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kelskie

Does anyone know what style my house is

Kelskie
13 years ago

I am new here but wondering if anyone has any idea what style my house is. It was built in 1945 in a small town in Nebraska. I am wanting to start renovating but would like to keep it with the style, age and area. If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

http://s1177.photobucket.com/albums/x351/KJFEHRINGER/

Comments (5)

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    13 years ago

    In a lot of regions they call a large one-story home a "rambler", meaning that is rambles all over the place, I guess. Your house is a post-war ranch/rambler built with a nod to a pre-war "English cottage" style. English cottages were generally fronted with several differently-shaped gables to add interest, but your gables seem to be all of the same pitch (slope). The highest style cottages blended wood, brick and stone surfaces, and some even had roofs elaborately done up with curved shingles to emulate thatched roofing.
    I'm afraid that I have to say yours is pretty much "watered-down" style wise, not to say that it can't have more curb appeal. Plantings and a picket fence might add some interest. Paneled shutters with decorative cutouts are another period-appropriate dress-up element.
    The English themes were not usually carried into the interiors. Occasionally tudor arches were introduced between rooms, a pair of simple stained glass windows would flank a brick fireplace, and one room may have had a "beamed" ceiling. That was about it; doors and moldings were typical of the period; thinner, plainer moldings carried the day.
    Casey

  • Kelskie
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you so much for the information. I should have given a little more info regarding the house. It was built by a local family in 1945 and then sold to the Catholic Church that is across the street and used as a Convent and then the parish rectory from 1963-2009. During that time the old 2 stall garage was converted to a chapel with stained glass windows, altar, and pews. The house is now in a giant U shape, approx.3000 sp/ft. Needless to say since the parish took over many many diffent styles were added to it, at the whim of whomever was working on it. We have a small galley kitchen that needs to be done and my husband and I are tring to decide how to best to accomplish it. I want to knock walls down he says no. Do you know any good places that I can get ideas of what to do? Thanks!!

  • barefootedgardener
    13 years ago

    I'd call it a modified/expanded bungalow. I've always thought of a rambler as a ranch-style one-story house. Maybe what you have is a cross between the two--it certainly does ramble nicely.

    About.com has a pretty good section on styles of houses. http://architecture.about.com/od/periodsstyles/ig/House-Styles/

    Unfortunatly most older homes have been modified enough to make them hard to categorize.

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    13 years ago

    Bungalows have some form of prominent overhangs/eaves and a low-pitched sheltering roof. This is neither, it's more a cape/english ranch/cottage.
    Casey

  • slateberry
    13 years ago

    Cottage Living magazine, now defunct, has a lot of photos up on the web. Some of their articles may apply to your situation; I remember seeing some houses featured that had elements of yours, and the makeovers were done in a classic way. They'll have some exterior inspiration photos, while I'm not sure you'll find much exterior stuff at houzz.com, the other site I'd recommend, since it focuses on interiors.

    And if you want to do anything to your kitchen, browse the kitchens forum here on gardenweb and post some questions. There are some dedicated and talented posters over there that will love to read about your kitchen dreams and get you pointed in the right direction.

    Looking at your pictures, I think your house is lovely. Being in the great plains, the absence of tall trees in the neighborhood throws me off. Is there anything that gets tall that you can plant on your lot, maybe twin sentinels in your front yard? Ask liriodendron on this forum, he/she might have some good suggestions for trees that are appropriate for your area. I like cottonwoods (I remember seeing a lot when I worked in IA and SD) but I believe they prefer to be along a river.

    I like that it has substantial windows and roof pitch; so many later ranches had anemic or too strongly horizontal windows and a shallow pitch, for my taste. The red brick and white trim look is classic. Other colors would also complement the brick, but unless you hate the white I'd put painting pretty far down the list. The white gable on the left is begging for something, perhaps a demilune vent like the other gable has, or even a window. But I would be careful to keep it smallish and not too ornate; you want it to blend in with the house and break up that large gable, but not become a focal point in itself.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Photos from Cottage Living