats called.

I also love the house style that's all over Florida, California, Las Vegas with those spanish shingles on the roof.

Modern houses are always nice too.

I love that style.... we stayed at such a house in PA on vacation... the front porch was a hit.... and it was a little raised... like about 20 steps from the road.... you could just relax on the porch and yell at your neighbors and watch the traffic and pedestrians.... Oh well....

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by ClarkStreetKid

Might be small compared to what we're used to today, but people raised families n those fine old homes. I don't know how they did it but somehow they did.

Good point

My previous owner had 3 kids in our little ranch.

All went to college.

No axe murderers.

Crooks

[totallyfrazzled]

There are quite a few Craftsman houses in Bayport (south of Montauk Highway and especially south of Middle Road). There are also a few in Brightwaters.

Speaking of "faux" house styles, don't forget "Post-Modern" which is a favorite of some realtors. IMO it's nothing more than a socially acceptable euphemism for "McMansion" because it's almost always applied to something that looks like a colonial onto which some architect has attached an eruption of various rooflines and gables (and which should rightly be called a "Neo-Colonial" if anything).

I've also seen ranches described as "post-modern" simply because they've had half an upper floor and a bunch of small gables stuck onto them.

Bah humbug.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by Crookhaven

Good point

My previous owner had 3 kids in our little ranch.

All went to college.

No axe murderers.

Crooks

LOL

About 10-11 years ago I read an article which stated how our modern conveniences have dictated how much more square footage per person we require in our homes today. Back in the mid 50's (Levitt era) the number was somewhere about 200 sq ft. The time of the article (1999ish) had the number at 450 or 500 sq ft pp.

[MiddleIslander]

Originally Posted by totallyfrazzled

There are quite a few Craftsman houses in Bayport (south of Montauk Highway and especially south of Middle Road). There are also a few in Brightwaters.

Speaking of "faux" house styles, don't forget "Post-Modern" which is a favorite of some realtors. IMO it's nothing more than a socially acceptable euphemism for "McMansion" because it's almost always applied to something that looks like a colonial onto which some architect has attached an eruption of various rooflines and gables (and which should rightly be called a "Neo-Colonial" if anything).

I've also seen ranches described as "post-modern" simply because they've had half an upper floor and a bunch of small gables stuck onto them.

Bah humbug.

The wikipedia article on mcmansions is a good read: McMansion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I especially like their observation that mcmansions tend to be designed from the inside out, where previous designs attempted to carve up a fixed building shape.

Apparently this style of slapping all kinds of different designs together is called a "neoeclectic" design.

See: Neo-eclectic architecture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
And: Neoeclectic House Styles: Picture Dictionary of House Styles

The example used is this photo:
http://z.about.com/d/architecture/1/...ion-010030.jpg

It looks like a colonial, a victorian, and neoclassical at the same time. Holy crap.

[ClarkStreetKid]

Originally Posted by OhBeeHave

LOL

About 10-11 years ago I read an article which stated how our modern conveniences have dictated how much more square footage per person we require in our homes today. Back in the mid 50's (Levitt era) the number was somewhere about 200 sq ft. The time of the article (1999ish) had the number at 450 or 500 sq ft pp.

That's what's so funny. Back on Clark Street we had families with up to 6 people in a small cape code, most with one bathroom, and we were more happy. My wife's house was a spacious 2100 sq ft with two bathrooms; now we have a few hundred sq ft more with one less kid, and my kids consider our house small because their friends have over 3K sq ft. Crazy.

[NYSinger]

Originally Posted by zulu400

I was just wondering, all things equal, what style of house would you prefer to live in.... maybe you can give the top 3 on your list.... I guess from the following list.... victorian, tudor, ranch, colonial, split ranch, high ranch, farm ranch, raised ranch, cape (please feel free to add anything I missed).

My list is Colonial, ranch and split ranch in that order.

Ranch is number 1 to live in because of my health. One set of stairs to go to the basement is plenty enough for me!!! However, I love to stare at the gorgeous Victorian houses, knowing I'd never be able to afford one, ha!

So my top 3 would be: Ranch, Victorian and Tudor.