What style house is this?

[Sand]

I drive by this house every week. What would you call the style of this home? (ex)Craftsman, Victorian, etc... (and yes, i know its neither of these)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/sandlakers/AAhouse.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/sandlakers/aahouseBK.jpg

is it Frank Lloyd Wright?

anyone else like this style?

[jajacobsen]

Modern or contemporary. Depending upon the layout inside, yes I might like that style very much.

[Jaycee]

I call that a ceder contemporary. Who knows if that's the correct terminology though.

[Jenyfer9]

I'd call it a contemporary. Much too angular for FLW. I'm not a big fan of those houses inside or out, but to each her own!

[mamax2]

It's contemporary. Not my style, but like the PP said, to each her own!

[kdotp]

I'd consider it contemporary as well.

It's not my personal favorite style, but I've seen some that are done very well and look really cool inside.

[suzubeane]

I'd consider it contemporary as well, but reluctantly because "contemporary" is not a style the way your examples - craftsman, Victorian - are styles with actual historic periods attached to them. (Even though they have been replicated since those periods) "Contemporary" is a more nebulous term, and is often used to describe anything built since the mid-sixties that just defies any other style description. If you were to do a 'net search on "contemporary homes" you would find vastly different examples.

What's considered contemporary changes; a contemporary house of today might resemble this one, but would likely have more windows and more varied materials. That house looks to me like it might have been built in the eighties (hard to tell) which is not literally "contemporary" if you know what I mean.

Probably TMI, but there are my two cents!

[espresso]

In my area they are called "cedar contemporary"...it's the kind of house we have :) You have to be a quirky kind of person to like them! You either love em or hate em around here :)

[suzubeane]

Shells - I think I remember your house from remodeling pictures you posted. It was built in the seventies?

[jajacobsen]

Quite a few of these "cedar Contemporaries" were built around here in the 70s and very early 80s.

[espresso]

Yep! - 1979! Most of the homes in my neighborhood were built in the late 70s; I think the style died off in the 80s.

Here is my house:
http://metuchen.dyndns.org/gallery/d/9596-1/House+1.jpeg

http://metuchen.dyndns.org/gallery/d/9598-1/House+2.jpeg

We are still working on it! I need to go update my journal at some point :o

[mindy75]

I'd call it a comtemporary too, but I think it looks like something that was built in the late 70's or 80's. We have a few houses like that around here and that's when they were built. I don't personally like houses like that, but that's just me!

[styron]

Why is it called a cedar contemporary? What are the features of that style? Lots of windows and angles, or what?

[espresso]

Several reasons in my area....first, I would say 99% of these houses were originally built with cedar siding (mine included). By now people are replacing this cedar with hardiplank. The cedar is slowly rotting and the little knot holes fall out constantly. In addition, the wierd angles of the various houses also are "contemporary" or they were at the time they were built compared to the usual box of a house. Like I said earlier, you either love them or hate them in this area.

[Sand]

Thanks for your replies. Smart cookies... the listing says Year Built: 1980. I want to go check it out just to look inside.

I think it would be fun to remodel a place like this! Shellslake - do you have interior pics. I'm quirky, I like your place. ;)

[espresso]

Thanks! We have grown to love it too :) I only have a few pics of the interior right now (we are converting over from Shutterfly). My now poor neglected journal had tons but I don't think they are showing up since the Shutterfly shutdown. We have been remodeling for 3 years and it is finally starting to come together :rolleyes:


I wish we had pics of the master bedroom...it is really cool with high ceilings and a loft above it..must take new pics tomorrow! No pics of the kitchen right now as there isn't anything in there (still working on it).

Here is our living room and new fireplace..

http://metuchen.dyndns.org/gallery/d/8440-2/Living+Room+1.JPG

http://metuchen.dyndns.org/gallery/d/8421-2/Entryway.JPG

http://metuchen.dyndns.org/gallery/d/8444-2/Living+Room.JPG

[espresso]

This is standing in the living room looking down the hallway...guest room and then guest bath on right. Guest room 2 on left. Master suite (bedroom, bath, and office loft) straight down the hallway. Also stairwell to full basement.

http://metuchen.dyndns.org/gallery/d/8436-2/Hallway+2.JPG




Here is our guest room (without carpet and with lots of stuff in there)

http://metuchen.dyndns.org/gallery/d/8429-2/Guest+Bedroom+1.JPG

http://metuchen.dyndns.org/gallery/d/8431-2/Guest+Bedroom+3.JPG



Our guest bathroom and laundry closet (in the guest bathroom)

http://metuchen.dyndns.org/gallery/d/8439-2/Laundry+Closet.JPG

http://metuchen.dyndns.org/gallery/d/8425-2/Guest+Bathroom+4.JPG

http://metuchen.dyndns.org/gallery/d/8428-2/Guest+Bathroom+7.JPG

[Sand]

Love your colors! We have three very similar shades in our house, AND we have the same slate on our mantle (its in our guest bath too)

Good taste. ;)

[jajacobsen]

Several reasons in my area....first, I would say 99% of these houses were originally built with cedar siding (mine included). By now people are replacing this cedar with hardiplank. The cedar is slowly rotting and the little knot holes fall out constantly. In addition, the wierd angles of the various houses also are "contemporary" or they were at the time they were built compared to the usual box of a house. Like I said earlier, you either love them or hate them in this area (Atlanta).

