Houses Archives - Page 3 of 5

Trend Watch: All-Wood Additions to Traditional Houses

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Jeff Easterling

Is your home feeling a tad too small? Maybe the answer isn’t moving into a larger house, but rather adding some extra space. Homeowners are increasingly choosing to expand their homes with additions that don’t necessarily blend in with the architectural style of the main residence. Add-ons made of wood and glass give homes a fresh new look, no matter what the original house looks like – whether it’s a historic brick residence or typical suburban style.

One striking example is the Timber Fin House (pictured top), which was fitted with a wood extension that perfectly complements the existing brick facade. Neil Dusheiko Architects explain that the shape of the extension “is designed to track the sun and create a positive space in the garden.”

A historic brick house on a railway line in Amsterdam got a similar expansion from Zecc Architects, but this one has a lot more glass, functioning almost like a sun room.

A 1950s home in the Netherlands has an entirely new look with its charred timber extension, a sculptural prefabricated volume that hugs the home on two sides and features a dynamic angled roofline.

Maynard Architects gave a contemporary home extra living space and an upper-level deck in one with this creative wood add-on featuring exposed natural wood siding and visible interior rafters.

Contemporary Timber Frame: Sleek New Mexico Ski House

Posted on February 8, 2014 by Jeff Easterling

This gorgeous timber frame ski house in New Mexico is a prime example of how this rustic architectural style can be adapted for a more contemporary look. Designed and built by Hampshire Timber Frame, the home shows off two ways of highlighting the exposed pine beams of the frame: with wood paneling, and drywall.

Wood paneling paired with timber frame construction creates a more rustic effect. In this home, it’s seen on the arched living room ceiling as a visual accent that enhances the ‘cabin’ feel while maintaining a bright, open and modern feel.

Contrasting the exposed beams of the timber frame with white drywall provides an effect that’s crisp and up to date, making the wood stand out even more.

Hampshire Timber Frame designs custom, hand crafted timber frame houses in a variety of wood species, including Eastern White Pine. These ‘true timber frames’ are built without the use of metal connectors, with beautiful all-wood joinery and timbers hand-chosen for their location in the house.

Architectural Monographs: Small Colonial Houses

Posted on February 2, 2014October 21, 2021 by Jeff Easterling

Even the most modest of colonial houses – those built for poorer residents – maintain the sense of structural integrity and simple elegance of their larger and more ornate neighbors. Lacking the same level of detail and visual interest as the mansions that have been preserved in the centuries since they were built, these little houses are often overlooked. This issue of the White Pine Historic Monographs takes a look at the various types found across the early United States.

There’s a reason why most of the small, economical houses of that period were nearly identical in any given state: the design worked. The author notes that the plan used to create modest colonials in Connecticut was so ubiquitous, it’s still known as the ‘Connecticut Plan.’

Rather than opening directly into the living room as most houses do today, these homes nearly always had entranceways that were closed off from the living spaces in order to save heat. People couldn’t afford to let heat escape as they went in and out of the house.

There’s something we could all learn from these houses, that many of today’s builders seem to have forgotten: orienting the plan to take advantage of the natural heating power of the sun. “In these early houses very respectful attention was paid to the points of the compass, since with the entirely inadequate heating arrangement of the Colonial period, the natural heat of the sun was utilized to its fullest capacity. Thus the Dutch houses almost invariably faced the south…”

Eastern White Pine Beach House by Woodhouse Timber Frame

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Jeff Easterling

The knots of Eastern White Pine are given center stage in this stunning beach house by Pennsylvania-based company Woodhouse Timber Frame. Different grades of this sustainable softwood have varying degrees of knots, ranging from the ultra-smooth and virtually knot-free to wood that’s bursting with rustic character.

Eastern White Pine is a popular choice for timber frame buildings because it’s strong for its weight, grows tall enough to produce unusually long timbers spanning as much as twenty feet across, easy to work with, affordable and good for the environment.

Every timber frame home Woodhouse designs is unique, tailored to the needs and desires of the client. Woodhouse was founded as a passive solar design company so eco-friendliness is an integral part of the building process. Clients can integrate passive solar design principals into their homes, and choose environmentally friendly insulation.

The company’s timber suppliers utilize managed forest resources for timber production according to sustainable forestry methods. Many builders of timber frame homes offer sustainable Eastern White Pine as an option.

Architectural Monographs: Distinctive Colonial Maryland

Posted on January 7, 2014October 21, 2021 by Jeff Easterling

Maryland colonial buildings have their own particular character and style, as illustrated in this issue of the historic White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs. The author argues that early Maryland settlers brought with them may English sensibilities, including a love for symmetry and balance, but the Maryland climate helped them put their own distinctive spin on colonial architecture.

Three separate wings of a stately Maryland colonial home included the main house, the servant’s quarters and a third volume that often housed either a school and the business of the proprietor who owned the land. The warmer climate in comparison to New England enabled covered walkways between the three wings.

In this issue, examples like the Brice House in Annapolis are highlighted. “With its great central house and the two wings much lower, set at right angles, and connected by low covered passages, it is the finest expression of the distinctive Maryland plan.”

“All of these houses are imbued with something of the same spirit and share a common quiet and modest dignity. They are of the very essence of old Maryland and silent reminders of the day sand men that are gone. Those men – racy, hospitable, generous, alike in spirit and interests, proud, devoted to the good things of this world, built all of these qualities into their homes.”

Read the whole issue at the White Pine Monograph Library.

Architectural Monographs: A Tasteful North Carolina Home

Posted on November 29, 2013October 21, 2021 by Jeff Easterling

The houses of the wealthy aren’t always the pinnacle of class and taste – that was true in 1927, when this issue of the White Pine Monographs was written, and it’s still true today. Author Kenneth Clark notes that “the merchant prince of today parades his fortunes before the world, by building a palace” that is filled not with the things that make a home, but objects to show off. In contrast, the rich men of the American Colonial period “radiate the warmth of feeling that inspired their conception and bespeak in a quiet, dignified, yet powerful voice the qualities and characteristics which went into the making of the American Nation.”

Offered up as a prime example is the Smallwood-Jones Residence of New Bern, North Carolina. Located in the eastern part of the state, this three-story brick home may not look like the mansion to modern eyes, but it was never meant to be ostentatious in the first place. A survivor of the most prosperous period in the early days of New Bern, the home features noteworthy carvings and other details created with extraordinary skill and craftsmanship.

The names of the architect and builder have been lost to time, but this monograph celebrates their work, from the sense of scale to the interior molding. Of the details in the second floor drawing room, Clark writes “All is dovetailed and dowelled together in the manner of the ancient cabinetmaker who had the time and the inclination to do things right, once, and for all time.”

Read more at the White Pine Monograph Library.