Dear Homework,
We love your weekly suggestions and hope you would consider critiquing our home. We have lived in this 45-year-old home for 14 years, and it is beginning to need some exterior maintenance. The siding and shutters need repainting, the cupola is deteriorating, the minimalist front entrance lacks curb appeal, and the landscape could use some help. We would welcome any pointers!
Sincerely,
—In Search of a Vision
Dear In Search of a Vision,
Your style house was built by the thousands from the late 1960s until the 1980s, perhaps because it was a dignified yet economical way to provide four-bedroom accommodation to an expanding suburban market. Because of this popularity, I have chosen your home for an Extra Credit analysis, which I will show in ascending order of difficulty and expense.
[scheme 1] For the most straightforward scheme, I would start with the entry roof. A copper roof with flared, curved sides would make this feature much more graceful. More-detailed support brackets would add to the charm, and new brick light piers at the corners of the stoop finish off the architectural upgrades to the entry.
The landscape has a few issues. I like the dogwood trees, but they will grow to block too much of the façade. I would move them beyond the edges of the two-storied portion of the house. Next, I would create an undulating plant bed that connects all parts of the garden in a casual yet powerful way. It should be planted with a variety of shrubs and flowers to impart a lush, romantic effect.
[scheme 2] An upgrade from this scheme would be to give the architecture a greater level of formality with a columned front porch and new dormer windows to add some interest to the bland roof. A taller, more solid cupola carries over from the first scheme. A more formal take on the landscape, with its central walkway and clipped hedges, adds to the feeling of timeless dignity.
[scheme 3] For the final scheme, a bold change of color has the most impact. The new white color works with the new raised central pediment, bold corner pilasters and formal window heads, to lend an almost palatial feel to the façade. The curved wings of hornbeam trees and the semicircular walkway add a bold touch that makes the property feel anything but ordinary.
A house like yours easily can be made to feel asymmetrical as well, so the remodeling opportunities are practically endless. Thanks for providing an example that could be of interest to many.
Hope this focuses your vision.
—Homework
[Homework is penned by Paul Doerner, Founding Partner of the Lawrence Group. If you would like your home critiqued, contact us at homework@townandstyle.com.]
