What Style is This Roof — Besides Awful
We just recently purchased this little beauty and the first thing on my list is curb appeal. This has to be the ugliest exterior I’ve seen. Ever. This inside and kind are perfect which is why we bought the house. Anyway, I keep trying to Google and Pinterest to find some before/afters for some inspiration but I literally can’t find another house that looks like this. I’ve tried:
Mansard Roof Makeover
Gambrel Roof Makeover
Split-Level Mansard Roof Makeover
Split-Level Gambrel Roof Makeover
Raised Ranch with Gambrel Roof
Raises Ranch with Mansard Roof
I don’t think it’s a Mansard roof, but I’m not sure. I actually like the look of Mansard style roofs and this doesn’t look like one to me.
Has anyone had any experience making over an exterior with a roof like this? Ideally, I’d like to rip the wings off the side of this roof and put of siding or shake shingles.
Also planning to paint, new siding, and new shutters. Oh and remove the palm tree.
Comments (21)
party_music50
3 years ago
krystalmoon2009
3 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (18)Barb, you have hit upon the major problem with everything today. It just costs too much, to go and do, almost everything. My disposable income/purchasing power, has been in decline, since about 1963. Example: New Home 1961: $16,400. New Home 1998: $134,500. Net gain......didn't have to totally remodel to update the wear and tear. (Real estate really isn't that good an investment, when wear and tear, taxes, escalating cost of improvements, etc. are given full consideration.) New Car 1969: $3200. New Car 2002: $20,600. Net gain.....nada. Cars are totally a depreciated item, with no significant residual value. Net increase in cost....almost 7 times the cost over a 30 year period. (The rate of increase continues to accelerate, on an annual basis.) Income 1969: $9600. Income 2006: $39,700. Net gain......negative.....purchasing power has actually declined. Natural gas high monthly bill 1982: $85. Natural gas high monthly bill 2006: $221. Automotive gasoline 1961: $0.17 per gal. Automotive gasoline 2006: $2.93 per gal. Loaf of Pumpernickel bread 1961: $0.39 Loaf of Pumpernickle bread 2006: $3.49 Just a few examples of how much we have gained over the past 45 yrs. or so, off the top of my head, that I can actually recall. Forty-five years ago, I could afford many more things, including travel, than I can afford now. We are moving inexorably towards the lifestyle of Japan, where people work up to 14 hrs. per day, and live in tiny little apartments, where you can hardly turn around, and spend all their energies making money for large corporations, who give all the profits to their top management people, rather than to their stock holders. Today's corporate world is no longer about growing a business, or providing jobs, it is only about maximizing the stock value, so that management executives can cash in their options, and make a financial killing, at the expense of the company's employees and stock holders, alike. So......travel to exotic places, or overseas places, or even more than a day's drive away, has become a prohibitive thing, as it requires too much of the resources that have become increasingly scarce, over time....See Morecool roof on old style brick home?
Comments (5)The difference in the temperature between light and dark colored composition shingles is miniscule. Once the asphalt base is heated up, it is held and is what makes attics hot. Proper ventilation or non vented principles done correctly using materials such as radiant barrier with vented, or foam with non vented, all installed correctly, is what takes care of keeping an attic area or cathedral ceilings cooler. Certainly light colored shingles will be cooler than dark slightly, but not enough difference to lead you to make a decision on color that you will regret....See MoreShock and Awe: AnnT drops a bomb!
Comments (37)What a perfect package! Lori, I bet you forgot all your plumbing problems when you opened this box of goodies! I especially love the calendar, so personal, yet so appropriate. And those spoons are to die for! What an excellent job of researching your partner Ann! Lucky you, Lori! Enjoy your treasures. Catherine...See MoreWhy is red brick "awful"??? Does awful mean outdated?
