Identifying Architectural Styles in Historic Neighborhoods
Every design tells a story, and when it comes to historical renovations, the beginning of their stories are as important as their endings. So where did the story of this red-doored home begin?
The broken pediment door surround alludes to a design style story staged clearly in the boom of classical Colonial Revival, Georgian, but what about the low-sloped, hipped roof with wide overhangs? Or the horizontal lines of the brick belt-course extending up to the sill of the second-floor windows nestled under stucco facade? These are all standard Prairie-style characteristics of the 1900-1920s. So the question remains, when was the initial chapter of the design style written?
This house was indeed constructed in 1922. Chapter One. However, when the current owners retained us to design the home’s front porch in 2007, we had no way of knowing what had happened to the home between 1922 and 2007. Chapter Two and on were blank until ‘The End’, but that’s when our red-doored mystery was solved. Luck and a bit of detective work while researching tax records, led us to a local, past owner who was not only able to write a letter detailing the changes made to the house over time, but also provide photographs of how the house looked in 1922 when it was first constructed.
With the story nearly complete, illustrations and all, we set out to write, design, the final chapter by restoring the home to its native Prairie style. Identifying and restoring historical homes to their destined design not only requires a dedicated architect, but also a novelist and sleuth.
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