One House, Two Styles:

In order to offer this variety of house styles, many of our floorplans will be available in multiple styles.  We will use the same interior layout, but by changing some of the exterior design as well as the interior finishes be able to achieve very different end results.  As an example, take a look at how The Fletcher plan can be built as either Prairie style home or a Mid-Century Modern style home.

Craftsman

The Arts and Crafts movement, that began as a means of emphasizing craftsmen's artisanship over the mass fabrication and ornate designs of the Industrial Revolution, was the initial catalyst that lead to the popular Craftsman, Bungalow and Four-Square American home styles. Originally built between 1900 to 1930, this style of home was designed to help share fine architecture with middle-class families. These homes focused on melding simple, functional form with handcrafted architectural artistry. Some defining features of the Craftsman home are:

• Substantial front porches with large square or tapered columns

• Low pitched gable and hip roofs with large eaves and decorative knee braces

• Open floor plans

• Built-in bookcases, window seats, colonnades, or other furniture

• Divided-light windows with multiple panes in the upper sash and single pane in the lower sash

• Partially paned front doors

Prairie

Built initially between 1900 and 1920, Prairie style architecture is most famously associated with its originator, Frank Lloyd Wright. The low slung profiles and open floor plans focused on blending more naturally into the landscape. In this design, form follows function with the focus being on the flow of the interior of the home. Prairie style is credited with being the original 'open floor plan' that radicalized the interior reorganization of the home away from small compartmentalized rooms. Some defining features of the Prairie home are:

• Low pitched, layered hip roofs with large overhangs and cantilevered flat roofs

• Large banks of casement windows and high ribbon windows

• Horizontal lines in both house shape and finish materials, such as horizontal siding and trim

• Simple, natural materials

• Open, flowing interiors centered on the living and dining areas

• Geometric and nature inspired patterns in home shape, window patterns and interior finishes

Mid-Century Modern

From 1945 to 1975, the open form and simple lines of the Prairie home were re-imagined with progressive design and modernized materials of the post-World War II era. The open floor plans remained, but the style became even more minimalist with expanses of sliding glass doors that encouraged integrated indoor/ outdoor living. Some defining features of the Mid-Century Modern home include: 

• Flat and low gable roofs, often in asymmetrical configurations

• Floor to ceiling windows of sliding glass doors

• Prominent indoor-outdoor relationship that extends the living space into the backyard

• Exposed structural components such as posts and beams

• Strong linear composition and flat planes

European Cottage

Influenced primarily from English and French Country homes, B. Wallace designed European Cottage homes are most closely related to what is known as the Cotswold Cottage, or Storybook Style. A sub-type of the Tudor style, these homes were built for European "cotters" as quaint, rustic homes and became popular in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s. Some defining features of these cottages include: 

• Asymmetrical shapes with very steep, sloping roofs

• Curved or arched entryways

• Often stone or brick exteriors

• Upstairs rooms generally having sloping ceilings with dormers

• Casement windows

• Comfortable, old-world charm

Farmhouse

The classic American Farmhouse has been a staple throughout time, and it has been defined as much by where the house was located, as by how it was built. Historically, the house design was meant to be constructed quickly and efficiently. Interior finishes were simple, and large windows allowed the occupants to always keep an eye on the farm. Some defining features of the Farmhouse are: 

• Large front porches, often wrapping around the side of the home

• Horizontal, or bead and batten, siding

• Simple gable roofs with steep slopes, often metal

• Basic, simple, and typically rectangular house shapes

• White or light colored interior finishes, often whitewashed wood and exposed beams

• Large, centrally located, open kitchens

• Large windows and doorways

• Open shelving or cabinetry