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Honestly, I see a beautiful house under a whole boat-load of work. If I had enough time and money (and there were no other structural issues) I would go for it!
I can give you some vague advice on what to change but I can't tell enough from the pictures (I can't see what it looks like from the curb)...
is the 4th pic on the first post (the one that shows the "inverted dormer") what you see from the street?
Yes the inverted dormer and the curved porch are from the street i.e. the front of the house. All the wood inside is original and much of it needs to be refinished, but it's in good shape.
What colors would you paint the exterior? The top is shake the bottom is clapboard.
The inside looks rock solid. We are having it inspected of course. Walls are plaster. I have other photos if that would help. The porch has a thin bead board type ceiling that looks as though it was varnished.
Sheena...My home has shingles up top...ours are blue, the rest cream, w/ rose colored trim. Course it was probably originally painted those colors in the 90's....We have only owned it since 06'...and like it enough to repaint the same colors. I would prefer sage, rather than the blue....but some of the windows have that vinyl trim in blue....so as w/ old houses, something else always needs to be prioritized.
My suggestions, a soft cream color for the base. A medium sage/greyish for the shingles with at least one other contrast color for the trim...ours has two..Of course, regarding the roof color...Your supposed to contrast and complement the roof color w/ the trim, or siding color.
Hmmm....After looking again....I would stay w/ one base color...as I think to change the shingles would cut the house in half...I still like a cream, almost light butter color....the trim should be greyish green or a soft sage. I cannot wait to see the trees and bushes trimmed away....I am curious about the area between the front door and the wall of windows...is it a porch??? Anyway, keep us posted...fun to look at the houses you're considering. And I am rooting for you to get somewhere peaceful quickly.
First my disclaimer: I have no information or knowledge of this property other than what's on this thread. I don't know your family's needs/wants and I don't know what the rest of the neighborhood looks like, the layout of the lot...basically the most important things one needs to know when considering large changes to an existing house. Take my $.02 at appropriate face value!
In general, I would aim for a "cottage" look. I would get rid of the "reverse dormer"... preferably by just deleting it entirely and redoing the roof over it's current outline. I would probably add a dormer (maybe 2 shed dormers) off the back instead for light and so forth.
It would be possible to add a dormer on the front but it would probably look wrong because the facade of the house is asymmetrical in the first place and there is a large chimney near the middle of the roof but still off-center.
The porch is stucco and I think the house would look great entirely in stucco. It may even be that way already underneath the clapboards and shakes. The eaves could possibly be extended out with exposed trusses/faux truss ends to get the craftsman look too.
Basically I imagine something similar to the Lawrence Fournier house:
Inside, I would restore the wood floors, take out the crown moldings and do a smooth ceiling at a minimum. Period or replica light fixtures and push button switches would add a nice touch too, as would some authentic pattern craftsman style wallpaper.
Really there is no limit to how crazy you can go on the style.... it's no coincidence that the words "bungalow" and "crazy" are often found in the same sentence.
I'm lucky... my bungalow made it through the 20th century pretty much exactly as it started.
That house needs a lot of work and has seen a lot of changes but it has a lot of potential too.
First my disclaimer: I have no information or knowledge of this property other than what's on this thread. I don't know your family's needs/wants and I don't know what the rest of the neighborhood looks like, the layout of the lot...basically the most important things one needs to know when considering large changes to an existing house. Take my $.02 at appropriate face value!
In general, I would aim for a "cottage" look. I would get rid of the "reverse dormer"... preferably by just deleting it entirely and redoing the roof over it's current outline. I would probably add a dormer (maybe 2 shed dormers) off the back instead for light and so forth.
It would be possible to add a dormer on the front but it would probably look wrong because the facade of the house is asymmetrical in the first place and there is a large chimney near the middle of the roof but still off-center.
The porch is stucco and I think the house would look great entirely in stucco. It may even be that way already underneath the clapboards and shakes. The eaves could possibly be extended out with exposed trusses/faux truss ends to get the craftsman look too.
Basically I imagine something similar to the Lawrence Fournier house:
Inside, I would restore the wood floors, take out the crown moldings and do a smooth ceiling at a minimum. Period or replica light fixtures and push button switches would add a nice touch too, as would some authentic pattern craftsman style wallpaper.
Really there is no limit to how crazy you can go on the style.... it's no coincidence that the words "bungalow" and "crazy" are often found in the same sentence.
I'm lucky... my bungalow made it through the 20th century pretty much exactly as it started.
That house needs a lot of work and has seen a lot of changes but it has a lot of potential too.
So great that you have an original picture! If we didn't go with all stucco what colors would you suggest?
Sheena...My home has shingles up top...ours are blue, the rest cream, w/ rose colored trim. Course it was probably originally painted those colors in the 90's....We have only owned it since 06'...and like it enough to repaint the same colors. I would prefer sage, rather than the blue....but some of the windows have that vinyl trim in blue....so as w/ old houses, something else always needs to be prioritized.
My suggestions, a soft cream color for the base. A medium sage/greyish for the shingles with at least one other contrast color for the trim...ours has two..Of course, regarding the roof color...Your supposed to contrast and complement the roof color w/ the trim, or siding color.
Hmmm....After looking again....I would stay w/ one base color...as I think to change the shingles would cut the house in half...I still like a cream, almost light butter color....the trim should be greyish green or a soft sage. I cannot wait to see the trees and bushes trimmed away....I am curious about the area between the front door and the wall of windows...is it a porch??? Anyway, keep us posted...fun to look at the houses you're considering. And I am rooting for you to get somewhere peaceful quickly.
I like the cream sage and maybe a deeper green like an olive. The roof is reddish and the doors that you can't see are red, thus contrasting with the other colors and coordinating with the roof.
