Architectural Tutorial: Eyebrow Dormer

eyebrow dormer [ayh-brou dawr-mer]

a dormer having a roof that is an upwardly curved

continuation of the main roof plane.

source - http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/eyebrow

Eyebrow dormers add a bit of distinction to a building's façade while providing a "curvaceous way to get some light" and ventilation to an upper level space. These types of dormers are not new to the architectural scene. They have been around since medieval times, seen on thatch-roofed cottages. Henry Hobson Richardson, "the father of the Shingle style," pushed this design element into the architectural limelight in the late 1800s. These days, they can be seen on homes and buildings outside of just the Shingle style and can be designed in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Here are some examples of Visbeen Associates' designed eyebrow dormers...

Ingleside

Cambridge

Traverse

Waverly

Clareville

Summer Haven

Sources:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,357593,00.html

Architectural Tutorial: Mountain Style

Rugged. Sturdy. Warm. Strong-featured. Cozy. Textured. Rustic.

These are all words that can be used to describe a Mountain Style home. This type of architecture is meant to "blend in with the natural environment" with characteristics like extensive use of stone and timber for building materials. It has more to do with "materials and details than house type" and has characteristics that include over-hanging roofs, small paned windows and ornamentation with natural elements like logs and branches. It offers an "expression of nostalgia for the simpler life of the Colonists who'd founded the United States with little more than a musket and an ax." But what used to be equated as a style for hunting lodges, vacation homes, cabins, dude ranches or tourist-related facilities in national parks is now becoming more prevalent in primary residences. Many modern day Mountain Style residences even pull elements from several other architectural styles like Craftsman/Arts and Crafts, Shingle and Bungalow.

A few well-known examples of Mountain Style architecture include...

The Old Faithful Inn • Yellowstone National Park, WY

image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/txcraig75/4941478551/

The Crater Lake Lodge • Crater Lake National Park, OR

image source: http://www.lovesomatic.info/vacation-rentals/the-crater-lake-lodge.html

Ahwahnee Hotel • Yosemite Valley, CA

image source: http://www.vinetimesonline.com/destination/2010/8/2/destination-amador-to-mariposa.html

Dining room of Ahwahnee Hotel

image source: http://yosemitefun.com/ahwahnee.htm

Glacier Park Lodge • Glacier National Park, MT

image source: http://www.flickriver.com/groups/371396@N20/pool/interesting/

One of the boathouses at Topridge, an Adirondack Great Camp in New York.

image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boathouse_2_at_Topridge.jpg

Lake McDonald Lodge • Glacier National Park, MT

image source: http://www.flickriver.com/groups/371396@N20/pool/interesting/

We have clients that are drawn to this style because of its warmth, relaxed feel and its connection to the outdoors. Here are a few of Visbeen Associates' Mountain Style designs...

Bear Tooth Lodge

Camp Roger

Woodlea

Gray Drake Lodge

Sources:

http://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/crforms_edumat/pdfs/1642.pdf

http://www.antiquehomestyle.com/styles/rustic.htm

Architectural Tutorial: Storybook Homes

"On they walked and walked, till suddenly they came upon a strange cottage in the middle of a glade. "This is chocolate!" gasped Hansel as he broke a lump of plaster from the wall. "And this is icing!" exclaimed Gretel, putting another piece of wall in her mouth. Starving but delighted, the children began to eat pieces of candy broken off the cottage. "Isn't this delicious?" said Gretel, with her mouth full. She had never tasted anything so nice."

~Hansel and Gretel

http://theliterarylink.com/gretel.html

Having a home look so good, you could eat it? That is what storybook homes are all about. Also known as Fairy Tale, Disneyesque or Hansel and Gretel architecture, this style was popularized in the 1920s in England and the United States, especially on the West Coast. These homes were designed by "architects and builders with a distinct flair for theater, a love of fine craftsmanship and, not least, a good sense of humor," the most famous of which include Harry Oliver, Walter W. Dixon, William R. Yelland and Carr Jones (Gellner and Keister 1). The three characteristics that set this style apart from others of the 1920s include...

1) Exaggeratedly plastic and often cartoonish interpretation of medieval forms

2) Use of artificial means to suggest great age

3) The indefinable quality known as "whimsy"

These homes aimed to elicit an emotional rather than rational response and adjectives like picturesque, charming, cute and quaint come to mind when viewing them.

Here are a few notable examples of storybook style homes...

The Spadena House, also known as the Witch's House, was designed by Harry Oliver in 1921. According to the book, Storybook Style: America's Whimsical Homes of the 1920s, this home's "entire design is a cleverly wrought caricature of dilapidated antiquity." Image source: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/fOtgZSaiSEiHf6y4NYMlHw

Architect-builder Carr Jones designed this Oakland, California fairy tale home. Image source: http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t307/xmojorisinx/IMG_5261.jpg

Even the surrounding landscaping of Jones' storybook residence is filled with whimsy. Image source: http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t307/xmojorisinx/IMG_5261.jpg

This eight-unit apartment building a few steps from the University of California at Berkeley, called Normandy Village, is the realization of William R. Yelland's dream of building a unique residence for students and teachers patterned on villages he had seen in Northern France. Image source: http://berkeleyheritage.com/berkeley_landmarks/thornburg.html

Visbeen Homes recently designed a series of homes in this storybook style - full of whimsy, charm and almost good enough to eat...

