Exterior Pictures of Kitts Creek in Morrisville (Wilmington, Star: custom home, buyer)

[southward bound]

Nice shots - thanks for posting those. The homes are absolutely charming!
Not enough frontage -- too close together -- for my taste. But for those who like that, it's pretty. The Village at Rolesville is like that. I like a bit more elbow room, and I don't want to see what my neighbor is having for dinner (unless I'm invited)!

[HookEmHorns]

WOW! A few of those designs are over the top but in general I like them.

One drawback, it appears that the houses are your basic box with just an interesting fascade, no?

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by HookEmHorns

WOW! A few of those designs are over the top but in general I like them.

One drawback, it appears that the houses are your basic box with just an interesting fascade, no?

More or less they are.
It is REALLY costly to decorate all four sides of a home.

Also, the basic home is complete. You can get into a livable Kitts Creek home without tacking on 20%-25% just to make it function.

[Check123]

Old School construction...

[NYer]

Reminds me of Queens... the parts of Queens that will always make me smile.

[Check123]

You win a prize. It is Queens. Meet you at Knish Nosh.

Originally Posted by NYer

Reminds me of Queens... the parts of Queens that will always make me smile.

[jedwardjos]

Originally Posted by Check123

You win a prize. It is Queens. Meet you at Knish Nosh.

Forest Hills?

[askmisterbrown]

Actually, many Victorian and early 20th century homes had very fancy fronts and plain sides and backs, because they were placed close together like the homes in Kitts Creek. You can see thousands of these in Chicago, St. Louis, Richmond, San Francisco, and all over the Northeast and Midwest. They often had expensive brick and stone on the front and cheap brick on the sides. The small front yards and narrow lots in Kitts Creek are also very pre-World War II. It was less wasteful of land and encouraged a close neighborly spirit. The alleys and garages in the back are also true to those eras.
Kitts Creek may not be for everybody, but no neighborhood is for everybody. I’m just glad that some developers are trying something different. The multi-gabled style dominated new development for about 15 years; now the Neo-Craftsman style is popular. This developer, and others scattered around the country, are moving into revivals of earlier styles. When any style is new, people will scoff at it. Don’t worry, Morrisville 2007, your neighborhood will age well. When the trees grow, it will look very charming. Those fancy facades are much more attractive than the huge garages lining the streets of so many newer subdivisions.
Of course these are not real Victorian houses; the materials and workmanship required to reproduce a real Victorian house would cost millions.
By the way, Check123, you did get fooled once. The second photo in your post of 3-25-2007 at 12:12pm is a new house!

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

Very informative post Mr. Brown! You know I lived in Richmond Viriginia for 5 years in a Historic area downtown and now that you mention it, I do remember there being quite a few early 20th century homes with fancy fronts and plain sides. I never even thought about it back then. Realy good point!

Originally Posted by askmisterbrown

Actually, many Victorian and early 20th century homes had very fancy fronts and plain sides and backs, because they were placed close together like the homes in Kitts Creek. You can see thousands of these in Chicago, St. Louis, Richmond, San Francisco, and all over the Northeast and Midwest. They often had expensive brick and stone on the front and cheap brick on the sides. The small front yards and narrow lots in Kitts Creek are also very pre-World War II. It was less wasteful of land and encouraged a close neighborly spirit. The alleys and garages in the back are also true to those eras.
Kitts Creek may not be for everybody, but no neighborhood is for everybody. I’m just glad that some developers are trying something different. The multi-gabled style dominated new development for about 15 years; now the Neo-Craftsman style is popular. This developer, and others scattered around the country, are moving into revivals of earlier styles. When any style is new, people will scoff at it. Don’t worry, Morrisville 2007, your neighborhood will age well. When the trees grow, it will look very charming. Those fancy facades are much more attractive than the huge garages lining the streets of so many newer subdivisions.
Of course these are not real Victorian houses; the materials and workmanship required to reproduce a real Victorian house would cost millions.
By the way, Check123, you did get fooled once. The second photo in your post of 3-25-2007 at 12:12pm is a new house!

[Check123]

I wasn't fooled. I knew it was a new home because I was on the builders web site. The title of the 3-25 post is "True Victorians" as in those of quality and skill; not necessarily old. I actually posted two new homes, in seperate posts. Notice the difference between the new Victorians I posted and the ones in Kitts Creek? Worlds apart. If a builder is going to lift a historic style it should at least be a decent attempt.

In addition, old Victorians that were stand alone homes always had decorative sides and backs, not to mention brick chimneys. Let's not forget about the interior either.

Originally Posted by askmisterbrown

By the way, Check123, you did get fooled once. The second photo in your post of 3-25-2007 at 12:12pm is a new house!