Eaxctly. Prior to these houses coming on the scene in the 70s and 80s, the prevailing styles in this area were either "traditional" (two story, often brick) or ranch (loads and loads of these here). The ranches, while energy efficient, tended to have small windows and low ceilings. These "contemporary" homes had lots of windows and soaring ceilings - that's why they were called "contemporary" as they were a bg change from the normal fare. Influenced by the works of Frank lloyd Wright (and others), there were often wrapped in cedar, which aged and took on a natural look and "blended" into their natural surroundings, or did when they were well done.

In teh mid to late 80s, the trend ended, but here in Atlanta, which had a HUGE housing boom in the 70s and 80s, we have tons of them. People liked the high ceilings and lots of light from all the windows, and we see those features re-interpreted in the designs of homes being built today.

One really nice thing about them is that many were one story, but the soaring ceilings made them seem much less than a "small little box" that many of the ranches did before. (Please don't get me wrong, there are ranches and there are ranches. There are some lovely ranch homes which are not smal and boxy - and there are a bunch that are just little boxes with little windows, especially here.)

Recently my FIL and MIL had to move into a home they could make handicapped accessible as FIL is now in a wheel chair. They bought a one story cedar contemporary and renovated it and it is GREAT. The great room ceiling is almost 30 feet high at its apex, with a dramatic fireplace and huge windows - overlooking a lake. The style of the house really suits its environment. The interior was really dated but they have redone the bathrooms and kitchen (to modernize and make ADA compliant) and laid hardwoods throughout. It's a great, and very livable home.

MY DH likes very traditionally styled homes (we have a brick colonial), but when we get old and (more) gray and when our three level homes gets too hard on our knees and hips, I might be able to talk him into one of these (I like the style - if it is done well like the two examples posted here).

[espresso]

Thank you for all the compliments! When we went to buy our house, our realtor (who we probably won't use again) was like, stay away from these houses! She was concerned for resale value with the style. However it is the only type of house that we even looked at because we liked them! :) And houses in our neighborhood seem to have no problems!

[suzubeane]

The ranches, while energy efficient, tended to have small windows and low ceilings. These "contemporary" homes had lots of windows and soaring ceilings - that's why they were called "contemporary" as they were a bg change from the normal fare. Influenced by the works of Frank lloyd Wright (and others), there were often wrapped in cedar, which aged and took on a natural look and "blended" into their natural surroundings, or did when they were well done.I never made the connection between concerns about energy efficiency and these kinds of homes. The mid to late 70s were "energy crisis" time. We were all encouraged to find ways to conserve and alternative sources for energy became more mainstream. What were they thinking with these houses? :p. Or was it common for people to do things like put solar panels on the roof, or consider passive solar with the window placement? Not surprisingly, these houses are not as common here in the northeast.

A lot of people don't realize that the ranch homes of the 50s and 60s were influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright; They were scaled down and minimized for lower cost and easier construction, but they were still a "decedent" of his Prairie Style with the long flat expanses and overhangs. In that sense, I think this kind of Contemporary home is more of a departure, even with the use of natural materials.

shells, is your fireplace wood-burning or gas? On the outside, it looks clad in cedar like the rest of the house. If I saw that here, I'd naturally assume it was a gas fireplace just because of the requirements for putting a "skin" on traditional fireplace's chimney. (It's a pain - at least here. I'm sure local codes vary.) I actually assumed the house in the OP had two gas fireplaces, but now I'm wondering.

[Sand]

suzubeane - the house in the OP has three wood fireplaces according to the listing. (Its in MI, fwiw)

[suzubeane]

Thanks, Sand. That's really interesting - I guess the design intention (continuous cedar sheathing) was really important to the style. Otherwise, they could have just built a masonry chimney and not gone to all the trouble of putting the cedar over it. (there's got to be a masonry or some other fire-resistant chimney under the framing and sheathing. Now I'm curious!)

I wonder if in thirty years, we'll have "cedar contemporary enthusiasts" who try to bring them back to their original glory, they way people do with bungalows, ranches, etc.

eta: 'doh! I'm actually searching the 'net trying to find out how these things were framed, finished, etc! I'm kind of a construction geek. :o.

Let us know what it looks like on the inside, Sand.

[Sand]

Here are photos from the listing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/sandlakers/aabed.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/sandlakers/aakitchen.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/sandlakers/aaliving.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/sandlakers/aadining.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/sandlakers/aafamilyroom.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/sandlakers/aaden.jpg

[espresso]

Ours is a gas starter, wood burning fireplace. The chimney is surrounded by the cedar....never thought of that being a problem till now ;)

There are tons of neighborhoods around here that are all cedar cont. Most of these neighborhoods are either 1) starting to fall into disrepair or 2) being renovated slowly. Lucky our neighborhood is number 2. I would say 1/2 of my neighborhood has started replacing the cedar with hardiplank and lots of people are remodeling (we know because of the various construction company trucks, tree removal services, windows being replaced, etc.)

[suzubeane]

Ours is a gas starter, wood burning fireplace. The chimney is surrounded by the cedar....never thought of that being a problem till now ;)I'm guessing there's something in between the cedar surround and the flue that's non-flammable, even if it's just a concrete block chimney and an air space.

[espresso]

I hope so! I would hate for our house to burn down! We joke that some days we wish it would catch fire so we could just be done with the rennovation but in reality I know that would be devastating.