What do show homes look like in your area?
Comments (25)
whaas_5a
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoRelated Discussions
What would your home look like if your spouse had to decorate?
Comments (52)Tannantok, you're describing my DH's place when I met him! He also had a beer can collection growing on his back patio. He owned virtually no dishes (eating out of the pan was the norm). When you walked in the door you were greeted by a picture of a big haired blonde wearing suspenders and not much more. Laminated to a piece of charred wood. Given to him by his mother. Current decorating would be blankets tacked up to the windows, but he'd also have 1000 watt lights all over the place. I tell him the sun would not provide enough light for him. Clothing would adorn all the lamp shades (if he used lamp shades at all...probably adorn the curtain rods. Bathtowels would be the floor mats. Steak knives would pin up things to the walls, and EVERY wall would have something pinned to it. He'd have a ginormous sofa with blankies and his dogs. No pillows, except for what was on the floor. And every cupboard would be doorless and the drawers self closing....See MoreWhat's fall look like in your area?
Comments (23)MHillgal, you said it!!! MUCH too early. The trees still had leaves on them. And in our back yard next to the house, we had over 8 inches of the wet heavy snow, looked like a mattress on my chaise lounge. A mulberry tree kept leaning further and further, until it fell and the branch was across my car. DH went out and cut it off, but that stub still hangs there. And the tall gnarly locust trees all along the street broke and fell across the power lines. We got our power back Thursday, about 2 pm, and what a blessing it was. The response by National Grid was criminally negligent, did not show up until the weekday, and only worked during the daylight until 4pm. So far there is news that one elderly woman in western MA died in her home from no heat. I am furious about the lack of timely response to this weather anomaly. So here are a few of my pictures taken over the last week. We've just about burned up our entire supply of firewood. Before this, we were trying to give it away. :) And this is my favorite one of all....the little Reliance peach tree standing up to it all....See MoreWhat do your neighbor's kitchens look like?
Comments (25)Our neighborhood is really a mixed bag---homes are a mix of 2-3 BR single-family houses built between 1910 and 1925 and multi-family buildings built between 1907 and 1960 (with a few of the older multi-family buildings originally designed as mansions, and later carved up into smaller units; none of them are still used as single-family homes so those original kitchens, which must have been elaborate, are long gone!) So, consequently, there's a real range of kitchens depending on when they were last remodeled. The newer ones (remodeled in the last ten years, say) tend to be light-stained wood cabinets, Shaker style, with granite or granite-look counters and tile backsplashes. Then there are a bunch of late 60s remodeled kitchens (some of which are pretty awesome!) which tend to be colored painted cabinets with formica counters, sometimes replaced with granite. Every now and then you see what I call the "Home Depot" kitchen, which is just the normal oak cabinets with granite or laminate counters. And then you also see some IKEA kitchens if they've been done in the past ten years (when an IKEA opened two miles away); all the ones I've seen have been one of the two white styles they have, with butcherblock or granite counters. So I'm not really sure we have a "style" as a neighborhood. A lot of this comes down to the neighborhood history, too. It started out life as an elite area for the wealthy (mansions era), then because a middle-income area where families were building modest homes in the 1910s and 1920s and remained that until the mid 1960s, when white flight started and freeways came in. During the 70s and 80s, few of the homes were owner-occupied, with lots of absentee landlords. The area hit an economic low point in the early 80s during the crack epidemic, and then began to climb back up, with lots of gentrification in the late 90s/early 2000s. The families here now are, with a couple of exceptions, Gentrification 2.0---we all moved into a neighborhood that had already stabilized, homes that had already been restored, etc. You can pretty much track the kitchen remodels to those periods, which I find really interesting---kitchens remodeled in 1960 will be of a very different finish level/quality than those done in 1980. Not true for every house---a couple of the original families stayed here through the 1980s, and one couple from the 60s is still here---but there are definitely some trends. However, I can safely say that our kitchen will not look like any of our neighbors' kitchens, for now at least! So I guess that's good for keeping it diverse......See MoreWhat do your flower bulb gardens look like?
Comments (23)Hello all - here are some of my bulb plantings from last spring, I've been planting bulbs and gardening for many years now. The first picture is of a double form of Actaea along my barn bank in front of daylilies that hide the dying narcissus foliage later in the season. The second pic is of mostly Carlton Daffs with some Beerheba and Thalia. Two years ago I dug up all of the overgrown clumps and spread them out in groups or "drifts." The third pic is of Barcelona Tulips along the front of my house - these bulbs surprised me and are four years old in this spot and have gotten better every year. Perennial tulips! The forth pic is my little Hyacinth hill with Sophie - my vole patrol. I've always loved hyacinths and their fragrance early in the spring but find them challenging to make them look "right" in the landscape. This fall I am planting 60 more hyacinths in this area to fill it up, the more the merrier. Plant bulbs in groups and plant as many of the same variety as you can in an area to make them really show up - and off! The great thing about bulbs is that they multiply and can be dug and divided up to move to new areas of your garden....See More
worthy
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoDifferent concept here. Show home refers to prize homes in an annual
charity lottery. Below is the largest of seven prize homes.
