Does anyone else hate this building style? (Dallas, Austin: fit in, sales)

[ThomasCrown]

My parents had a ranch style home for a bit when I was growing up, and we had a short stint in a MCM back then too. The classic ranch for me is the style I hate the most, I vastly prefer modern contemporary homes with their stone/brick veneers. The interiors are much more spacious. An MCM is a great style for a downsizing choice for retirement. Not too common a style around here however.

[TheOverdog]

I think the issue is when two windows could easily be the same size/shape but for inexplicable reasons aren't. Look at the house the OP posted.

Eh. Doesn't bother. At least there are no rounded windows above the first floor and all the lintels are the same (the brick pattern above the window). The only ones that are perhaps questionable are the rounded ones on the rounded tower, or if it has the rounded ones on the side like it's neighbor to the left. That side looks worse than the front of the OP house.

[apple44]

Originally Posted by EP45

Here’s what I don’t understand about all this:

What does it matter? Does the physical exterior of a home that you don’t even live in impact your life in any meaningful way?

Does the physical exterior of a house dictate how it’s used or the layout inside?

Do hands get bruised by all this clutching of pearls?

I don't quite get your problem. Supposedly if you don't like this discussion, you don't have to join? There are many threads on this forum that I don't find interesting or don't understand the point, so I don't click on them, but I wouldn't keep saying: why are you guys discussing these pointless issues?

Back to your question. Physical exterior matters -- that's part of the house! It's just like the exterior of a car, the exterior of furniture and the exterior of clothing, etc. Exterior often has an impact the inside layout and its functions. Even when it's not your house, your car, your clothes, you do see them in daily life, and I think it's only natural to have an opinion about them -- this car looks ugly, that dress looks chic, etc.

Also, it would be false to think you have total control over how you want your house, your car or your clothes to look (assuming you can pick a builder, a designer, a tailor for these things). There are trends in design, materials that are popular in different time periods. If you want to buy a new car now, it's tough to find 50's design (of course if you are filthy rich, that's not a problem. I'm talking about regular folks here). If you like a certain kind of house, it may be hard to find a builder to show your those options. And if you want certain things that are just not common, chances are it's not going to be done right because people simply didn't have enough experience with it. It might be safer to go with the conventional choices of the day, simply because it's been tried and true, and if there are problems, chances are people know how to fix them.

[NoClueWho]

Originally Posted by 75214Dad

Just about all post WW2 houses look like car storage.

Cool opinion you got there, BOOMER!!!

[mirotek]

The thing I'm wondering is why is this style so popular in North Texas and not in other parts of Texas or other parts of the country?

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by mirotek

The thing I'm wondering is why is this style so popular in North Texas and not in other parts of Texas or other parts of the country?

I first saw the mixed-materials facades probably 10-15 years ago in Oklahoma. Then it started showing up in the Texas markets, especially North Texas. I wondered, "Why? This is kind of ugly." Not sure if OK is where it started.

[75214Dad]

Originally Posted by Julio July

Cool opinion you got there, BOOMER!!!

Ha! I’m likely younger than you are

[staystill]

Originally Posted by mirotek

It seems like all new houses in the north suburbs have the same look to them. This style just screams Frisco. Steep roof, multiple colors or styles of brick or stone, a round arch over the front door, and what looks like a round column from a medieval castle. Lots so small that you can toss a bag of sugar through your neighbor's window. One tiny sprig of a tree in the front yard and none in the back. Do people actually like the way this looks? It looks so cheesy to me.




Why don't they build more of these classic ranch style homes? The look of these is timeless.

I prefer the ranch style because there are no stairs. All on one floor yep that's for me.

[malcorub16]

North Texas developments are nicer than what get's built in Vegas, Phoenix and Southern California which are usually BIG BEIGE BOXES with stucco exterior.

That said, I don't like COOKIE CUTTER NEIGHBORHOODS regardless of style. I would hate if my house looked like all of my neighbors houses.

[Sunbather]

I agree about cookie cutter neighborhoods. Luckily, Dallas has a lot of older neighborhoods with lots of architectural variation. And many of them don't have HOAs. Those have other issues (such as people knocking down reasonable, well-maintained homes to build 3500 ft2 homes that don't respect neighboring houses or existing trees etc. But in general, I will take an older, reasonably maintained neighborhood with a mix of architecture and no HOA every time.