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Madimel
Joined: 06 Feb 2008
Posts: 138
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
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 Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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Buick,
Which concept do you like best? Are you seriously considering tearing down the new porch to get the elevation to your liking?
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41buick
Joined: 15 Mar 2008
Posts: 18
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SDR
millennium club
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1640
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:47 pm Post subject: |
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I'll jump in and say that the Craftsman comment is somewhat correct; note the differences between your design (which looks very nice, I think) and this example offered by mx2 http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicv/vfiles16140.jpg
Not that you have to have six columns instead of three -- but a regularly-spaced row of four would, we think, be more period- correct for your Colonial-inpired house. We agree that the new roof, with columns, is dandy -- it's just that you might as well tie the bow on it as an historically-appropriate addition -- or don't you agree ?
What is "Craftsman" about the version you've drawn is the relatively fat, tapered and square-sectioned column, sitting on a substantial brick pier. Chris is right: this is a very good evocation of the Craftsman bungalow detail -- a very different animal from yours ! The other oddity, to us, I think, is the asymmetrically placed third column. This is downright Modern; though possibly found on the rare Craftsman example, remember that that style is a more direct precursor, both in time and in particulars, to the modern free-styles which followed it so soon, in the 'twenties.
It appears that if you added a fourth column, the spacing of the third one that frames the door in your picture would stay right where it is. Perfect ! What's not to like ?
So. Railing or not, four slender turned posts and a simple horizontal porch base will look best with your house. At least that seems to be the consensus of three or four designers -- so far. Since you're getting rid of the extraneous brickwork anyway, why add it back with those column bases ? Better a masonry foundation wall to the porch that matches the foundation of the house -- or, individual wood or masonry piers, one beneath each column, below the porch floor, with lattice between them, a traditional standard. What do you think ? A spindled baluster and rail spanning the left and center bays and the ends of the porch is an option.
SDR
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Madimel
Joined: 06 Feb 2008
Posts: 138
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
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| Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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| For me, whether you build it as shown in the picture or have the column bays equally spaced is better than what you have currently. That is not to say what you have currently is bad or mean you should do either layout at this time. Since you already have spent your resources and time to do the original remodel, I suggest that you try out the current configuration and see if you still want to do another remodel. I don't think you have anything to lose by giving yourself a break from all the construction. It may also give you a different perspective and make you appreciate the new layout should you decide to do it. How long has it been since the remodel was completed? Tell us how it flows and how the home lives.
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csintexas
millennium club
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 1668
Location: USA
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| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:53 am Post subject: |
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I guess everyone likes a porch, it gives you that cozy homey feeling like a fireplace does.
Other than that the front door still does not line up with the window above and now the dining room window and columns do not line up with the second floor.
_________________
Chris Stewart
Modern Texas Home Project |
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41buick
Joined: 15 Mar 2008
Posts: 18
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| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 11:07 am Post subject: porch design "Craftsman" |
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| hello everyone, Can someone tell me specifically why the porch design with the extended shed roof and the 3 columns on stone bases is "Craftsman"? What makes this design, craftsman style? Is it the square columns or the stone bases or the number of columns or all of these things? Or is it something else? How would you recommend I modify it so that it is not a craftsman style. If I added a fourth column, how would I space them? It appears to me that I couldn't space them on evenly on each side of the windows and door and have them evenly spaced apart. Also, the lower windows in the drawing are not correct, they would be lined up with the windows on the second floor. What type of pillars and how many would be appropriate? I should mention, I hate skinny spindley looking pillars. One thing I have decided on is the porch floor will be concrete and directly on the ground. What would you think If I modified the porch and used four columns that went all the way from the roof to a concrete floor without the stone bases, removed the stone half wall, and lined up the lower windows with the 2nd story windows? Also, what size columns (remember I hate skinny columns) and what exact location of the columns would you recommend. Thank you 41buick
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SDR
millennium club
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1640
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 11:57 am Post subject: |
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Buick -- Every one of your questions is addressed and answered in my last post. Have you read it carefully ?
"What would you think If I modified the porch and used four columns that went all the way from the roof to a concrete floor without the stone bases, removed the stone half wall. . ." That sounds fine.
If you want bulkier columns, that's okay; if they get as fat as the ones in your drawing, they begin to overpower the visual weight of the other trim elements present, including the roof fascia, window surrounds, etc, It's a matter of subjecting your pre-existing biases against "the facts on the ground" in this case. By way of guidance, the top of the columns in your drawing is an acceptable dimension; the bottom of those shafts gets too big, to my eye. In dimensional terms, I'd keep them less than 9 inches in width at their largest dimension (the bottom). A subtle taper is normal, though not required, if it helps them look heavier.
It really doesn't matter if the windows line up with each other, or are centered between any pair of columns. Look at other old buildings; they often contain pleasing irregularities of this sort.
In space (again) these alignments (windows, six feet back from a row of posts) are greatly less obvious than they are in a two-dimensional drawing. You could prove this to yourself with a model. Remember, your house is not a drawing, it's a live animal, different from every side and not a frozen picture. What aligns from one angle doesn't from every other viewpoint. No on is going to think you're a slob, I assure you -- though they will question your taste if you end up with a drunken array of porch columns ! 
Space them evenly (like every other building in your town) and you'll be fine.
Best wishes, SDR
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SDR
millennium club
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1640
Location: San Francisco
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mx2
millennium club
Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 1906
Location: Miami, Florida
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| Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 10:06 am Post subject: |
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For 41 Buick, try these:
http://www.mhl.org/historicpreservation/images/front-gabled.jpg
http://vow.mlspin.com/idx/details.asp?mls=70718756&aid=BB815346
or come to think of it you could find a picture with the shed roof across the front and then find another picture of the colonial gable and paste that on top of the other to get the perfect image you seek. Good luck. Let me know...
mx2.5
_________________
*Art of Architecture: The conscious use of skill and creative imagination in the production of an aesthetic building.
*Science of Architecture: The calculated use of technical skill and knowledge in the construction of a functional building. |
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kmapro
Joined: 03 Mar 2006
Posts: 112
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| Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:28 am Post subject: |
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41 Buick..I definately like the look of the last version the best. I even like the spacing of the columns. I believe that the spacing allows the front door to be "framed" out and allows for the front window to be "framed" out as well. Evenly spacing these columns would probably place a column in the middle of the front window and make the porch look like an after thought...kind of like what you currently have (column in front of door).
I believe the others are getting the draftsman comments from the column design. The square columns with the brick/stone column bases is very craftsman-ish.
I think you will gain the most joy out of the porch as designed. I am assuming you have access from the porch from the driveway so that you do not have to walk around the porch to get to the front door.
i believe the design fits the house well...and with me being from the south - I love big porches!!!
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SDR
millennium club
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1640
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:51 am Post subject: |
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In Buick's last visual above, the columns are far too fat to balance well with the slender detailing elsewhere on the house.
The appearance is of a 1940 porch on a 1740 house. Is this the desired effect ?
Four evenly-spaced and more slender columns -- even if one of them seems (in a drawing) to "hide" a window -- is a more correct, appropriate and handsome solution -- based on historic and practical criteria. (Both visually and structurally, the porch roof wants to be evenly supported.) Again, one doesn't read the actual building as one reads an elevation drawing.
The reason that owners approach a forum like this one, looking for advice, is that they can expect to encounter designers who have been looking at buildings and absorbing information about them for a lifetime. While aesthetic judgments are not as crucial as structural ones, and while the owner is the ultimate "decider," it is a matter of both private and public interest that our architectural heritage is fostered -- which, by the nature of real estate, happens on a case-by-case basis, one structure at a time.
SDR
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