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Lottery Show Home 2016, 7,290 sf. The style is North American subdivision eclectic. (Turrets are the new totems of Kleinburg, Ontario.)
lookintomyeyes83
8 years agolookintomyeyes83
8 years ago
bpath
8 years ago
cpartist
8 years agoworthy
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoI guess I've become hypercritical. The single turret--not terminating on a garage roof--is acceptable. Only the basement window is ridiculous. Find me an original ancient turret with that feature. See, for instance, Glamis Castle, childhood home of the late Queen Mother (mother of our current Queen).
(BTW, don't be so modest about Winnipeg. Its core population of 718,000--and CMA of 793,400--puts it about even with Charlotte and way bigger than such US cities as Boston, Atlanta, Denver, Seattle, Vegas and Baltimore.)they still feel compelled to zone narrow lots
In new subdivisions here, much wider lots are permitted. But the costs make them prohibitive. Plus, restrictive zoning limits house depth, regardless of the lot depth. For instance, even when you build on a 400-500 ft deep lot, the house may be limited to 55 feet deep, measured from the minimum setback permitted from the front lot line. In other words, no rear garages are practical.
Below is the streetscape of a quad townhouse I recently inspected, appraised at about C$330,000. The entrance is to the far left. Actually, not bad at all inside. Once you found it!
mushcreek
8 years ago
sabrinatx
8 years agoHere in Mcallen South Texas (Rio Grande Valley not to be confused with San Antonio). They look like these. I'm not fond of this style at all. I've posted the link to the book at the bottom of the pictures.
2015 Parade of HomesOaktown
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoNot sure what you mean by "show home" but what I call "color block" houses seem to be popular in new construction here. Not really my thing.
3422 Hannah Street · More Info
Laurel Residence · More Info
Oakland Hills Residence · More Info
portfolio · More Info
Modern Kitchen in New Menlo Park Home · More InfoOaktown
8 years agolookintomyeyes83
8 years agocpartist
8 years agoworthy
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agooaktown's selection isn't bad at all as most are quite consistent in style.
What I always find jarring are the proliferation of non-functional dormers, double and triple gables and raised shed roofs over a single window. (What is the architectural term for that??)
I should probably learn to accept that Neo-eclectic is here to stay while reserving the right to whine that there should be some sense of proportion and restraint shown.
OTOH I'm a sucker for Queen Anne Revival. Explain that.
Coe House, Minneapolis.
Oaktown
8 years agoThe regional differences are pretty interesting. OT, I've been wondering how one would describe the style of some of the custom homes in the South designed by McAlpine Tankersley, Ruard Veltman, Pursley Dixon, Dungan Nequette, etc.? Transitional Neo-European? Are they actually close to historical styles?
residence, birmingham, AL · More Info
Transitional Exterior · More Info
French Colonial - Charlotte NC · More Info
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Private Residence 4 · More Info
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omelet
8 years agoSeveral of JDS's examples are ones I would have guessed were from the South Carolina low country, rather than New England.
I don't live on the coast, but here are a few examples from the Hilton Head SC coastal 2016 parade of homes:
In our general area, one of the building trends is "traditional neighborhood developments" where the new homes and communities are made to look like traditional neighborhoods - small lots, but built with alleys so all of the homes have garages in the back and porches close to the streets. Designed to encourage interaction with neighbors, and integrated with stores, shopping, community areas and walking trails. Both of the photos below are from neighborhoods that are building and selling new lots/homes. It's a welcome trend.
User
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoI don't know who designed the houses shown above as "show homes" but Oaktown's first photo shows a house designed by Bobby McAlpine an architect with a nationwide practice known for one of a kind romantic houses inspired by old building traditions from Europe. The one posted first was inspired by English buildings of the post-medieval period with steep roof, and narrow shed dormers. This tradition was brought to America in the 17th century modifying where it was modified to fit the materials available here, substituting wood cladding for stone & half timber; slate for thatch roofing and double-hung windows for casements. Unfortunately, few examples have survived.
McAlpine has a rare talent for using old ideas in new ways with good balance and scale like the architects of the early 20th century: McKim, Meade & White; Greene & Greene; Howard Van Doren Shaw and David Adler who respected and studied the buildings of Europe and Asia extensively. And they did it the hard way on foot with a sketch pad. Later builders and developers used many of these same ideas with no such talent or appreciation which is quite evident in the "show homes" posted above.
Bobby McAlpine and Susan Sully wrote a book titled, "The Home Within Us: Romantic Houses, Evocative Rooms".
omelet
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoOaktown
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoomelet
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agolookintomyeyes83
8 years ago
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