Author Archives: alanna

Re-thinking a Federal Style Facade

Answer:

You are wise to research first, since the homes you refer to are among the real exemplars of Federal style (sometimes called the Adam style)—a language which dominated the American architecture from 1780 to 1840.

Some historic context is relevant: this is the period in which American independence was firmly established and our unique system of governance was being developed. Continuity with English tradition was one of American architecture’s abiding preoccupations; so too, it’s desire to be associated with even older civilizations.

How made to order, then, the ideas of Robert Adam (1728–1792), a popular British architect, whose work was heavily indebted to ancient Greek and Roman forms.

In its essence, Federal is the style of a young, ambitious nation pointing confidently to its future. Pedimented windows, an entablature with a frieze, the occasional portico find their origin in antiquity, yet Adams was the voice of a decidedly Anglocentric sensibility that, on American soil, found an identity of it’s own– one proved more practical and adaptable than its European cousin.

It may be the box-like simplicity of the principal subtypes that explains why Federal style homes are found everywhere from New England’s seaport towns to Savannah, Georgia to Georgetown and Alexandria, VA. While the roof types vary from side-gabled to center-gable to hipped, the core configuration is a box two or more rooms deep with doors and windows arranged in strict symmetry. Hence, the style adapts easily to varied settings. Some of the most frequently touted Federal-style residences in Greater Washington include Woodlawn Plantation (1805) in Virginia, and Tudor Place (1815) and Decatur House (1819), in Washington, D.C.  Within the City of Fairfax good examples are the Draper house (1820), Gunnell House (1832), Ratcliffe-Allison house (1812) all are on Main Street. On Chain Bridge Road you will find the Fairfax Court House (1820) and the Ford Building (1835).

There are also instances of larger structures– modified with wings or attached dependencies, or even both. You’ll also find elaborate curved or polygonal floor plans such as with the Octagon House, built in 1801 in Washington DC (1799 New York Avenue, NW).

Making Changes

As you undertake your research, keep in mind that Federal-style design elements are usually understated. Exterior decoration, for example, is generally confined to a porch or entry element. Compared to a Georgian style house, the columns and moldings are narrow and humble.

Also, Federal-style decoration showcases geometrical concepts. Elliptical, circular, and fan-shaped motifs formed by fluted radiating lines are common. One of the oldest American examples of such flourishes is on the dining-room ceiling of Mount Vernon. Executed in plaster, the design contains an ornamental border festooned by corn husks and a central rosette.

Some other important considerations:

The building materials in Federal-style structures vary with location. The homes of the Northeast were typically clapboard. Southern houses were often brick, as are most of the homes in the urban north where fireproofing was desired.

Hip roofs capped by a balustrade, simple gable shapes (such as those on Federal buildings in The City of Fairfax), and even roofs with a center gable crowned by a front façade pediment, are among the most popular Federal roof forms. Dormers often pierce the roof to bring light and space into an attic.

Windows are never grouped in the Federal-style house, but arranged individually in strict horizontal and vertical symmetry. Typically, on a large home, the front windows are five-ranked, although there are examples of three and seven-ranked windows. Palladian-style windows are often used in gables as an architectural flourish. Windows are usually double-hung wood sashes with the top sash held in place by metal pins. Thin wooden muntins divide the window into small window lights (panes). Generally, the windows feature six over six lights, although nine over nine and other configurations can also be found.

Befitting its importance, especially when centered on a symmetrical façade, the front door of a Federal home is usually the most decorated part of the exterior. On this score, a semicircular fan light above the door, with or without flanking sidelights, is a favorite device as you will see during your walks. A doorway’s surround might also include ornate molding or a small entry porch. Decorative moldings, such as tooth-like dentils, are often used to emphasize cornices.

Bruce Wentworth, AIA is the principal of Wentworth, Inc. a metro area residential design and remodeling firm that offers residential architecture, construction and interior design. Send questions to www.wentworthstudio.com or call 240-395-0705.

