One of the examples of architectural details is crown molding. It can be easily put up and it can be cheap too. Another way to add architectural features is to take a large blank wall and take some trim and frame a centered area that takes up most of the blank wall. Then paint the inside of the trim a different color then the rest of the room. Then you have a little more architectural interest in your home that didn’t cost you a fortune.

Florida is known for its nearly perfect weather. The houses in that area reflect this because outdoor living in Florida is very popular. Pools, patios, porches, and courtyards are common. Entertainment is also huge in Florida, so the houses are designed for the entertainer. Architect Dan Sater produces many Florida styled homes and he includes all of these features in them.

Glass is big in Florida’s homes. When they have a main room that backs up to a porch (like a living room), they put in a wall of windows that slide back to let the outdoors in. Sometimes they will use glass and make a huge structure like a greenhouse that is attached to the back of the house covering a pool. The design will always make the space feel open and take advantage of Florida’s warm weather.

One of the most common features of Log Homes is the way the entertaining areas are set up. The living room and dining room are usually combined into one tall room with a stone fireplace and lots of windows. The windows also usually point outward. This feature is usually found in larger traditional log homes, but log homes aren’t always like that.

Log homes can include what normal homes include. There are many house plans where architects have made homes look like normal Log Homes but have house plans that are the exact same as the house down the street. That is one of the beautiful things about homes - you can make the house look any style on the outside but you can make it whatever you want to on the inside - even if the style of your home normally requires a floor plan you don’t like, because it is your home.

This building won’t have a parking garage underneath the structure. But it will have garages-private 2 to 4 car garages for each condo. It won’t have a garage on top of the building or even on the side of the buildings. They are going to put them right next to the condos themselves. They are using a system of freight elevators that are accessed from the street level of the building. The cars drive into the building and get on the elevator. The elevator then takes the car and passenger to their level of the building and the doors open and they are in their garage, that even connects to the condo. They even have a video that shows how the elevators work. According to the magazine, there is nothing like this in any residential building in the whole United States. This idea is completely revolutionary. The Encore website can tell you more about this great new architectural design.

*Information from www.encorecharlotte.com and from “Curtains Open on Uber-Elite Encore” p. 152 of Today’s Custom Home*

Southern homes are classic homes. From back to the old plantations of the late 18th century to the current day homes in the South, all of the designs are spacious feeling, good feeling homes. There are many individual styles that make up southern architecture, so go investigate them for you self, such as the classic Virginian backwoods homes to the Floridian homes… they are all great.

Now the first style I am going to discuss will be about the architecture that I grew up around- architecture from the southern U.S.A. But after this I have not decided which kind of architecture I will discuss next. Now I would happy to have pictures of the architecture I do each week. So if you live in an area of the world that you believe has unique architecture, then help me show the rest of the world the unique architecture of your area by taking a picture of it. You can send it to me at my email address just for this blog, brandon@thehousekid.com. If someone from your area sends me a picture, then I will do my best to get the kind of architecture in your area on my blog. So do the world a favor and send me a picture. Who knows what will happen.

This past weekened I went to my grandparent’s house. My grandmother had found two old magazines from 1957 and 1960. They were full of homes like ranch homes and many unique architectural features that have long been forgotten. In older homes there were some features that are now popular. But there were also parts of architecture that have been forgetton, like the gallery, many small but abundant rooms, and the split level.

They were each unique and weren’t copied. For example, if you drive through an old section of homes downtown, you will see that each one doesn’t look alike. Each home built by somebody else for themselves or someone else, not for everyone. That is what the forgotten architecture is - it is uniqueness throughout all of the homes, not just for the really expensive custom homes.

So if you ever get the chance to get to build your own home - make it fit you. You don’t have to compromise for a good resale. Now it is good to make things that will appeal to most people, but don’t let that dominate your design. People like unique features and there is bound to be plenty of other people that like the same features you do. And even if you don’t ever get to build your own, you can still make it unique - maybe not in the floorplan, but in other things such as cabinets, wall colors, bookshelves, and other things.

Be unique.

Since about 98 I’ve lived in many houses, 7 to be exact. I lived in the first one for about 5 years. Since 02 I have moved which has supplied lots of packing experience and the awesome chance to live in 7 different floorplans and some very unique designs, some favorable and some that I could have done without.

My favorite feature of all the houses I have lived in would be the family room in house number 4. We have a similar room in the house we’re in now, but it is just a large basement room that has a huge screen, kitchen, exersise room and a pool table - although you won’t find me complaining about it. The family room in house number 4 was right off the kitchen overlooking the golf course, the patio and pool. It was even spacious enough so that my family’s overstuffed large furniture would look reasonable in it. It wasn’t in blinding sun but stayed reasonably light. It was nice for parties, we had the Superbowl party there when the Panthers were in it; the room was just so open.

House #4

Another favorite feature were the nice sized bedrooms I had as a general feature throughout the homes. Some were too big, such as the one in house number 3 where my bedroom was the whole converted attic - but only one window, so it was rather dark. In house number 5 I had this huge bedroom overlooking the lake with a huge bathroom to go along with it. I still have a good size once again looking at the lake. But with every room there are flaws, despite lighting and size. In the 5th house my bedroom walls were covered with carpet - it kept it quiet so I could play my trumpet without disturbing anyone else and put push pins on the wall - but it was weird because it looked very grey compared to the lovely blue carpet I had in the room.

House #5

A flaw I have in my room now is that my windows have screens on them - which causes the excellent view of the lake to be messed up. It may sound silly but it just not the same.Some features that I could care less for in the homes I have lived in - very dark open basements, carpet in the master bedrooms, supposed bedrooms that don’t have closets or windows, and the worst thing out of all things - master bedrooms on the third floor.

So I have said all that to basically state that there are bound to be unique architectural features in your own home - even if you have a neighborhood that every single home is the exact same thing. Just take a look around for it all.