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Exterior Remodeling Design Dilemma

What siding would you use for this mid-century modern split level?

5 years ago

We are doing a contemporary renovation and are not sure about what to do with the externals. We don’t care for the cedar shingles and they are in bad shape anyhow. We are replacing the front door to a contemporary flush-glazed style full-lite - undecided on color/material.

We are leaning towards some fiber cement option.

This is in New England but we are not big fans of classic colonial lap siding ...

Looking for ideas/inspiration ... thanks!

Featured Answer

decoenthusiaste

5 years ago

Here are some MCM applications with Hardie to consider.

zipper house · More Info

Somerset Renovation · More Info

Mid Century to Craftsman Conversion · More Info

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Comments (11)

Yuval Yeret
Original Author
5 years ago
Any thoughts on whether to go horizontal or vertical would be appreciated. Also which color would you go for ...
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This house is so very much like the home I grew up in, and where my parents still live. It was built in 1967. With that angular roof line, it's definitely not a Colonial. Maybe not a completely groovy MCM, but definitely looking for that vibe. Unlike your home, theirs has no stone, but the brick color is identical, a classic mid-60's color. I wouldn't stain or paint it. The siding (as specified by the architect) was brown stained wood which I think looks great. Find a brown color that looks great with the stone (I selected one of the stone colors for my mock-up.) Not gray, brown is authentic 1960's, with the natural colors of the warm orange brick and the brown wood siding. And we had those yew bushes as a hedge in front, too. At one point they were too tall, and my parents just cut them in half horizontally. After a few months of bareness they filled in and look great, just lower. There are other plantings in front of them but they make a nice green background hedge all year.
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Creative Visual Concepts, Kevin Strader
5 years ago
You definitely want to go MCM with your changes. That's the style of your house and trying to take it in a different direction is only going to end up giving you a house that says "I don't know what my style is". Horizontal siding is going to play up the length of the house as opposed to board and batten.

I immediately thought of horizontal cedar siding when I saw your picture. Right now everything is so light that you don't see the features of the house.

If you're interested in seeing some virtual make overs of your home check out my web site, Creative Visual Concepts.
Yuval Yeret thanked Creative Visual Concepts, Kevin Strader
Yuval Yeret
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks Kevin! That makes sense. When saying vertical I had a clean vertical in mind, not board and batten. maybe something along these lines...

https://images.stylebyemilyhenderson.com/SBEH_Images/2016/07/eichler-siding.png

(Our architect prefers horizontal as well).

I checked out your site. Definitely might be interesting to see a couple of virtual make overs to help us figure this out.

we do want to do it practical and low-maintenance which is why we're leary of cedar... although the most beautiful houses around here are stained cedar... don't know if that's MCM though...
Cole Man
5 years ago
HardieShingles would look good.
Yuval Yeret
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks Cole. I really hate the shingles look :-(
rwiegand
5 years ago
I don't know where you are, but there is a neighborhood in north Framingham MA with maybe 100 of these identical houses all built in 1960-62. I just rebuilt one for my son. If you're close it might be worthwhile just driving around and looking at all the various choices people have made over the ensuing years, some good, some not so good. We kept the original cedar clapboards on his, there was nothing wrong with them. There had been a flat plywood panel between a couple of the upstairs windows which we took out during window replacement and just replaced with claps. It had rotted.

The most important thing we did was to add 7" of rigid foam insulation on top of the roof-- it needed a new roof anyway. Those cathedral ceilings are a bear to both insulate and ventilate, so we went with a "hot roof". His heating bill dropped dramatically. There's a foam recycler in Framingham so it was also very cost effective. FWIW, because of the low slope we did a rubber roof.
Yuval Yeret
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks! We’re in Newton MA. Would love to go take a look. What would be a good street address to use for that exploration ?
rwiegand
5 years ago
Look at Debra, Randy, and Emily streets and the surrounding area off Old Connecticut path.
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BeverlyFLADeziner
5 years ago
Board & Batten siding
Yuval Yeret
Original Author
5 years ago
@rwiegand and others in the Boston area - FYI some Nice MCM neighborhoods to take a look at -
Peacock farm road and Six Moon road in Lexington (very close to route 2)
Snake street in Belmont is close by as well.
Etsy farm road and Baldpate Hill road in Newton

There are also some houses in Weston as well but hard to really get a feeling for them from the street since the lots are quite big :-)

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