Elaborating a Center Hall Colonial

Answer:

What you’ve described is a home in “Colonial Revival” style, which is the most popular architectural language in northern Virginia’s older suburbs.  Many were built in the 1930s and 1940s, a period during which traditional American styles were enthusiastically re-examined.  The Colonial style is especially well suited to remodeling and expanding, because the massing forms are simple block shapes, making scale and proportion easy to achieve.  Also, materials intrinsic to the period – double-hung windows, clapboard, brick, slate shingles – are readily available today.  Most of the original period Colonials have a small kitchen in the rear of the house, generally behind the dining room.  Typically, other first floor rooms are located on the opposite side of the center hall.

To preserve the fundamentals of the Colonial style’s architectural language, highest consideration must be given to these four subjects:  Form and Mass, Roof Shape, Exterior Materials and Window Pattern. The following synopsis dictates the critical guidelines for a sympathetic elaboration.

Form & Mass

Replicate the home’s original styles of form and mass.  When remodeling a Colonial Revival, I often design the addition at the rear of the kitchen as a small wing (say 16’ x 20’). The new wing provides additional kitchen space and, as appropriate, an adjacent family room.  The resulting L-shape also defines a private outdoor living space (often enhanced by a deck or patio), one that doesn’t block sunlight through the existing rear windows. The L-shaped form retains this style’s massing traditions.

Roof Shape

An appropriate roof shape is essential when creating an addition sympathetic to a period home’s original style; the addition’s roof must match the existing home’s roof style and pitch.  For example, most Colonial homes have gabled roofs (also known as “A” shape), which are a safe choice for remodeling.  Whenever possible replicate the same roofing materials, overhangs, and cornice details.  Large or complex design problems may warrant hiring an architect conversant in the particulars of this idiom, one whose experienced I reconciling other roof styles (i.e. gambrel roofs, shed roofs, dormers) with an existing roof.

Materials

For an addition, I suggest using a mixture of materials that will help achieve compelling visual variances.  For instance, a brick foundation can pair nicely with clapboard walls.  By contrast, an “all brick” house often looks blocky, boring and heavy.  Attractive colonials utilize a palette of three exterior materials (usually brick, stone and wood).

Window pattern

Keep window styles consistent with the original.  Doing so typically calls for windows with muntin bars (grids).  Most Colonial homes have double-hung windows, a secure option when in doubt.  It’s acceptable, however, to mix casement windows into an addition.  A creative architect will be able to develop alternate window designs.

If you adhere to the basic principals of sensitivity for form and mass, roof shape, exterior materials and window pattern, you can achieve a sympathetic addition that won’t look tacked on, and you will most certainly enhance your home’s value.

Bruce Wentworth, AIA, is the principal of Wentworth, a residential architecture, interiors and construction practice. For questions, contact us here >>

Expanding a Bungalow In Craftsman-style Architecture

Answer:

With this once-humble American classic now enjoying resurgent popularity, it’s essential to know how to get more space without sacrificing architectural integrity.

Bungalows were this country’s most popular home style during the 1920’s (when homeownership began really rising)—mainly because they offered maximum space for minimal cost. Inspired by Craftsman-style architecture, which was popular from 1905 to about 1930, the bungalow offered a refreshing, functional and aesthetic change from the much fussier Victorian styles.

Many bungalows were, in fact, “kit houses”—literally, purchased from a Sears catalog and delivered, with all the requisite parts, to a site for local assembly. Often some small-scale owner-customizations were introduced prior to construction—so the bungalow’s adaptability was a feature from the start.

Hence, these homes are well-suited for enlargement, so long as the low-pitched roof line is carefully considered. Most bungalows (like yours) have a small kitchen in the rear of the house–generally behind the dining room. The other half of the first floor usually accommodates the living room– entered directly from the front door–and a rear bedroom(s) with bath. Additional bedrooms are generally located on a second floor extended by shed dormers at the front and back of the house.

