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Actually, that house looked pretty faithful, from what I could see of it.
Have you ever been in an Arts and Crafts style home?
Yes.
It was tongue in cheek for the open plan haters. Just more to loathe.
There are a lot of craftsman style homes in Helena MT, along with huge old mansions in the Mansion District and smaller, older homes all throughout. Helena had the distinction of being the wealthiest city in the world during the gold heydays. The period 1880-1920 were very robust for the town, and the architecture reflected that.
By 1888, about 50 millionaires lived in Helena, more per capita than in any city in the world. They had made their fortunes from gold. About $3.6 billion (in today's dollars) of gold was taken from Last Chance Gulch over a 20-year period. The Last Chance Placer is one of the most famous placer deposits in the western United States. Most of the production occurred before 1868. Much of the placer is now under the streets and buildings of Helena. (As late as the 1970s, when repairs were being made to a bank, a vein of placer gold was found under the bank's foundation).
This large concentration of wealth was the basis of developing fine residences and ambitious architecture in the city; its Victorian neighborhoods reflect the gold years. The numerous miners also attracted the development of a thriving red light district. Among the well-known local madams was Josephine "Chicago Joe" Airey, who built a thriving business empire between 1874 and 1893, becoming one of the largest and most influential landowners in Helena. The brothels of Helena were a successful part of the local business community well into the 20th century, ending with the 1973 death of Helena's last madam, "Big Dorothy" Baker.
That being said I've been in mansions and bungalows, not just here but back in WV and D.C. In fact my wife made me look at an in-town arts and crafts home while I was working here prior to relocating. It was not an open plan, but it was rich with the style of the arts and crafts movement. Woodwork, stained glass, built-ins. Too small for our family, and not enough room for our dogs. Very nice though.
My folks built their "dream home" with the open concept. The entire downstairs is open except the bathroom. It's beautiful. Mom hates it and says she will never again have a home with an open concept. The noise travels everywhere and no privacy. They just listed their house last weekend.
I would love a craftsman or victorian with all of those built ins but I know they would be insanely expensive to build with any degree of quality.
I read an article over the weekend that high end housing is taking a turn away from open concepts. I'm thinking this trend may start to swing the other way.
There's a website on houses that I love. It has some homes from tv that I love. One of my all time favorites is the Home Alone house. I liked the Charmed house for the woodwork and kitchen.
I read an article over the weekend that high end housing is taking a turn away from open concepts. I'm thinking this trend may start to swing the other way.
There's really no new high end housing being built in my immediate area. Spec developers here shoot for the middle $500K-$1.5M range for the most part and it's ALL open concept, 3+ story homes. Frankly I just don't see closed concept trickling down to this level even if high end buyers are demanding it.
A kinda quick tour of our open concept house, which we opened-up ourselves less than a year ago.
What ya think?
Split-level (3 levels) where 2 of the levels are open concept. of course the bedroom level is traditional...we're not hippies. ha.
its about 1500-1600 overall, so the open floor plan allows us to maximize the space and make it feel even larger.
Our prior home was all separate rooms, but an even smaller house. So it was actually VERY difficult to entertain in the old house because after 5 people sat in the living room and 3 in the kitchen, that was it.
The remodel is not even a year old yet... and much of what is shown here, I discussed and asked about here in the forums
I think it looks great! I've never been fond of split levels, so this, in my opnion, is a drastic improvement!
Thanks! Yes we are very happy with it.
Very cool to buy a house and walk through it thinking "hmmm.. we could do this, and this.."
and then actually get the chance to do it!
I know millions do this every year, but its the first time we were able to.
I think truly open will lessen if not go away as it feels like the builder cheaped out and sometimes rather makeshift, but it may never swing back to well-defined rooms like a hundred years ago-some equilibrium might be reached. But idiots start questionable trends and even bigger idiots jump on them so who knows...
A galley kitchen, YES! The house I grew up in had one, and we cooked all the time and canned an acre's worth of veggies every summer. It had a big pantry on the end. It was so efficient and had plenty of storage. I'd take that kitchen in a heart beat. I agree, no more island, thank you!
Galley kitchens are underrated; many of them are compromises necessitated by a lack of overall space but a relatively roomy galley kitchen where people can get by each other easily can be a model of efficiency and space utilization.
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