Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Do you have a degree in architecture, or is this just a hobby of yours? I'm kind of jealous
I love to drive through old neighborhoods and look at the different styles, but I couldn't name most of them. I'll probably never live in one, either, but it is fun to look.
Jealous? Oh, gosh, why? I just love old houses and grew up in an area with a lot of them, so I guess you could call it a hobby. I did work for an architect for about a year when I was in college, but I studied something completely different. (Come to think of it, the house that kicked all this off is less than a mile from his old office.) Living here in the Denver 'burbs, which is a sea of beige tract housing, dictatorial HOAs, and shiny shopping malls, I miss the quirky, mishmash neighborhoods of my Midwestern hometown, where I was the sixth generation of my family to be born. Almost every neighborhood hosted some member of my extended family at one time, and I peruse real estate listings a lot looking for the homes where they lived. In one neighborhood alone, there are more than a dozen I have identified as belonging to members of one particularly large branch of the family tree. (I found them using old telephone directories.) It's fun to imagine my grandmother as a five-year-old running down the alley between her aunts' houses and seeing the porch where I have a now century-old photo of her hanging over the railing, blonde curls blowing about her face. I have no intention of ever moving back, but somehow, seeing photos of their homes makes me feel more connected to my family's history. Along the way I guess picked up a little bit about residential architecture, particularly that of the late nineteenth and twentieth century when my hometown's population exploded.
Someone should write an easy to read book filled with pictures for the average person, not architect, showing specific houses from pre WWII telling the name of each specific style along with how to distinguish one from another. I would find it fascinating.
Jealous? Oh, gosh, why? I just love old houses and grew up in an area with a lot of them, so I guess you could call it a hobby. I did work for an architect for about a year when I was in college, but I studied something completely different. (Come to think of it, the house that kicked all this off is less than a mile from his old office.) Living here in the Denver 'burbs, which is a sea of beige tract housing, dictatorial HOAs, and shiny shopping malls, I miss the quirky, mishmash neighborhoods of my Midwestern hometown, where I was the sixth generation of my family to be born. Almost every neighborhood hosted some member of my extended family at one time, and I peruse real estate listings a lot looking for the homes where they lived. In one neighborhood alone, there are more than a dozen I have identified as belonging to members of one particularly large branch of the family tree. (I found them using old telephone directories.) It's fun to imagine my grandmother as a five-year-old running down the alley between her aunts' houses and seeing the porch where I have a now century-old photo of her hanging over the railing, blonde curls blowing about her face. I have no intention of ever moving back, but somehow, seeing photos of their homes makes me feel more connected to my family's history. Along the way I guess picked up a little bit about residential architecture, particularly that of the late nineteenth and twentieth century when my hometown's population exploded.
Just that you know the different names and styles. I could learn if I put some time in, I suppose.
I tend to focus on the periods and styles that are relevant to my hometown, and I still have so much to learn. I just discovered that C-D has an architecture forum. HOW DID I NOT KNOW THAT! There's a discussion going on about identifying a period home in SF, and I have no clue from the details shared so far. I'm waiting excitedly for a photo and more clues, because, as I said I'm a house geek, and SF has housing styles all its own.
Someone should write an easy to read book filled with pictures for the average person, not architect, showing specific houses from pre WWII telling the name of each specific style along with how to distinguish one from another. I would find it fascinating.
The "Bible" of house styles is A Field Guide to American Houses, by Virginia Savage McAlester. It just came out with its 2nd edition last year after many decades.
I refer to it constantly, and just read it for fun- that's how much of a house geek I am lol.
The houses shown would be described here in Canada as "mock Tudor" because of the fake timbers which would be structural elements in a real Tudor house.
I must say most real estate ads here simply refer to the layout of the house ( two storey, side split, bungalow) rather than the architectural style, but then they usually have pictures...
The houses shown would be described here in Canada as "mock Tudor" because of the fake timbers which would be structural elements in a real Tudor house.
I must say most real estate ads here simply refer to the layout of the house ( two storey, side split, bungalow) rather than the architectural style, but then they usually have pictures...
Fair enough. One could argue that any Tudor style home on this continent would, in fact, be a mock Tudor.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