Comments (45)I am going to get on my design high horse and probably offend some people who personalize discussions about design theory, because I am good at annoying people in this way. First, I think almost anybody who buys a post war house in almost any part of the country that was not built as a completely custom house is probably going to end up with a lot of choices in houses that include a patch of brick or stone on the front facade and plain siding or plainer brick on the rest. Almost anybody who builds a new house in a development or subdivision or home owner's association is not only going to face the same, thing, but in addition are not going to be allowed to leave the stone or brick accent off even if they want to. The element that was originally used as a budget cutting device is now "important" to the design and consistency of the entire development. The consistency of materials of the individual house is no longer important, but the inconsistency of materials and how they are used must be consistent throughout the neighborhood. The building a house forum is full of questions about how to tack the stone or brick onto the front of their houses even if they don't want it because the guidelines say the house must be 10% stone and 30% brick on the facade. Second, I don't think there is anything the matter with vinyl siding. I don't think there is anything the matter with any particular building material. Frank Lloyd Wright built beautiful houses out of concrete block. There's nothing the matter with building a plain rectangular house with plain modest materials that go all away around the house and calling it done. But as a culture we have been convinced that this is cheap looking somehow. But if its three sides of a rectangle with a convoluted elevation on the front including three or four different building materials, it's "pretty". Third, if you are building a custom or semi custom house, why not build something that you can afford to finish the same on all four sides? We are also in a culture where people are pressured into feeling it's necessary to take everything to a level that we can just barely afford it. And who is that impressing? Some random stranger may be impressed by your house driving by, but what about the people who get inside, and see that there's barely any furniture, and many of the rooms are cheaply detailed drywall boxes. I understand if you live in a HCOLA that it is easy to be house poor, but whats the point of a 4000 square foot house when you are entertaining people on card tables. Sheer volume isn't everything. Should you apologize to friends because the back of your house is vinyl? I dunno, but think about where you are putting friends and family. There is this fancy facade out front that no one ever spends any time in front of. They are escorted to the back yard. There are $1M townhouses here that have stone and brick facades with genuine copper bays and details on the front. The end unit has plain stucco on the side that faces a side streets. The backs are vinyl siding (you can easily see all three materials together.) So some stranger sees the fancy front of the house where the real friends are taken out back where they sit on crudely built pressure treated decks next to vinyl siding with all sorts of PVC pipes and vents and such sticking out all over with no concerns about esthetics, or quality, and it's all right at eye level. As a culture, maybe we should apologize....See Morechristylsanders
3 years agoLyndsay Blohm
3 years agoLyndsay Blohm
3 years ago
PROFlo Mangan
3 years agoThis is what we call "a Re-Muddle". Sorry, don't mean to be unkind. Yes, it is a form of Barn roof look. If you could wave a magic wand, what style would you like it to be. Mid-Century modern? I could see making some changes to get it looking more Mid-Century. Flip your house and do something like this. This is not a cheap deal though. But it can be done. Get a remodeling firm to come over and give you some ideas. You need someone in your home to see all the elements and challenges so they can give a proper estimate. If your budget can't stand that type reno, then use dark paint for wings and trim because dark colors "recede" so they won't be quite so noticeable.
Mid-Century Modern Atlanta · More Infohoussaon
3 years agoLyndsay Blohm
3 years agopartim
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoToo many things going on with the house, but I like the roof line itself. It's not cookie-cutter and I think it could look charming.
Here's a before-and-after of a house somewhat like yours. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5630756/dutch-colonial-exterior-ideas
I would remove some of the detail on yours, and if it can't be easily removed then paint it the same colour so it doesn't stand out. The belly band needs to go all the way across, not be interrupted by the windows. Consider whitewashing the brick with Romabio and going with an all-white look. If the side pieces were painted the same colour as the siding you wouldn't even notice them. If you go all white then you could even bring back the shutters in black.
Add evergreen shrubs. Your retaining wall is a nice shape and colour, but the look needs to be softened with weeping/trailing plants that will hang over it. Even trailing evergreens like blue rug juniper if you want low maintenance, but there are plenty of things that bloom that will look great.
- PRO
Flo Mangan
3 years ago Lyndsay Blohm
3 years agoparty_music50
3 years agoAnna (6B/7A in MD)
3 years agoarcy_gw
3 years agoparty_music50
3 years agoLyndsay Blohm
3 years ago- PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago partim
3 years agoFixing the overly-busy area around the left side windows will make a big difference, and so will landscaping. One of the reasons that your eye is focused on the left side of the house is there are too many finishes and different coloured details. There is also no landscaping to draw the eye across the house to the right side. If those 2 things are improved, the house will be more balanced and the roof line will not be the thing that holds your attention.
Changing the roof line will be relatively expensive and you will get a much better bang for your buck elsewhere. And the house still won't look good if you only change the roof line.
Just paint the side pieces the same as the rest of the shingled area and they will virtually disappear.
I like that your house has a little personality and isn't a cookie cutter. If siding and brick are the same colour, you could achieve an attractive result like this.
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