Twin Cities Architecture - Single Family Homes

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by Lafferty Daniel

Looks like three in a row to me.

I guess there may be another door in back.

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by Astron1000

Architect: Tell me about the home you'd like to live in.

Client: I really want a Southern Plantation style.

Architect: Umm..well.. Why? Do you own slaves?

I being deliberately provocative. That exchange above really occurred. As a designer I tend to concur with the architect in that scenario. I am sick of cosmetic "styles" applied to modern American homes as if you are putting on wigs and period dress for a costume party. Look past the fake "Tudor" and "Colonial" and "Farmhouse" appliques and discover that - lo and behold! - the floor plans are identical to the one next door.

Pure Crap.

Real Colonial homes do not have a "Great Room."

Real Tudor homes do not have stainless-steel Sub-Zero kitchens with poured-concrete countertops.

Real Plantation homes do not have "Bonus Rooms" above a 4-car garage.

Real Victorian homes do not have acres of sheetrock plastering 8-foot ceilings across a 3,000 square foot floor plan. And need I add? 22" florid PVC ceiling medallions surrounding a fake "historic" chandelier from Home Depot???

Gawd, how I wish designers and their clients would just own up to the fact that they are living in utterly modernist homes and therefore to dress them up in some dorky approximation of a quaint historical style is just as dumb as showing up to work in a hoop skirt.

I didn't get the impression that the original question was just about new construction homes. Although yes, clearly Twin Cities Tudor houses were not built in Tudor times, it's a typical local style. We could try to be technical and call it Tudor Revival, but realistically, since there aren't any real Tudor houses around to confuse things (although some existing real ones may well now have stainless steel appliances these days; houses evolve over time), the "revival" part is obvious.

As far as Victorians, there are real Victorian homes in the Twin Cities.

As for the rest of it, I kind of like it when someone has the guts to know what they like and embrace it. Nothing wrong with "owning up" to liking a style from another place or era. Perhaps that's part of the reason that one of my favorite architecture styles (not particularly well-represented in the Twin Cities, I don't believe) are the storybook style houses. If I were ever going to build a new house (which will likely be never) I'd go all-out and have a fun fantasy design, whether or not it was the "modern" thing to do.

[HiFi]

Originally Posted by Astron1000

Architect: Tell me about the home you'd like to live in.

Client: I really want a Southern Plantation style.

Architect: Umm..well.. Why? Do you own slaves?

I being deliberately provocative. That exchange above really occurred. As a designer I tend to concur with the architect in that scenario. I am sick of cosmetic "styles" applied to modern American homes as if you are putting on wigs and period dress for a costume party. Look past the fake "Tudor" and "Colonial" and "Farmhouse" appliques and discover that - lo and behold! - the floor plans are identical to the one next door.

Pure Crap.

Real Colonial homes do not have a "Great Room."

Real Tudor homes do not have stainless-steel Sub-Zero kitchens with poured-concrete countertops.

Real Plantation homes do not have "Bonus Rooms" above a 4-car garage.

Real Victorian homes do not have acres of sheetrock plastering 8-foot ceilings across a 3,000 square foot floor plan. And need I add? 22" florid PVC ceiling medallions surrounding a fake "historic" chandelier from Home Depot???

Gawd, how I wish designers and their clients would just own up to the fact that they are living in utterly modernist homes and therefore to dress them up in some dorky approximation of a quaint historical style is just as dumb as showing up to work in a hoop skirt.

I would completely invite anyone showing up at my office in a hoop skirt.

[Lafferty Daniel]

I didn't think it was necessary to include "revival." I understand Astron's point though, it kind of reminds me of people complaining about new ballparks that have an older looking facade, but they're brand new on the inside.

The styles that I listed in the OP are just a way to describe what's available, even if it's not historically accurate or it bothers architecture snobs.

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

...that's part of the reason that one of my favorite architecture styles (not particularly well-represented in the Twin Cities, I don't believe) are the storybook style houses. If I were ever going to build a new house (which will likely be never) I'd go all-out and have a fun fantasy design, whether or not it was the "modern" thing to do.

There was talk in recent years that the city was going to designate a good chunk of the Victory Neighborhood a "Storybook" historic district in the 3900-4400 blocks between Xerxes and Vincent Aves North. Lots of cottage revivals (e.g Tudor Revival) in the area and some unique storybooks, particularly concentrated in the 4200-4400 blocks of Wasburn Avenue North. I think Highland has some storybooks as well if memory serves, and you'll see a few scattered here and there in other areas west of Penn on the Northside.

We've got our eye on what I believe is a Sears Catalog home on the parkway that will be hitting the market sometime this year- kind of a fusion of cottage revival/ cape cod style. We love our 1.5 story craftsman bungalow, but as I've posted about before, we could use a couple hundred sq ft of additional space!

[stolafs69]

I think the absolute worst style is split-enty. I live in one now and can't stand it. Not only does it look boring from the outside but its not very functional. Yes having the lower floor partially above ground is nice to let light in but having the kitchen and living room 10 feet from the bedrooms is horrible. Thank God I am moving to a two story house soon where all the bedrooms are upstairs. I don't think I will ever want to live in a home were the bedrooms are on the same level as the kitchen/living room until I am 80 years old. I have seen some rambler style homes built into a hill where all the bedrooms are in a walkout basement; which is another way to avoid this problem without having to build a 2 story house. But other then for old people, I don't understand this facination some people have with 1 level living.