For those who are keen on preserving the defining fundamentals of this now- resurgent architectural style, three components (and their interrelationships to one another) merit special attention.  These are roof line, exterior materials and window pattern. The following is a synopsis of some seminal considerations to elaborating a sympathetic Craftsman-inspired addition.

The Addition

A rear first floor addition you are seeking usually provides an logical area for an expanded kitchen, along with a contiguous family room. If your land slopes away from the house, the new family room can be dropped two steps to gain ceiling height on the first or second floors.  This is also a easy way to assure the privacy of new zones. Likewise, the second floor addition often is designated for the new master bedroom, bath and walk-in closets.

Roof Line

When designing a two-story rear addition for a Bungalow, I try to minimize the addition’s height and integrate the new with the old. Bungalows have low pitched roofs, with wide bracketed overhangs and shed dormers. Ideally, the new roof should have the same roof pitch as the existing roof, and the peak should be no higher. Shed dormers can be designed for the addition to maximize interior bedroom/bathroom space on the second floor. This also helps to scale down the mass of the side elevation—an important tactic to achieving an integrated look.

Exterior Materials

For a bungalow addition, it is best to use the same exterior material as the original house, which is often cedar shingle or narrow clapboard. Some bungalows were built with brick, stone or stucco.  In these cases, it is appropriate– and cost-effective– to clad the new addition in cedar shingle or clapboard. Bungalow foundations are typically of pre-cast block, brick or stone, which can be attractively replicated in the addition.

Window Pattern

Keep window style and size consistent with the original house. A typical bungalow will have double-hung windows with muntin bars (grids) in the top sash. Casement windows with a rectangular grid or diamond patterns are also common to bungalows.

If you adhere to these basic rules for the roof line, exterior materials and window pattern, you will achieve a sympathetic addition that won’t look tacked on, and you will most certainly enhance your home’s value.

Bruce Wentworth, AIA, is the principal of Wentworth, Inc, a residential architecture, interiors and construction practice. For questions about architectural style considerations in the greater Washington area, consult our free resources at www.wentworthstudio.com or call 240-395-0705.

Enlarging A French Eclectic

Answer:

You face a challenge many Americans confront today: finding sufficient room for an extended family. By way of historical context, your home’s architecture originates with the “French Eclectic” movement, which was popular from 1915–1945.  The style evolved in the United States shortly after WWI, a reflection of the exposure to French architecture by American troops. Photographic studies published in the 1920s also spread the style. Its popularity waned during the 1940s and 1950s, but has regained respect in recent decades. An earlier “Chateauesque” style dates from 1880-1910. This tends to be heavily ornamented architecture and may have had a minor influence on what we see today.  The Biltmore, in Asheville, North Carolina is its best example; but few recently built homes are so ostentatious as to classified as “Chateauesque”.

A new façade

You’ve indicated some preferences for remodeling the front facade. Yes, a tower would be appropriate for a home in a French Eclectic idiom. The symmetrical front elevation defined by a course of five windows lends itself beautifully to a two-story front wing extension which can be built to one side of your home forming an “L” plan.  A new round tower, placed at the inside corner of the “L”, might be utilized as a large vestibule or merged with the existing foyer. A round tower with a conical roof form would, thus, become the new main entrance to the home and a visual centerpiece.

You are fortunate to have the style’s signature roof form: a hip roof with flared eaves that curve up slightly.  Some French Eclectic homes were built with simple gable roof form, but “hip” is more definitive and makes for more cohesive elaboration. Hence, any new wing should certainly extend the existing roof form which should be aligned with the existing ridge or slightly lower. Also, replicate the pitch to the existing roof–and match the slate. This may require some research—but matching is essential to achieving a seamless addition.

On this note, most French Eclectic homes are built of brick or smooth- faced cut stone with contrasting stone trimmings such as lintels, sills and quoins. Details of this sort should be integrated into the addition. Leaded window panes, arched or gabled dormers, quoins, columns, shutters, finials, balusters and half-timbering are also elements that can be added into the style as taste and protocols permit.

