Siding ideas for mid century modern that's been "updated"?
We recently purchased a 1950's architect designed MCM house in central New York that is largely original on the interior, but has received some serious updates on the exterior. The original siding was vertical 1x3 wood -- I'm guessing it was natural, but it has been painted white for quite a while. At some point the flat roof and the upstate winters motivated the previous owners to add a peaked roof to the main house and garage. Hard to throw too much shame and blame on them as the winters here can be brutal. There are signs of previous water damage on the ceilings, but the new roof seems to have solved the leaking. They did follow the original angle of the old roof over the vaulted living room, so some of the original lines have survived. They also kept the original window sizes and the front door is still the wavy glass from the period. However, they used narrow horizontal vinyl siding to fill the new spaces, which looks really odd to us. The old wood siding is looking pretty rough, so we would like to have the place resided.
If we had an unlimited budget we'd tear off the peaked roof, do new hi-tech flat roof and use new vertical wood siding everywhere. However, that seems well beyond our budget, especially since the house will also need a new kitchen and two new baths ASAP.
Looking for suggestions on how to work with the hand we've been dealt. Horizontal siding strikes us as wrong for the long front elevation, so we're leaning towards vertical. Many of the MCM's in the area have board and batten in greens, blues, and browns. Are there other profiles we should consider? Are we wrong that white seems totally inappropriate, and would not have been the original color? (At least it looks a bit better now that we've removed the yellow shutters!)
We are currently leaning towards a vinyl board and batten in sage green with the front door painted in an orange for a pop of color, but would appreciate hearing any and all ideas.
We are wanting to get some contractors in to look at the project, but we want to have a better sense of the direction we want to take the design before we do. Thanks for any wisdom and opinions you have to share!
Current state of affairs with roof addition.
Architect's original elevation drawing:
Comments (7)
houssaon
last yearRelated Discussions
What siding would you use for this mid-century modern split level?
Comments (11)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....See MoreAdvice on updating mid-century modern home.
Comments (12)If you like the fence and want to keep one I would look at installing a horizontal wood fence where the existing fence is located. This would enhance the existing horizontal lines of the house. With the lighter tones of the brick I would paint the dark brown colors a lighter tone. This will reduce the disjointed effect of the dark against the light. If you're interested in seeing some virtual makeovers of your house, check out my website, Creative Visual Concepts. I don't think it will take a lot to improve the look....See MoreHow is this attempted mid-century modern exterior update?
Comments (30)Hi, the key consideration to work with is that the home is not MCM, but Ranch, and should be treated as such. Unless you want to engage an architect to change the roofline and windows, you should work within the Ranch style. I suggest you step back and reassess the design approach and consider "modern/updated ranch" vs MCM, in order to pull together a good overall design. With that in mind what needs to change first is the front door itself-it is out of sync with the house (color and style). Adapting the front entry to add a sunken patio is intriguing, and in line with Modern-Ranch approach. Minor comments: color, as that is not my strength, but if you're going to live in it vs sell then do what you like. I agree with the suggestions of the landscaping updates. For better or worse you have a huge tree too near the house that you'll have to deal with. The small one should be moved sooner than later as part of the overall plan. You have a huge front yard to work with but unless you're a gardener, I would suggest not doing too much beyond anchor plants and then add potted plants for pops of color-but those minor items alone will do wonders for the look....See Moremid century modern update
Comments (21)I would probably paint the under part the same as the accent siding you go with (if you keep the brick), like the first photo. In one of the photos that under part matches the window trim...in one it’s white...it’s really up to you and what you like. Not sure what colors they are using in the above photos. But this looks close to your brick? and might help give you a starting point. (Not a pro). if iron ore is too dark, SW urbane bronze below is a nice color too. I’ve been looking into that one to go with my terra-cotta roof....See More- PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last yearWaht a mess . I love MCM ranch style homes . I own one and they are IMO the perfect design for an exterior not to mention the great living space sizes. The drawing you show is that your architect now desgning this home ot the actual real original drawings? I like what is shown in those drawings IMO stop choosing anything until you figure out what is being done to hopefully bring the house back to what it should be and IMO that is not modern farmhouse .I need to have you tell us what you want from this house and how much money you want to spend. I do not agree it should be stucco . This is one of my faves for MCM landscaping and it also has the style of garge door and front door that woudl work for you. Please save for a bit to do this right. I do agree vertical siding but that gable has to go.If that is the LR on the left that window should be made larger. I live where we get tons of snow maybe every 5 yrs or so we need to shovel the roof but I would never change the roof style since it is such an itegral part of the house style.
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last yearlast modified: last yearpalimpsest
last yearI wonder if doing something like this would define the kind of amorphous-looking left side
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Jennifer Hogan