Annie, it really isn't any single historical architectural style.

"A Field Guide to American Houses", by Virginia and Lee McAlester is the acknowledged bible of the history and styles of American houses, from the 17th century to the present. The final chapter, "Neoeclectic" has a number of examples from which features of your house visually appear to have been drawn.

Good luck with the publication.

Neo-Ecclectic. Which is to say, not really any specific genre, which is probably why your architect is struggling to find a label that works. But it's a good example of the genre rather than being one of the too often seen hip roofs and an entire series of gables and thousand materials that earned the genre the usual pejorative connotation attached to it.

Virgil, instead of calling it Neoeclectic, is it possible to combine a few words together that describe it? Or is that not a good idea? I don't think my house has a style either, I have been calling in a shingle house in the woods, lol. If you had to write a short sentence describing Annie's house, how would you word that?

Going by the photo alone, in the Boston area it would be described as a Cape Cod style.

Custom cape? That's what it would probably be listed as if it were for sale in my area.

It's very hard to write about the architectural style of this house, since there is no clear or predominant architectural style. It obviously is an expensive, well built house with some clear attention given to materials and detailing. It's a house that would complement most residential neighborhoods.

Architecturally, however, it's more difficult to create a succinct description. The roof massing and steeply pitched front gables are reminiscent of Neo-Tudor, but the house lacks the characteristic of half-timbered detailing that is characteristic of that style.

The arched garage doors, windows and entry, on the other hand, are characteristic of the Neo-French style, elements of which remain fashionable today with many owners.

The higher gable roof over the main house and lower gable roof over the garage, coupled with the gabled dormers, are reminiscent of Neo-Colonial massing.

While real estate agents and others might call the house a Cape Cod or some variant of a Cape Cod, it clearly is not.

At the end of the day it's really a handsome Ecclectic mix which borrows from a great many precedents and currently fashionable builder's ideas such as the stacked gables in the front.

Hope this helps.

Annie,
Your house is Neo Eclectic but do not worry: It is not a McMansion.
There are authors that call Neo Eclectic, all houses built after 1960 and that will include some ranch style houses.

A few things to keep in mind:
Eclectic just means combination of styles. Historically, there are some styles that were Eclectic - like the Renaissance. We had some "Neo" a few times thru history, like neo Classic and also a few revivals.

To build a historically accurate style house in 2013, you will need to use the same materias and techniques as they did at the time of such style. My question is: Are the owners going to dress like they used to at the time? (to be accurate).

In order to avoid the use of Neo Eclectic, since many relate it to McMansions, you could describe it as:

-Cape Code inspired style.
-Cape Code Abstraction.
-Tudor/costwold cottage inspired
-Modern take on a (cape code or tudor, etc) style

The use of "contemporary take of" is somewhat audacious but I have see it used - online :)
maybe: A contemporary rustic take...

Is your house located in the north-east coast?

Virgil,
Looks like we were writting in the same time. Tudor cotswold was the first thing that came to mind.

Thank you all for your insight. I x-posted on the Home Design sight and if I combine the suggestions there, I get a Neo-eclectic transitional english country tudor cape cod european cottage ranch manor house....

Yes, it is in New England and we were going for a look that was timeless and traditional enough to stand next to the 200 year old barn and an outhouse which are extant on the property. Yet modern enough to support the green design elements including the 10x12 pitch on the roof for the solar panels and the passive solar design.

I don't consider it a cape as there's no symmetry to the front facade and the dormer area is just attic. The house is actually a ranch with a finished basement.

The rear facade looks nothing like the front:

Eclectic is certainly correct, but I agree that the neo eclectic moniker has some less than desirable connotations so we wouldn't want to go with that.

Is there such a thing as neo traditional? Maybe Tudor-inspired traditional....

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Sun, Apr 21, 13 at 21:26

There is not such thing as traditional style per se. It is a term to define something that is conventional.
The plan mill websites use this term a lot, when they do not know the actual style of the house, buy they notice conventional, popular features.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions. Here's the final description we've come up with:

An eclectic country house that is inspired by elements from both a European and Colonial past, resulting in a timeless, aesthetically pleasing home that sits comfortably among the antique colonial outbuildings extant on the property.

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Tue, Apr 23, 13 at 9:09

I don't know what style this house is but I would advise against using the word eclectic. Because it's just a very polite way to say "mishmash", something I imagine is not a good idea for a book.

Well, we were unsure, discussed it and decided to go with it as that's what it is....hopefully the accompanying photos will show that it's not a mishmash or a mcmansion but something more unique.

Annie, your description sounds very apt to me--accurate historically in a very positive and appealing way.

I'm one of those that doesn't take automatic offense at "eclectism".

Good luck with your publication!

A Cape Cod would not have a cross gable, classical cornice returns, a portico or (to be accurate) dormers so that would be an entirely inappropriate description.

Tudor would be appropriate if the roof pitch was steeper and the classical cornice returns were removed. But since the American Tudor style was made up by American designers adapting design elements from different countries, cultures and centuries, I guess you could call it a natural extension of that style ... perhaps Neo Tudor.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the word eclectic.

Some eclectic is a mishmash, but a modernist or colonial revival house can be handsome or hideous, too.

This happens to be a good example of neo-eclectic.

Some styles do not have a name until after the fact. Neo-eclectic may be divided into categories at some later date. Mid-century modern was not called such until recently.

There is no architectural style more shamelessly eclectic than the Colonial Revival, however the borrowing was mostly limited to Greece and Rome due to a resurgence in interest in antiquity from archeological discoveries so it was somewhat culturally based as most historic styles are but that is not often true of current eclecticism. This is most likely why it is not as respected now.

In fact, you could probably get away with calling this house a Colonial Revival.

"hopefully the accompanying photos will show that it's not a mishmash or a mcmansion but something more unique"

But eclectic, by definition, is a mishmash of various styles so I don't understand why you apparently take offense?
Marriam-Webster: eclectic: "composed of elements drawn from various sources".

I don't think this house is unique, either. It's very pretty but definitely not unique. Very few houses are, because uniqueness kills resale value.

I don't have skin in your game so I don't really care.
I just find it funny that you ask what style your house is and the answer is: Your house has no particular style, but is "eclectic" LOL. Well, I guess it may be a fit for an architecture book that doesn't focus on styles or maybe has a chapter about houses that don't fit a particular style.

Well architect chose to leave eclectic in, so it's done.

Now we just have to select pics and write captions...we have to choose 15. There are probably about 10 that are no brainers and then it'll be choosing the last 5 that will be tough.

I took one of the exterior at night tonight and I think it came out pretty good. But I need to get a good one of the back. I was amazed at how quickly I lost the light....

jrldh, we struggled to come up with an inspiration for this house, so I'd love to see other houses that look like it, if you don't find it unique....

Annie - I love your house. I'm not sure if you really want photos of homes that look similar, so I apologize if not. We have a local builder (who is my favorite) who builds with similar external characteristics, at least as far as I can tell.

Just FYI, they described this linked home for our Parade of Homes as, "This --- is a French country home. This home has a beautiful siding exterior, utilizing real stone and shake, copper accents, shutters and of course, window boxes"

Here is a link that might be useful: http://tricityparadeofhomes.com/builders10/27gretlcrawford10_photos.html#vmix_media_id=18851706

I hope your house becomes a home. I think it's a beauty.

I would call it Early Century Inspirational.

lolauren, interesting as I don't see our house as like the one you posted at all....

Southern Canuck, thanks for the kind words. The house is our home...we moved in in the end of 2010 after 3 yrs of building and 7 yrs of house design!