My interior used to be 'casual farmhouse' style, but since the 2 yo grandson came to stay, it might best be described as 'baby clutter'. It's slowly evolving to 'toddler clutter' which I'm sure will eventually descend into 'little boy camp style' followed by 'teenager'. Just as when my own children were still at home, my life revolves around the child in the house and that childs needs, this little guy is the cream in my coffee. The garden style used to be 'tidy farmhouse cottage' but in the past 9 months it has become 'benign neglect.' It still has many beautiful flowers and good structure as a result of 10 years of hard work and careful tending to beds and walkways. But the walkways are still full of last years leaves, the spring bulbs are pushing up through last years dead foliage and ground covers are leaping over edgings and scampering across pathways with joyful abandon. DH and I do very well sharing responsibilities in caring for the little darling-and he is definitely a high-maintenance little dude. I think he could disassemble the lawn mower or climb up onto the roof if we didn't watch him every minute. But that extra duty has cut all of our outdoor time in half. The one sanctuary that I have is my little greenhouse. It's 10'x12' of quiet solitude for me and I actually get to go out there about 4-5 times a week. I can only go out there after DH gets home cause if I take the little darling he wants to swim in the galvanized tub that's currently full of slime and goldfish. The fish will be going back out to their pond this weekend and I will be able to use the slimey water to nourish my plants. then I'll just have to find a tall and strong enough barrier to keep the LD out of the pond. When my three daughters were small I could tell them one time to not do something and they wouldn't do it. Not this guy, telling him not to do something is all the inspiration he needs to set his mind to do it. But hey, he's two, he's a handful, he's delightful and wonderful. I wouldn't want him any other way. Cheryl

The peeve of mine that gets the best workout has to be improper detailing of porches or porticos that folks are trying to make appear classically-inspired. Seems like most of the time the lintels are larger or thicker than the column underneath - a big no-no. Then, the entablature is compressed to fit under the eaves or second floor window line so much so that the proportions are further distorted. It is also likely that the columns are some mishmash of style, composition or proportion. If the beam is arched, it appears it was cut freehand with a jigsaw, without regard to any evenness or flow to the curving line. The overhanging portions are quite often botched, too. From zero overhang to a fascia that is equal in visual weight to the lintel, we see it all around here. You might expect this on starter homes or where an owner/builder is in charge, but on houses double the median price? I do go on, but I'll finish with this-- good proportions don't cost more than poor ones. Casey

Thanks gsciencechic! Maybe they are split ranches. For example, I've heard mine termed a "multi-level", but that is not very descriptive of anything beyond floor plan. In my area, "split-levels" usually refer to those where you enter to a stairway and must go either upstairs or down. "Multi-levels" like mine have the kitchen, dining, and living room on the "main" floor. The family room is just 3 steps down lower than the rest of the main living. There's a basement even lower, below the kitchen/dining/living area. The bedrooms are on what I would consider the "second floor" above the family room. Others in the neighborhood have similar styling/appearance, but have a single level main floor, bedrooms upstairs, and basement below (probably with family rooms). All of the roofs have a steeper pitch than that of the ranch home in the WP article. These homes are very common to the suburbs of my city and seem to stay very similar from the 60s through now. Mine was built in the 70s, but I've found other homes with nearly the same floor plan built in the 90s or 2000s. Most seem to have an exterior combination of brick or stone (probably veneer) and siding or stucco.

DH and I bought our house about 18 months ago. At the time, everyone told us we were crazy to buy such a large home for essentially just the two of us. But now (and at Thanksgiving,) I am especially glad we did. DH has his office in the great room, which was a former home business office for the previous owners. It is on one end of the house, has pocket doors to close it off, and is almost soundproof. Perfect for his many conference calls each day. Our basement is finished, but mostly empty. It is the perfect place to tinker with the dollhouse. I also have a desk down there where I take my now online botany class. Here is an interesting note about that. Before everything closed, I was taking the class in person, at Longwood. There was a lot of normal classroom chatter between the professor and the students, in a structured, but loose way, if that makes sense. It was fun, filled with comraderie, and the material, while dense, was doable. Now that we're online (Zoom), the class feels more difficult--there is no banter, no visualization of hands collectively raised, suggesting others might be struggling with a point as well. Now I simply take notes and feel overwhelmed. Yes, our professor does ask if we have questions, but it's different, and more distracting to ask. Not sure this is making sense, but I imagine our college-age kids might be going through something similar. My ds is home from college and learning online. He prefers to work from the desk in his room. I do notice more stress in him after classes and he is a good student.