As I am writing I know that our next door neighbors, who are also friends and clients, might be reading this. If you are, I hope you like the design! One of our, mainly my wife’s, concerns with designing a Modern house was the neighbors. Would they like it, think it was hideous, never speak to us, love it and appreciate a fresh design, or would they just not care.
I believe it’s human nature to think this way. I have seen some designs that I wouldn’t want to live by, so a little consideration of your surroundings doesn’t hurt. You should also consider the fact that it’s your house. Far too often in home building, we get stuck in a rut. We build the same house with the same layout and exterior. Mainly in subdivisions, a house that’s built outside the box is ridiculed and scorn. HGTV had a show specifically dedicated to this called “What’s with That House?”
Why is it wrong for someone to build a house they love? Are people jealous they didn’t have the guts to do it, do they actually think it’s ugly, or is it like high school where if you were a little different, you weren’t in the popular click?
My final thought – design a home you want, not what your neighbors want. If you don’t want them to ever talk to you, then make your exterior as wild and crazy as you want. Otherwise, pick something from normal-chic to crazy-modern. The architecture in Topeka, Kansas can be monotonous. For our homes, we have used some classic architecture: Victorian, Cape Cod, Colonial, Craftsman, and others. This still sets your home apart without going to any extremes.
Below are the prelimanry renderings of our new home. The architecture is considered Modern-Shed. The name is given because of the simple one sided roof-pitch. The roof trusses inside will be exposed. This will give us the wow factor we want without a lot of wasted space.
