Architecture
House Facades Worth a Second Look
See how the arrangement and proportions of windows, doors and other features can affect how people experience your home
The design of a building’s elevation is crucial to its personality. The proportions and composition of doors, windows, materials, textures, overhangs, sills and other elements contribute to what a building says to you. Does your facade make you smile?
2. Not a matching set. I like the contrast this image shows of two personalities. The row house on the left is cottage-y, while the one on the right has been altered to simplify the lines and create tall, elegant proportions.
The left-hand facade is possibly more friendly, with its multipaned windows, shrubs and climbing plants. The right-hand house is more urban, with a Vespa parked outside and daylight pouring in.
The left-hand facade is possibly more friendly, with its multipaned windows, shrubs and climbing plants. The right-hand house is more urban, with a Vespa parked outside and daylight pouring in.
3. Throwing a curve. The personality of a facade isn’t only about the front of a building. The large circular window on this rear addition brings a wry smile when viewed from the back garden and adds quirky drama to the bathroom inside.
4. Updated classic. The house on the left plays an interesting game of reimagining, in a modernist style, the traditional forms and proportions of a two-story bay window and three windows in a vertical row.
The color and texture of the brickwork are in keeping with that of the neighboring building, and the stone of the bay is muted in tone. But the bay window is outsized and deliberately rectangular and blocky, while the windows, unlike the neighboring ones, have no brash white surrounds. There is at once restraint and defiance expressed here.
The color and texture of the brickwork are in keeping with that of the neighboring building, and the stone of the bay is muted in tone. But the bay window is outsized and deliberately rectangular and blocky, while the windows, unlike the neighboring ones, have no brash white surrounds. There is at once restraint and defiance expressed here.
5. Swaths of green. Plantings can play a huge role in how a facade comes across. Try to imagine this building without the foliage: Despite the generous scale of the glass, there could be something rather austere and cold about it. However, softened as it is with the greens and purples of the bushes and trees, which are multiplied through the reflections in the huge windows, it takes on a much friendlier, more approachable personality.
6. Standout color. Color on a facade or on the front door, as shown here, can exude personality and say a great deal about the occupants.
I can only imagine that whoever chose this orange door was no introvert. The sense of fun is palpable, and the color plays against the natural tones of the wood siding in a way that could have purists revolving in their monochrome graves. Something tells me that whoever lives here is too busy having fun to care.
I can only imagine that whoever chose this orange door was no introvert. The sense of fun is palpable, and the color plays against the natural tones of the wood siding in a way that could have purists revolving in their monochrome graves. Something tells me that whoever lives here is too busy having fun to care.
7. Storybook charm. This Arts and Crafts-inspired facade on a house in the Channel Islands near France seems to be built of fairy tales. It’s almost as if one of Tolkien’s wizards lives here, blowing magical smoke rings up through the chimneys.
The windows are relatively small. In many instances, that can feel excluding and rude, but here there’s a benign air of mystery.
The windows are relatively small. In many instances, that can feel excluding and rude, but here there’s a benign air of mystery.
8. Modern masterwork. Frank Lloyd Wright is one of the most celebrated architects of the 20th century, and many of his houses, particularly in the earlier part of his career, employed deeply overhanging roofs, dramatic deep shadows and very strong horizontals.
It’s possible to see in this 1902 house an important source for the modernist movement that followed, but Lloyd Wright manages here to create a quite exclusive modernity while still using a pitched roof, warm colors and lots of texture.
It’s possible to see in this 1902 house an important source for the modernist movement that followed, but Lloyd Wright manages here to create a quite exclusive modernity while still using a pitched roof, warm colors and lots of texture.
9. Understated cool. Modernism still has the power of tremendous cool, and this very reduced and rigorous facade says sophistication to some, while suggesting “I want to be alone” to others. A facade has tremendous power to convey personality, but, as with any personality, it might be one to which only some people warm.
10. A balance of heavy and light. This 1960s house has been remodeled inside and out. Deliberate use of rendered masonry (visually heavy) is punctured with windows and cutouts, revealing the wood-paneled box (visually light), which appears to be popping out from within the masonry casing.
While the heavy element is a cool off-white, the warmth of the cedar-clad inner box creates an interesting interplay and, overall, in my opinion, a characterful balance.
Your turn: Have you made changes to the exterior of your home? Tell us about them in the Comments below.
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While the heavy element is a cool off-white, the warmth of the cedar-clad inner box creates an interesting interplay and, overall, in my opinion, a characterful balance.
Your turn: Have you made changes to the exterior of your home? Tell us about them in the Comments below.
More
Entry Refresh: Door Inspiration Is Knocking
Choosing Color: See 1 Cute Home in 3 Exterior Paint Palettes
The brickwork banding and other details on the existing building repeat on the addition, but the new section is set back and has more modest window openings, so the bold arch of the porch and the bay window still retain their prominence. The addition also has a modest parapet, which allows the main roof eaves to remain as a formal “hat” above the face of the house.
To me, this building manages to balance stylish and casual. But the wonderful thing about reading facades is that everyone has a slightly different take.