btw, I was here 6 yrs ago and built a Southern Living Plan. We just purchased property and are in no hurry, but are building again after we hire an architect and get our plan complete, whatever that may be. Not really thrilled with this whole thing again, but I'm trying to get into the spirit and get excited.

Susie

If you have enough money and land that you can do a side load or rear load garage, then almost any home style can be adapted to modern usage, including this Craftsman-esque home with Greek Revival touches. I find the proportions nice, but adding in those Ionic columns is a bit jarring. Like wearing a nice tweed blazer and khakis with a tiara. They try too hard and just leave you scratching your head as to what the intention was in the first place.

Mine is an early example so it has some Victorian elements but yours was built when the Colonial revival had become well established. Do you know where it is located?

The difficulty with emulating this style is that first floor bedrooms tend to make the first floor much larger than the upper floor and except for porches these houses were about the same area on both floors.

A 1 1/2 story version might work using an offshoot of the Colonial Revival, the Shingle Style.

Live wire oak. First of all. Why didn't my link work if I may ask? Thanks for showing the the pic for me. Loved your analogy re: the tiara. In my infatuation over this house, I had not even noticed how "fancy" the columns were.

Susie

My guests enter my house right now through my laundry room on the garage side of my house. I would love to have a sort of "side foyer".

So many things I want to make sure I get right in this house.

Thanks.

I am also still raising children. Nine year old twin boys.

Upstairs I would like to have three bedrooms, lots of closet space, in addition to a "sleepover/playroom" room where all of their junk/toys will live to keep their rooms clean. I would love to have a back staircase in keeping with the old fashioned look of this house. Is that just a waste?

Their rooms are puny now. My kitchen is puny with no windows. I have a huge dining room that I never use, full of 30 yr old wedding china that hasn't seen the light of day in over 6 yrs, while I have to put my bread machine away every time I use it, because I have no room to leave it on the kitchen counter. I expect that this house will be significantly larger than what we have now which is 3500 sq ft one level over finished basement.

My house is disproportionate--huge foyer-- inadequate laundry room etc.. These are the kinds of mistakes I want to avoid in this house.

Thanks.

I can think of no reason the basic concept of the house you like can't be emulated. I grew up in Webster Groves, MO; what part of ILL do you live in?

The Shingle Style was an off-shoot of the Early Colonial Revival style, in fact it wasn't known as a separate style until later. It basically took a Colonial Revival house and wrapped it in shingles. It didn't make a big splash outside of New England but Wright used it in the early days for his own house and studio. I have discussed it on the forum many times so you can search for it. I've included a link to one discussion from last October.

I just realized in your last note that the house you posted is your own home. That is amazing. You are so lucky to have that picture. Please post a few pics of your home as it is now. Will look at the threads you linked soon . Thanks for posting them. Thanks for the good advice.

Thanks Holly as well.

You did the img tag copy and also put it in the location for a link. If you want to link to your picture copy the web address and put in the link portion.

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Renovator-your house is amazing. I love old houses. Enjoyed reading the links about shingle style homes. Hope to hire an architect soon. If this house can't work, I found a pic of a shingle stle home that I like that doesn't look like it would be out of place in Il.

Thanks!

Does that mean, if I showed it to an architect and had him draw it for me, or something quite similar--I would not be stepping on any toes as far as copyright goes?

The picture of this house came from a blog without any reference to where it's at or any other info.

Head of the Harbour, Long Island

The pale shingles are usually white cedar with a bleaching oil stain. The dark ones are usually unfinished red cedar. They can also be pressure treated white cedar with or without a stain.

White Cedar Shingles:
left is pressure treated with color, right is pressure treated with no color

Do we know the lot size. Wider or deeper?
Casey

Our land is plenty wide and plenty deep. The back is to the east, but I would like to turn the house slightly so that the back is slightly SE, and hopefully creating a cooler spot on the left side of the front porch that is not due West. Our land is thickly wooded and slightly sloped to the back, so I hope to create a walk-out basement somewhere for easy basement escape in case of fire.

The more I look at the two picturesI have, the more I like the 1.5 story. It really has a certain charm. I am doubting that the first floor of my other house will hold all the spaces I would like to have. I'm thinking a first floor guest room maybe as well.

Are the Hardie shingles any good?

Can it be done without screwing up the look up the house?

It's a good thought.

If you have one, I'll email you.