So great that you have an original picture! If we didn't go with all stucco what colors would you suggest?
If you left it as-is, I would probably stick with white, because it's wearing the "cape cod" exterior "suit" now. It's not in that bad of shape otherwise... it looks weather-proof anyway... so maybe you should just clean it up and leave it for now.
It's never a bad idea to live in a place for year or two before doing anything major to it. It gives you time to see how the house works (or doesn't), saves money, lets you read lots of style books and find out what you really like. You really can't turn it into a period craftsman bungalow with just a coat of paint anyway.
Seriously considering what you've been through. Go there at different times of the day and night and see what's up. See if it's noisy. See if the neighbors leave the garbage cans out for three days.
Then go to the grocery store and take a look at the people shopping. Those are the people you will live with. Nice little house but, personally, I like to check out what kind of people are around it.
BTW: I wouldn't stucco it but that's just me. And check the rain gutters. One looks like it's slanted. Find out if it's just poorly installed or there's some other problem. (Like the way the roof drains. Or doesn't. And make sure the flat part in front of the 2nd floor windows drains properly or your in for nothing but buckets inside and Kilz.) Good luck!
One more thing, lol. Someone did a lousy job of painting the exterior. Notice all the paint that's run down onto the red roof shingles? That would make me nuts. I'd re-shingle or paint them or something. It cheapens the look of the house. (Cosmetic but it would still make me crazy every time I looked at it.) And I noticed hooks on the porch. A swing was there? (Check how secure before you rely on them.) And there are plant hangers. Someone loved living in that little house. I hope it gets rescued.
Last edited by DewDropInn; 08-28-2012 at 12:19 PM..
Seriously considering what you've been through. Go there at different times of the day and night and see what's up. See if it's noisy. See if the neighbors leave the garbage cans out for three days.
Then go to the grocery store and take a look at the people shopping. Those are the people you will live with. Nice little house but, personally, I like to check out what kind of people are around it.
BTW: I wouldn't stucco it but that's just me. And check the rain gutters. One looks like it's slanted. Find out if it's just poorly installed or there's some other problem. (Like the way the roof drains. Or doesn't. And make sure the flat part in front of the 2nd floor windows drains properly or your in for nothing but buckets inside and Kilz.) Good luck!
One more thing, lol. Someone did a lousy job of painting the exterior. Notice all the paint that's run down onto the red roof shingles? That would make me nuts. I'd re-shingle or paint them or something. It cheapens the look of the house. (Cosmetic but it would still make me crazy every time I looked at it.) And I noticed hooks on the porch. A swing was there? (Check how secure before you rely on them.) And there are plant hangers. Someone loved living in that little house. I hope it gets rescued.
Defiantly needs a paint job! I know some one loved it once. Besides the plant hangers there are hooks for a porch swing. I am just picturing it with a cottage garden full of black eyed Susans, daisies, Lilacs, lilies, blue hydrangea bushes and butterflies.
We have done a lot of research about the area. It's quiet. We spoke to one neighbor who was older and had lived there quite a while. She pointed out a nearby house where a State trooper lives and another house where a local policeman lives. Down the street there is a thriving church and across the road a well maintained country club.
The homes are well cared for and the area is serene.
I just wish I knew more about the style of the house!
We are having a full inspection though, so if it's a money pit. I'll find out.
Inside is deinfitely craftsman. The long skinny panes in the sidelights along side the doors aand the glass paned doors themselves are a giveaway. I see no quartersawn oak at all, so 1940s is pretty likely. The base molding is smallish and plain - again 1940s. Door and window casings are plain. There is no wainscotting. The doors are wood panel doors, but vvery simple and plain - 1940s or newer. Maybe it was updated in the 1940s with new moldings and door casings and doors. All the woodwork appears to be oak, not yellow pine. Could mean 1940s, could mean the owners were unusually rich if the house is older. None of these things are definite, but they are clues.
The 6/1 double hung windows could be form any time period. We have them in the original part of our house and we have them in the additions from 1850 and 1868 as well as in the part we added in 2006. I ahve seen simlar windows in homes form the 1930s 1940s and 1950s.
THe fireplace is puzzling, the brickwork, shape and size looks newish (like 1970s). However the mantle looks 1940s. The hearth is at floor level and the fireplace is shallow (not deep like newer ones)- this is a fireplace meant to heat the home, not a decoration.
What is under the carpeting? If hardwood, what kind and size? That can give you a clue. If only subfloor, then the house was probably meant for carepeting from the get go, which means 1940s, or newer. If it is hardwood, you cna pull out the carpeting - refinish and have really nice floors.
On the interior, I would guess it is from the 1940s and was built with a "retro" look (Craftsman while matinaining "modern" elements.
Outside, it a mish mash of a few different styles. My guess is it was substnatially remodeled at some time and the outside syle was "updated." This was fairly commmon. Our house began life in 1836 as a Greek Revival house 1 room wide. In 1850, the front was doubled in width and dormer windows added upstainrs and it adopted a new look (sometimes called "Windsor house" style). On the other hand, many houses were built with mixed styles.
The big arched opening at the porch is very typical of late 1930s - early 1940s.
Those inverted dormers are unusual. You do not see that every day. In fact, I can only rememeber two other houses like that. both were from the mid 1940s or newer.
If your commuity has a history room in the libraray or a local historical society. See if they ahve Sandborne maps and how recent they got. I do not know when they stopped keeping sandborne maps. look for old telephone books and see when your address first appears. Look at recorded title records for the property.
That is a nice looking house inside and out. The outside could be spiffed up a bit with some new paint using accent colors on trim. What is the siding made of?
Good post. I agree, definitely Craftsman but with modifications.
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Take my $.02 at appropriate face value! 
