Every small house is a cape cod... (residential, HOA, houses)
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I am just as much if not more of a house/style geek as you so know that you are not alone
You are correct that a American Foursquare is considered part of the "modern" movement away from Victorian styles of the past, along with Arts & Crafts and the bungalow styles.
Here is another Colonial/Revival sub-style for you; a two story Colonial with an overhanging 2nd story is called a Garrison, named for the ability to "protect" your house by shooting down at enemy soldiers or maurading Indians banging at your front door from the protective slot that that overhang would create.
Oh, yes, the cantilevered second story for fighting off marauding Indians in twentieth-century suburbs. It's called a Garrison House? Good to know. Our current home, which has no distinct architectural style other than mass-produced '70s tract house, has a cantilevered portion, but no protective slot for driving off aggressive door-to-door salesman. Pity that.
They listed this home as a Colonial Revival. This home is in my neighborhood and recently sold for $448,000. I had no idea what a Colonial Revival home was so I clicked on the link and found that the style is 2 or 3 story homes. The homes on my street were all originally single story. One owner years ago added a second story. That two story home looks nothing like a Colonial Revival. The home pictured does not look anything like a Colonial Revival.
That is about as close to Colonial Revival as I am Madonna!
You think that's bad? I just got notice of a listing on my street that I could not for the life of me figure out which house it was -- the house looked familiar, but nothing else was. I took note of the address and when we drove by next, I was highly amused.... it was the same house pictured, but certainly not the lot, or the driveway or the sidewalk or the landscaping-- all that stuff was photoshopped in.
And the interior pics -- were s t r e t c h e d a lot....
How is this good marketing when the realtor is out and out lying?
Today, while I was perusing real estate listings, I noticed once again that many agents don't seem to have even a basic grasp of the major architectural styles. This time it was a Cottage Revival described as a Cape Cod. Am I expecting too much when assuming that agents know enough to identify a Victorian, a Tudor, an American Foursquare, a mid-Century Modern, and a Colonial? Most of the time, I think the mistaken identities are funny, but it struck me today that perhaps agents don't receive any education at all in residential architecture and do not think it important enough to seek the information out on their own. I'm not suggesting weeks of study but maybe just enough to provide a general familiarity with the basics. Am I out of line here?
As one who had been looking for a home to purchase for 5 years I could not tell you the style of home if my life depended on it. So any description of a Cape Cod, Victorian or whatever else is out there was completely useless to me. Unless a buyer is knowledgeable in specifics such as that the specific style of the home is a moot point.
You seem to have missed my point. Yes, I know the difference, but thanks for the tutorial.
Sorry. I did not mean to come across as snotty or condescending. I do get your point and that of the others who rightly state that the majority of home buyers are mostly just interested in the number of bedrooms and bathrooms and whether or not there's a wall large enough to accommodate the large-screen TV.
And while I would expect agents who work with historic neighborhoods and the buyers who deliberately seek them out probably do know their chimney pots from chamber pots, it's unfair of me to think that any of that is essential for a successful real estate career.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CSD610
As one who had been looking for a home to purchase for 5 years I could not tell you the style of home if my life depended on it. So any description of a Cape Cod, Victorian or whatever else is out there was completely useless to me. Unless a buyer is knowledgeable in specifics such as that the specific style of the home is a moot point.
I disagree that the terminology is useless, because the language of architecture is an effective means for a buyer to communicate his wants to the agent, but I will agree that it probably need not go beyond "I want something built within the last thirty years on one level with three beds, two baths, and a contemporary style," for the vast majority of buyers.
Last edited by randomparent; 01-01-2016 at 05:27 PM..
How is that colonial? Where are the rounded columns on the front porch? In the older part of town in my market, which is only a handful of streets, that picture is not representative... You would need a covered front porch and columns. But that's just how each market is different.
If you're talking about a two story with columns and front porch, I'd say you were talking about a Southern mansion type house.
To me that picture is a classic colonial, and I'm one who gets upset if you call a saltbox a colonial. But then, I'm just as bad. I know there's a difference between Victorian and Queen Anne and Eastlake houses and I still call them all Victorian. Then there's the difference between Spanish adobe, Mediterranean, Tuscan, or Italianate houses.
By the way, there are still a lot of houses around in the South that look like Southern mansions that are turned sideways. I think - and correct me if I'm wrong - they're called Charleston houses. They come from a time when a person was taxed according to how wide his house was and so the houses were turned so the narrow side faced the road.
Incidentally, I still need to look up the difference between a Cotswold and a Tudor house. And I'll be frank with everyone, if it's over 2500 sq ft, I don't care how it's decorated, it's not a cottage.
I seriously doubt if they get this education anywhere in real estate education, but if they don't seek it elsewhere, I wouldn't want them to represent me. So I guess I fall in category of giving a hoot.
I know what cottage revival style is, and I'm not a Realtor, an architect, or a professional designer. Seriously, you wouldn't have to read more than one book to make yourself conversant with residential real estate terms.
I also wouldn't hire Realtors who use terms in their writing like "foe marble" or "rot iron." I've seen both outrageous misspellings more than once in real estate ads. It's worse than people who take photos of toilets with the seat up.
I would argue that a Foursquare is not a Colonial at all. It was a housing style dating from the post-Victorian period and aligned with Prairie School architecture and the Arts & Crafts movement. (Think Frank Lloyd Wright, Mission furniture, and Tiffany lamps.) They were markedly less ornamented than Victorian homes and were the dominant house style of urban streetcar neighborhoods. One house that I just love in my hometown is a somewhat odd combination of Victorian fretwork outside (although definitely toned down) with a typical Foursquare layout and Arts & Crafts woodwork inside. It's like the builder couldn't quite figure out what he wanted!
By the way, I learned something new just a bit ago. A Cape Cod with a gambrel roof is called a Cape Ann.
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.
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