Hideous addition. It doesn't blend at all and looks like they didn't even try. If they'd used the same roof pitch, gone higher, and used something like shingles that would complement the brick, it could have turned out at least not so in your face MODERN ADDITION. It's profoundly disrespectful to what was a pretty nice little house.

It's a little sad. Gotta agree with LWO.

And yet, it looks like a well-maintained and nicely finished house. Not like they went super cheap on it. I've seen similar homes with additions that went much better on the outside. I don't think you should give up adding onto yours based on this house. Just use it as a cautionary tale for your architect.

I don't think it plays well with the original house, and the interior does not really fit with the character of the old house or the addition, no matter how well appointed.

There is a point of view that it can be disrespectful and revisionist to build additions that look like the original house because you are "mimicking" the intent of the original design and even giving the house a false history if you do an addition that is seamless.

That's why there is a house in TX (?) that is a low glass box that has an addition that looks like an artichoke.

I don't happen to really agree with this philosophy and the house in the OP is a good example of the flaws in the "addition should Look Like an addition" philosophy.

Thanks for the replies. This house disappoints me--the individuals obviously had ambition and funds--the execution just strips the house of some charm and adds a lot of just straight up bulk. When I see examples like this I get really nervous about drastic structural changes to the exterior of old homes. Some pull it off---while others crash and burn. In situations like this example is the house/new owners just stuck with the bulk or are there feasible solutions to lessen the bulk appearance?

The siding could be a more subtle color (also on the--is it a garage?) and would be better run horizontally. The big ol' stubby (lamp?) posts in the front could be replaced with something more dignified and skinny.

I think it would look better with some dark paint.

Still, it looks better than most new stuff. As long as we're picking on poor Idaho Falls, I prefer the above ungainly addition on a cute classic to this thing:

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/364-Stillwater-Dr-Idaho-Falls-ID-83404/94751911_zpid/

Get an architect involved that had plenty of architectural history in his curriculum. One that has done renovations that you actually like. Look at his portfolio. A guy like that won't be the cheapest hack you find on Craigslist. He'll probably won't be the highest price guy either, as he'll probably like working on projects like this rather than new construction. But he can make the house look like it organically grew together with the addition.

Fori--the unfortunate thing about where I live is that the house you linked is what people covet around here.

Be careful of what you say in public about houses like the one fori posted. I have criticized these from an architectural standpoint on GW and been accused of mocking the essential American dream, and every individual who buys such a house personally, and been attacked harshly enough to stop me from posting for a while.

I think the most successful non-facsimile types of additions have a couple of elements not expressed in the house in the original post.

1) it helps if the addition is tethered to the house or touches the house but stands a bit "separate" of the primary facade, rather than wrapping it or engulfing it.

The glass box on top or as a wing of the primary mass of the house for example.

2) It also works better if the addition is either a completely minimalist structure, such as a glass box, or if it is a distinct modernist "version" of the original house itself. A stripped down version of the original house itself, with proper scale and proportions, will almost always be compatible. The addition on the OP house is a distinct style with it's own characteristics, surrounding the other house, and that's why I don't think it is a success.

Sorry, but people can get mad all they want to about my design critique. Too many people operate under the libertine impression that "do what you want" design wise and "it will all be fine" and don't understand even basic design principles. Worse, they won't hire a pro to help them! Or, even worse in your case, they won't even listen to great free information that can help them to learn. Aggressive ignorance is never attractive, but it seems to permeate "generation me". Which, is of course, a generality that has it's exceptions. There are plenty of old codgers who are equally imbued with a lack of curiosity about intellectual discourse as well. And worse, take it personally.

Proportion and repetition of forms and materials are two design principles that would have really helped the addition under discussion above. And it wouldn't have been hard to integrate either into the addition. Instead, it's offputting, and most people don't even know why it looks "off".

Not to veer way off topic, but I was told once in these forums that people felt demeaned by being taught something or having to look up a word they didn't know, and that it was tedious to feel they were being taught or lectured all the time.

Well, some people don't mind houses like the one I linked and I'm sure it has a lot of advantages over the old one. I imagine living in a new house is actually pretty nice. It's probably cheaper to heat and doesn't have leaks and is easier to clean. And you KNOW it's gotta be bigger.

I have a 1950s ranch house and people HATE ranches ya know. The sad thing is, in my subdivision of unsurprising but nice-enough ranches, people remodel their ranches to look like that one. It ain't pretty. And it's not cheap.

There is an implied deal on the internet. You can call anything I post ugly and I can call anything you post ugly and nobody is allowed to be offended! Teehee!

It's interesting, I looked at this on Street View, and what I thought was part of the addition off to the right, is actually the house next door.

I guess they were trying to riff off the existing materials in the neighborhood. If they hadn't pushed that flat, front facing gable to the roof crest of the existing house, it actually looks like it would have been hard to notice anything from the street. (And sometimes not noticing something from the street is best).

Oh. I thought that was the garage.

Makes it much harder to paint.