The Shingle Style is what would meet your requirements. It is also my favorite. However, because of the tight integration of elements and endless variations it can require the assistance of a design professional.

A Tudor style anything - mansion, house, cottage. :)

Try a craftsman bungalow in the shingle style. Fits the environment, and is one of the most livable house styles.

Hey, y'all beat me to it. We utterly adore our Shingle style Craftsman bungalow and it's by far the easiest-living house we've ever owned. Great openness and natural light with perfectly sized rooms for every function.

But I'm also fond of Tudor (when it's well done) and MCM Eichlers. Something must please me about the relationship of glass to wood in each of these styles.

I like to look at rows of candy Victorians and Queen Annes, but in reality often find them to be quite dark inside. And is it just me with my 1980's hangover (= aversion to all things shiny) or does the really glaring hard shellac finish on Victorian trim bother anyone else?

Hope all is well now with your family, Lavender.

I have no favorite style ... but I want a house that hasn't been bastardized into a style it was never meant to be by a klutzy remodel.

Early American Eichlers, ultra-modern interiors in colonials, classic ranch houses tarted up with Georgian crown molding ... ick!

I grew up fully enamored of 4-story living in an Italianate Town house. Sometimes a Mansard roofed Second Empire of the same size fits the bill, too. The call of a Brownstone was very very strong. I have restored a Free Classical Queen Anne home and a Shingle-Style home, both of which were my favorite styles at the time-both couldnt be more different. Now that I am back in a bigger city, that tall slender Italianate Townhouse is haunting my dreams again.

Lavender_Lass, are you seeking input for a house style for your woodland space? To me there has always been something mystical about following a path through the woods to discover an old glittering jewel of a home, hidden deep in those woods. Something time forgot and trees grew up to surround. Whatever home style you choose it will probably be correct and best for you.

I've always had a soft spot for 1920s revival styles. My first house was a 1929 Tudor, then a 1926 Storybook, then a 1925 Spanish Colonial Revival. I adored them all. Then we made an abrupt turn to a post-and-beam mid-century modern home. And I adore the MCM, too. My latest obsession is Pueblo style (which can be vernacular or revival, depending on where and when built and by whom) and hope to score a good example if we move to NM in a few years.

It's so interesting to see what type of houses people enjoy. Schoolhouse- I like Tudor too, especially cottages! Jim- I like the idea of a little home in the woods...so much fun! I wasn't really looking for responses to my situation, but thanks for the great ideas :)

My husband is finally home and doing much better. He uses a walker to help with his balance, but he's making improvements every week. The doctors are confident he should be back to normal and walking fences (we have horses) in about 6-8 months!

We are restoring an 1851 Greek Revival farmhouse. Always thought I would get a Victorian grand lady, but this house called our names. It is understated and peaceful. It has great light because of the tall windows. It also sits on an acre with great old trees. It is a perfect old farmhouse, which is a great kind of cottage.

Of necessity looking in a limited geographic area -- I am a city girl with a bicycle instead of a car -- I am very much in peacocklady's camp of spontaneous affinity
I.e., if any stylish house built before the Depression calls out to me to save it from further decrepitude, I am a goner.

The house I bought four years ago is a 1923 Sears kit house, and readying the old lady for her next 90 years was incredibly gratifying. The house I am looking at now a 1905 farm house just over the city line on a shady block that is blessedly quiet. It has some inherent challenges and needs a lot of work, but oh man am I ready.

That said, lavander lass, I might be content for quite a while with house if I could see horses from my kitchen window. I'm glad your husband is on the mend.

Cheers. hbk

My 18 th century New England gambrel. We bought it in 1976 for $ 5,200.00! We have been through a major house fire in '87 live with my folks for 6 months, and a major flood in 2010. I joke and say I'm just waiting for the locus to come through! We have loving restored this home. Lots of blood sweat and tears. But the only way I'm leaving is feet first! LOL

I am trying to imagine what a "Shingle style Craftsman bungalow " would look like.

The Shingle Style developed from the late Victorian Queen Anne Style and the early Colonial Revival Style. They were sort of Victorian houses with paired windows dramatic roof shapes and Classical & Renaissance detailing. These houses were also very large.

IMO the Shingle Style has only one thing in common with a Craftsman bungalow: the use of natural materials like stone and untreated red cedar wall shingles. You would not find a Palladian window or Doric columns on a Craftsman bungalow.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shingle Style houses

Cottage. I guess it's hard to define, but it's vernacular here. Basically, a single story small cottage with a mis-mash mix of older items. Most cottages here were owned by folks in a large city about 45 minutes away as vacation properties. They were built economically and maintained in the same manner. We have a bunch of mis-matched windows here. And I LOVE it. I can decorate with dumpster dive antiques showing wear and tear and they fit right in (like the cabinet in the left corner of the attached pic-grabbed it off the side of the road, cleaned it up and viola, dining room cabinet)! My stove and fridge are 1950's era. True cottages are becoming rare here, as people tear them down for larger "year round" homes (ours is a cottage, but we live here-lol). You can see more pics of what I mean by cottage on my blog, linked below.

Aside from cottage, Greek Revival has always been a fav, as well as cobblestones.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cottage blog

Ren8 - we have a bungalow built by one of the major architects of the Shingle Style movement; it is a strange combo indeed (shingle and colonial revival outside, craftsman inside) but it seems to work well.

Here's an exterior shot (built 1910):

Give me an English castle. And interiors on the order of Game of Thrones. (Minus the blood residues. And Sean Bean's head on a pike in the courtyard.)

This is a phantasy, no?

This post was edited by worthy on Tue, Jul 23, 13 at 20:45

Duplicate

{{!gwi}}

This post was edited by worthy on Tue, Jul 23, 13 at 20:44

Circuspeanut- Beautiful photos! Have you started your kitchen remodel planning yet? I know you said it would be a while before you tackled another kitchen remodel :)

I live in a Victorian Cottage built in 1895. It is very charming indeed. I never thought I would pick a Victorian but when I saw it I knew it would be mine.

I like so many styles of older homes. However, I would have to say my favorites are big sprawling spanish homes (with clay roofs) also, Dutch Colonials, Farm houses. Really any older home is gorgeous if its done right. Even Tudors, if their not too dark.

Gosh, I would love one of those big pink spanish homes and get rid of this Victorian.

Victorians have always been and will always be my favorite. I can never decide which I like better, Second Empires or Italianates. Good thing I ended up in a house that is a cross between the two of them! Queen Annes are a close second, although I don't know if I'll ever have the energy and time it would require to keep such a large house clean!

worthy - LOL!