Be aware that French Eclectic is a bit idiosyncratic, and its remodeling needs should be handled carefully so as not to cross the invisible line into unacceptable “kitsch.” Designing an addition is opportunity to “raise-the-bar” on the eloquence with which your home’s language is expressed. Be conservative, employing understated tone that yields to the style. To make certain that your project works aesthetically – encourage your architect to research historic examples that are logically appropriate to the existing home. By studying parallels and borrowing design details and concepts from within the historical architectural context, your new addition will enhance your home and family’s lifestyle.

Bruce Wentworth, AIA, is the principal of Wentworth, Inc, a residential architecture, interiors and construction practice. For question about architectural style considerations in the greater Washington area, consult our free resources at www.wentworthstudio.com or call 240-395-0705.

Georgian On My Mind

Answer:

This sounds like a home with a lot of potential. Georgians (originally introduced during the reign of England’s King George in the early 18th century) were popular in the colonies in the same period, and later “revived” in northern Virginia during the 1920’s and early 1930s. Given the architectural details you’ve described, it seems likely your home was designed by an architect. You might be interested to know that one of the more prominent practitioners of this language—William Lawrence Bottomley– built a number of renowned Georgians along Richmond’s Monument Avenue in the 1920’s, and his influence was certainly recognized throughout the state.

Of course, options for expanding a home must always begin by checking set-back requirements with your local zoning office, but assuming you can built in any direction, the first question you’ll have to address is: do you want the addition to be traditional or modern?

Specifically, if you’re a strict preservationist, you can design an addition that rigorously adheres to style strictures of the 1920’s original. Ask your contractor to replicate the architectural details precisely. If the addition will be visible from the street, an orthodox approach is probably the best way to converse resale valuations.

On the other hand, if you choose to build a rear addition (and you’re partial to more contemporary lines and spatial concepts), you’ll be glad to know this classic language can reconcile with modern sensibilities rather handsomely.  Smooth surfaces, expanses of glass, and clean lines may provide a pleasing visual contrast to the original architecture.

In either case, the more important consideration is developing design that is sympathetic to the scale and massing of the original home.  Whether the addition is on the rear or the side, proportionality is critical.

With a sufficient budget, and plenty of side yard, your 1920s house could be flanked by a symmetrical pair of additions linked with one-story structures called “hyphens”. An example of a proper local Georgian Style home with hyphens is the Hammond-Harwood House (1774) in Annapolis, Maryland. (See  hammondharwoodhouse.org).

As this structure illustrates, a flanking pair of matching wings will gain you substantial space. One wing might have a master suite bedroom and bath. The opposite wing could accommodate a kitchen and family room. Having the new spaces at opposite ends of the house increases privacy. As an option, you might build just one wing– though an asymmetrical design is not truly Georgian.

Another, more cost-effective strategy is to expand the home with a two-story rear addition. The first floor provides for a new kitchen and family room. The second floor is designated for additional bedrooms and baths.

Regarding the interior, revisions can be done tastefully by following simple considerations. For instances, a circa-1920’s Georgian usually has nicely detailed formal spaces on the first floor (living room, parlors, dining room, foyer and stair hall), and it is generally beneficial to protect those spaces. On the hand, I have successfully opened up walls to link formal dining rooms to an informal kitchen or family room.

The new design must link the spaces visually, while respecting the original dining room as a defined space. I find this a good way to transition from a formal to an informal space, or from old to new.  Selective moldings and architectural details used at the transition points help augment success. For example: If your dining room is on the rear of the house and your new kitchen is located in the addition – the rear wall of the dining room could be removed to create a new open floor plan linking the old dining room with a new kitchen.

Ideally an addition, with an open-plan and new family living spaces will suit your family’s needs for years to come—perhaps even allowing you to pass-on your home to the next generation.

Bruce Wentworth, AIA, is an architect and contractor. He is principal of Wentworth Inc., a metro area residential architecture, construction and interior design/build practice. Questions on residential remodeling styles can be sent to www.wentworthstudio.com or call 240-395-0705.