Home Styles
      Styles of houses vary across the country. Knowing which style you prefer is one of the basic elements in your hunt for the perfect home.  The following is a quick guide to help you recognize and use the professional terms for many of the most prevalent house styles:     
 
     

Ranch: All rooms are on a single level in a ranch house, which usually has a rectangular or L-shaped design. Room layout is usually simple, with an emphasis on openness and efficient use of space. These homes tend to be long and narrow, with a low-pitched roof that runs parallel to the street.

   
 

 

  Cape Cod: Generally one to one-and-a-half story dormered homes featuring steep roofs with side gables and a small overhang. They are typically covered in clapboard or shingles and are symmetrical in appearance with a central door, multi-pane windows, shutters, and a formal, center-hall floor plan.
   
 

  Georgian: Very formal appearance with classic lines. The doors and windows are in in perfect symmetry. The windows will be multi-pane, aligned horizontally and vertical in symmetrical rows with five in a row on the upper floor and two on either side of the door. The roof will most likely be either a side gable or a hip, with paried chimneys.
   
      Tudor: Features trademark dark-wood haf-timbering on bay windows and upper floors, and steep cross gables. The bottom half of the house is often made of brick. Tall, diamond-paned windows, arched windows and doorways are popular features. 
   
 


  Queen Anne/Victorian: Developed from styles originated in Great Britain, these homes are usually two-story frame with large rooms, high ceilings and porches along the front and sometimes sides of the house. Peaked roofs have patterned shingles and ornamental wood trim, many times referred to as "gingerbread," decorate these elaborate homes. The Queen Anne is less elaborate than a Victorian, but still has many architectural accents. Common features include a round turret, wrap-around porch with gazebo, bay window and gables.
   
      Dutch Colonial: The Dutch Colonial has two or two-and-one-half stories covered by a gambrel roof (having two slopes on each side, with the lower slope steeper than the upper, flatter slope) and eaves that flare outward. This style is traditionally made of brick or shingles with exterior shutters on the windows.
   
      Federal: Special features include low-pitched roof, or flat roof with a balustrade; windows arranged symmetrically around a center doorway, semicircular fanlight over the front door; narrow side windows flanking the front door; decorative crown or roof over front door; tooth-like dentil moldings in the palladium window; circular or elliptical windows; shutters; decorative swags and garlands; oval rooms and arches.
   
      Farmhouse: Going back in time, the American farmhouse reflects a simpler era when families gathered in the open kitchen and living room. This version of the country home usually has bedrooms clustered together and features the friendly porch or porches. Its lines are simple. It is often faced with wood siding.  
   
     

Colonial Revival: Typically two- to three-story home designs with symmetrical facades and gable roofs. Pillars and columns are common, often expressed in temple-like entrances with porticos topped by pediments. Multi-pane, double-hung windows with shutters, dormers, and paneled doors with sidelights topped with rectangular transoms or fanlights help dress up the exteriors, which are generally wood or brick. Additional common features include center entry-hall floor plan, fireplaces, and simple, classical detailing.  

   
 
  Split-levels: Split-level houses have at least one living level about a half floor above the other living level. Rising in popularity during the 1950s as a multi-story modification of the then dominant one-story ranch house, the split-level home retained the horizontal lines, low-pitched roof and overhanging eaves of the ranch house, but added a two-story unit divided at mid-height to a one-story wing to create three floor levels of interior space. Three levels made it possible to locate and accommodate three types of living spaces-quiet living spaces, noisy living and service spaces, and sleeping spaces-all on three separate levels.
   
      Cottage: Typically a smaller design that may remind you of picturesque storybook charm.


   
   





   Country: Typical country homes have a large front porch, dormer(s), and a roof ridge that runs parallel to the street. "Dog-house" dormers are frequently on the roof. The exterior material is usually clapboard siding. Regardless of the size, they appear to be small and quaint. Historical country homes had a fireplace on either side of the home to function as the heat source. The historical country home also had a "dog trot" hallway, which was one main hallway that runs through the middle of the house, also known as a double loaded hallway. During warmer months, the front and rear doors can be opened to allow a breeze to come through and cool the house. 
   
      Saltbox: The saltbox syle was named after its resemblance to the Colonial-era salt container featuring a simple yet elegant exterior. Saltbox house plans are typically two stories with steeply pitched roof, featuring a simple yet traditional design.  The exterior features a timber-frame, with plain expanses of clapbord siding and a low stone foundation.                
   
      Bungalow: This style was most pospular during the arts and crafts movement of the  early 1900s and is characteristically simple with gables, large overhangs and dormer windows. Although the stereotypical bungalow is small, the actual sytle and stylistic elements are often adaped to the surroundings.      
   
      Crafsman: Inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, this simplistic style was defined by such notable designers as Gustav Stickley and Frank Lloyd Wright. Traditonal Craftsman-style exterior design elements were to blend with the natural environment and extend outdoor living into the indoors by way of a large front porch and grand front door that opened directly into the living room.
   
    

 

House Plans

Traditional: The most common style in the United States. It is a mix of many classic, simple designs typical of the country's many regions. Common features include little ornamentation, simple rooflines, symmetrically spaced windows The floor plans are created with walls at right angles to each other which result in a more square exterior. The rooflines can be a mix of gables and hips. A typical traditional home is Colonial, Georgian, Cape Cod saltbox, some ranches. Building materials are either wood or brick.

 

Transitional: The term "transitional" is a new label for a style of home that combines a contemporary style with a traditional style. The floor plan can have angled walls with lots of open spaces, which is more contemporary. The exterior will include bayed windows, hip roofs, sometimes combined with gables with lap siding and brick accents. The fireplace chimney, if a focal point, will be designed much like the old Tudor style chimney.

Contemporary: The common characteristic of this style includes simple, clean lines with large windows devoid of decorative trim. The exteriors are a mixture of siding, stucco, stone, brick and wood. The roof can be flat or shallow pitched, often with great overhangs. Many ranch house plans are made with this contemporary aesthetic.