Canterbury

Buttermere

Chatham

Cambridge

Wellington

Sources:

Gellner, Arrol and Douglas Keister. Storybook Style: America's Whimsical Homes of the Twenties. New York: Penguin Group, 2001.

Architectural Tutorial: Craftsman Style

The Craftsman Style, otherwise known as Arts and Crafts, was based on the Arts and Crafts movement in Europe led by English architect William Morris in the early 1900s. At the time, art, furniture and residential architecture reflected the Industrial Revolution and Victorian Era, where machines introduced mass production. The Craftsman Style intended to combat this by focusing on a simpler lifestyle, centered around handcrafted elements, natural materials and straight lines, both horizontal and vertical. Built-in furniture, staircase details, stained glass windows and many other elements were constructed with the same "carved and polished wooden aesthetic" throughout the home (Walker 180).

The most famous Craftsman architects were Charles & Henry Greene out of California. They were a major influence on the Craftsman Style spreading in the West and were best known for their bungalows. They incorporated other styles from England, Japan, Scandanavia and Switzerland into the exterior and simple interior design of their creations. They took personal interest in every aspect of their projects, designing everything from the hardware and leaded windows to built-in and movable furniture.

One of Greene & Greene's most famous designs, the Gamble House in Pasadena, CA, was designed for David & Mary Gamble of Procter & Gamble Company in 1908.

[image source:

http://www.gamblehouse.org/]

The front entry door of the Gamble House displays a "Tree of Life" design, a leaded glass, handcrafted masterpiece.

[image source: http://www.gamblehouse.org/]

Another famous Greene & Greene Arts & Crafts design, the Pratt House was designed in 1909, infusing Japanese artful beauty and American practicality.

[image source: http://www.ultimatebungalow.com/]

Another Craftsman Style pioneer was Gustav Stickley, an architect of Craftsman Style residences who was famous for his Craftsman furniture designs. He also started the publication titled, The Craftsman, a magazine that "took the basic ideas behind the English Arts & Crafts philosophy and moulded them to suit an American environment" (The Textile Blog).

Stickley's illustration of a living room fireplace built-in, published in The Craftsman in 1905.

[image source: Stubblebine 142]

Here are a few of Visbeen Associates' Craftsman Style designs for your viewing pleasure...

The low-pitched rooflines, stylish overhangs and the earthy palette of the exterior blend in with it's environment and are carried in throughout the interior of this Arts & Crafts Style design called the Amblewood.

True craftsmanship and detailed woodworking are manifested in Amblewood's staircase, reminiscent of Greene & Greene details of the past. Click here to read our architectural tutorial and learn about this type of stair.

The Hampshire is one of our uniquely modern Craftsman Style designs.

The Hampshire's inglenook hearth with charming tiled fireplace is flanked by a pair of cushioned, built-in benches and pays homage to Stickley's designs. Click here to read our articles on other fetching & functional built-ins.

The Clareville is a cottage Craftsman design with an abundance of artful attention to detail.

Simplified lines, a low-pitched roof, tapered columns and exposed rafters characterize the exterior of this updated Arts & Crafts design called the Lillington.

Craftsman quality and Mission-style amenities are hallmarks of the Richmond's versatile design.

Sources:

Stubblebine, Ray. Stickley's Craftsman Homes: Plans, Drawings, Photographs. Layton: Gibbs Smith, Publisher, 2006.

Walker, Lester. American Homes: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Domestic Architecture. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 1981.

http://www.fredbecker.org/News%20Letter/HistoryCraftsman.htm

http://www.gamblehouse.org/

http://www.ultimatebungalow.com/

http://thetextileblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/gustav-stickleys-craftsman-magazine.html

Architectural Tutorial: Tudor Style

The Tudor Style is a post-Victorian Revival Style that, along with five other styles (Norman, Chateauesque, Colonial Revival, Mission, and the Classic Revival Styles), revives form and methods of the past. This style was previously known as Elizabethan (1890-1910) because it was inspired by English cottages built during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603). When it emerged in America it was actually a Medieval Revival Style based on the English Elizabethan and Jacobean Styles adapted to the Queen Anne house. It became known as the new English Tudor Style as it evolved and began to master imitating the English historical style more accurately.

The most common exterior characteristic of the Tudor house is half-timbering. In this type of construction, the timber framework of the building is left exposed and the spaces between the timbers are filled or "nogged" with brickwork and often covered with white stucco. Other features of this style include:

• Cross-gabled, medium to steeply pitched roofs, sometimes with clipped gables
• Dormers and overhangs are common
• Arrangements of tall, narrow windows in bands
• Small window panes either double-hung or casement
• Oversized fireplaces; chimneys with decorative brickwork and chimney pots
• Asymmetrical plan

Here are a few examples of Visbeen Associates' Tudor style homes...

Traditional Tudor styling blends with modern comfort and convenience in this design, the Kingston. From the dramatic barrel-vaulted living room to the light-filled octagonal sun room, this well-appointed design includes a spectacular master suite, a gourmet kitchen with large pantry, even a charming potting shed.

The elegant four-bedroom, five-bath Chesterfield boasts the best of Tudor design as well as a floor plan tailored to modern living.

Inspired by the great Tudor estates, this dramatic home called the Livingston features fine details throughout.

Here are a few notable examples of Tudor Style residences...

Castle Lodge in Ludlow, England was pictured in the 1965 film Moll Flanders

Old Mill Farm is the former residence of Mel Gibson in Greenwich, CT. Built in 1926, designed by architect Charles Lewis Bowman, this lovely tudor estate was sold by Gibson in 2010 for over $20 million.

The home in next two photos is where the wedding scene in the movie "The Godfather" was filmed. This Staten Island tudor is available for sale and can be yours if you make them an offer they can't refuse (as long as its around $2.9 million).

Sources:

Walker, Lester. America Homes: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Domestic Architecture. New York: The Overlook Press, 1981.

http://www.antiquehomestyle.com/styles/tudor-revival.htm

http://www.antiquehome.org/Architectural-Style/tudor.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Lodge,_Ludlow

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/826664

http://hookedonhouses.net/2009/06/30/mel-gibsons-tudor-style-mansion-in-greenwich/

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/12/02/staten_islands_godfather_house_hits_the_market_for_29m.php

Architectural Tutorial: Victorian Style

The Victorian Style is defined as "a style of architecture used in Britain during the reign of Queen Victoria from roughly 1840 to 1900, characterized by massive construction and elaborate ornamentation." The architecture of this era was considered to be a new kind of modernism, which is why it had such instant popularity. People were tired of simplistic residential designs of the past, so the highly decorative features of this era fulfilled their new found love for exquisite design.

This style is a complex topic because it includes several styles, each with their own distinctive characteristics. Here are just a few of the styles that were conceived in the Victorian Era and their main features:

• Queen Anne: most predominate, had gabled roofs, shingles, angled bay windows and sometimes a turret (or tower), open/spacious porches with gingerbread trim, brackets, ornate spindles and spandrels, intricate sawn-wood baluster, fluted columns or turned and painted posts
• Italianate: wings, towers, flat rooflines, corniced eaves, angled bay windows, Corinthian-columned porches & square tower or cupola
• Folk Victorian: plain folks could afford these simple North American home designs, square/symmetrical shape, brackets under the eaves, porches with spindlework or flat, jigsaw cut trim
• Stick-Eastlake: plain, simple & relatively modern, large ornamental truss under the gable eaves of a house, and often included square bays, flat roof lines & free-style decorations
• Gothic Revival: steep rooftops, pinnacles, parapets, leaded glass windows with decorative ornamentation & clover shaped windows
• Shingle Style: as defined in our last architectural tutorial,picturesque or rustic look, with irregular roof lines including hipped, gabled, or gambrel, free-flowing floor plans, open porches, and less variety in color and materials.

Pictured below are some recognizable designs in the US from the Victorian Era....

The "Painted Ladies" in San Francisco, CA. I'm sure all of you Full House fans recognize these architectural gems!

Mark Twain's House in Hartford, CT

Designed by New York architect Edward Tuckerman Potter, built in 1874

Mark Twain's Library/Conservatory - while residing in this Victorian-style home, he wrote some of his more famous works including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and The Pauper, and

A Connecticut Yankee in King Aurthur's Court.

Twain said, "To us, our house had a heart, and a soul, and eyes to see us with; and approvals and solicitudes and deep sympathies; it was of us, and we were in its confidence and live in its grace and in the peace of its benediction."

Carson Mansion in Eureka, CA - one of the most written about and photographed Victorian Homes, designed by Samuel & Joseph Newsom which took 100+ men over two years to construct

The Victorian Era has inspired Visbeen Associates' designs, so here are a few of our Victorian homes....

The Belmont features all the charm of a bygone era combined with the conveniences of modern life.

Echoes of the 19^th-century Queen Anne style give this spacious four-bedroom, four-and-a-half bath home called the Brindley its nostalgic charm.

Traditional trusses, brick accents and large bay windows give it plenty of character outside to this compact, yet charming Queen Anne style cottage

Located in the city of Montegue, MI on White Lake, Ravenswood Resort will be a community of custom designed waterfront homes. We have a vision of the homes being designed in the Victorian style, so here are a few of the conceptual images we developed for this project.

Sources:

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Victorian+architecture

http://www.fredbecker.org/News%20Letter/Vict%20Arch.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_architecture

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_ladies

http://www.erasofelegance.com/arts/victarchitecture.html

http://www.marktwainhouse.org/

http://www.eurekaheritage.org/the_carson_mansion.htm

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://aballoon.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/twainhouselibraryed1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://aballoon.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/mark-twain-house-other-news/&usg=__-lMgimJNB8OdG3b7TpC6KyuRzVk=&h=936&w=1259&sz=184&hl=en&start=12&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=MPGy8ulpNO9ehM:&tbnh=112&tbnw=150&prev

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