RE14R25: Architecture

Course Objective: This course provides real estate professionals with a foundational understanding of architectural principles, styles, and structural design. Participants will learn to identify key architectural features and understand their influence on property value and function.

1. Architecture:
   1. Definition:
      1. The science and art of structural design.
      2. The style which a building is designed and built.
      3. Architect = chief builder, master builder ethimologically
   2. A little bit of history on US architecture
      1. Influence on architecture
         1. Greek and Roman principles
         2. Geographical importance
      2. Pattern Books: Builders Handbooks/Architectural Design Books had a strong influence on residential construction and design
      3. Nail Machines: 1850 machines were able to mass-produce nails for one eighth of what they had been in 1800.
      4. Professional organization in the US ”American Institute of Architects”, created in 1857
      5. First Architectural program in the US established in 1865 at MIT
      6. Notable architects
         1. Robert Adams
            1. Charles Bullfinch
            2. Samuel McIntire
            3. Thomas Jefferson
            4. Charles Locke Eastlake
            5. Henry Hobson Richardson
            6. Frank Lloyd Wright
            7. Ellsworth Storey
            8. Walter Gropius
            9. Frank Gehry
2. The house structure and exterior styles
   1. Forms of Foundations:
      1. Basements
      2. Crawl spaces
      3. Slab-on-ground
   2. Framing: Wood frame construction (9 out of 10 homes)
      1. Platform Frame
      2. Balloon Frame
      3. Plank and Beam Frame
      4. Manufactured
         1. Mobile
         2. Modular
         3. Panelized
         4. Pre-cut
3. Window Styles
   1. Palladian
      1. Gothic
      2. Fan
      3. Circle Head
      4. Bay
      5. Oriel
      6. Double-hung
      7. Casement
      8. Sliding (traverse)
      9. Awning
      10. Center Pivot
      11. Hopper
      12. Jalousie
      13. Triple-track
      14. Skylights
   2. Roof Styles
      1. Flat
      2. Shed
      3. Gable
      4. Saltbox
      5. Gambrel
      6. Hip
      7. Mansard
      8. Shed Dormer
      9. Single Dormer
   3. House Types and style
      1. One Story
         1. Ranch
         2. Shotgun – long, narrow, 1 story, gable roof, faces street, full front porch
         3. Bungalow – small, 1 story, open or enclosed front porch
         4. California Bungalow – small, 1 story, compact, usually wood
      2. One and ½ Story – cape and bungalows
         1. Cape Cod – 1 ½ story, central entrance, steep gable roof with shingles
         2. Cape Ann - 1 ½ story, central entrance, gambrel roof
      3. Two Story - Colonial
         1. Garrison Colonial – 2 ½ story, second story overhang in front
         2. Dutch Colonial – moderate sized 2 story to 2 ½ story, central entrance, gambrel roof, dutch entrance door
         3. Pennsylvania Dutch Colonial or Pennsylvania German Farmhouse – massive 2 ½ story gray ledge stone house, steep gable roof
         4. Southern Colonial – 2 or 3 story colonnade extending across front
4. Split Level
   1. Side to Side
      1. Back to Front
         1. Front to Back
      2. Split Entry or Bi-level
5. Architectural Styles
   1. Colonial American – First period homes
      1. New England Farm House – box shaped, exterior siding, white clapboard, steep roof
      2. New England Colonial – 2 ½ story, square or rectangular boxlike house, side or rear wings
      3. Saltbox Colonial or Catslide (in South) – 2 story or 2 ½ story square of rectangular, steep gable roof
      4. Front Gable New England Colonial, Charleston Colonial, or English Colonial – 2 ½ story symmetrical square or rectangular boxlike house with a protruding front wing
      5. Log Cabin – rectangular shape built of unfinished logs
      6. Georgian – large formal 2 or 3 story rectangular house, brick, gable or hip roof
   2. Classic Revival – First part of 19th Century American (1830s-1850s)
      1. Classic Colonial – 2 story or 3 story with columnal exterior
      2. Federal – multi- story, box shaped, flat roof
      3. Adams – multi-story, rectangular shaped, bay window, flat roof
      4. Greek Revival – 2 or 3 story symmetrical house, copy of a Greek Temple
   3. Victorian Period - Second part of 19th Century American (1840s- 1900s)
      1. Early Gothic Revival – pointed arch churchlike appearance, asymmetrical, one color
      2. Egyptian Revival – boxlike, Egyptian columns in front
      3. Roman Tuscan Mode – boxlike, no yard area, flat roof
      4. Octagonal House – octagon shape, flat roof
      5. High Victorian Gothic – pointed arch, many colors
      6. High Victorian Italianate – 3 different kinds of window arches (straight sided, flat-topped, and rectangular), hip roof
      7. American Mansard or Second Empire Style – mansard roof, multiple dormers
      8. Stick Style or Carpenter Gothic – high steep roofs, complex silhouettes, diagonal braces, gingerbread trim
      9. Eastlake – rectangular shape, open front porch, ornamentation is 3 dimensional
      10. Shingle Style – big, boxlike, roof shingles, gable roof
      11. Romanesque or Richardsonian – massive, stone with round semicircular arched openings, pyramidal roof
      12. Queen Anne – multistory, irregular shape, bay windows, big chimneys
      13. Brownstone, Brick Row House, or Eastern Town House – 4 or 5 stories, common walls, flat roof, stoop leading to first floor
      14. Western Row House or Western Townhouse – 2 or 3 stories, common walls, bay windows, pitched roof
      15. Monterey – 2 story, asymmetrical shape, balcony across front a 2nd floor level
      16. Western Stick – large rectangular house, exposed structural framing, multistory
      17. Mission – looks like old mission church, doors and windows are arch shaped
   4. Colonial and Tudor Revival (1880s-1950s)
      1. Colonial Revival
         • Copies of early colonials, inspired by 150^th anniversary of the singing of the Declaration of Independence
         • Very popular style between 1910-1930 (about 40% of new homes built)
         • Decorative entrances, columns, doors with fan/ sidelights
      2. Tudor Revival – 1920s, steeply pitched roofs, tall narrow windows, decorative timbering
   5. Modern Houses - Early Twentieth Century American (1900s – 1940s)
      1. Prairie House –  low roof line, continuous row of windows, unornamented exterior
      2. Craftsman/ bungalow – low pitched gable roofs, large porches, square columns
      3. International – very simple, no ornamentation, flat roof
      4. Foursquare – multi-story, box shaped, hip roof, hipped dormer, 1 story front veranda
      5. Art Deco or Art Modern – rectangular shaped, art deco or art modern ornamentation, metal window frames
   6. Post Modern Houses - Post World War II American
      1. California Ranch – Ranch 1 story, ground hugging, low pitched roof
      2. North Western or Puget Sound – low ranch-type house, overhangs at the eaves and gables, exterior walls often redwood
      3. Mid-century Modern: Minimalism, clean lines, flat roof or butterfly
      4. Functional Modern or Contemporary – modern building materials, extensive use of glass, lack of ornamentation
      5. Passive Solar House – large overhanging eaves, large glass windows and doors
      6. ‘A’ Frame – frame is the shape of ‘A’, steep gable roof, large glass windows
      7. Mobile Home – relocatable house, averages 12’ wide and 60’ long, siding and roof are often metal
      8. Plastic House – exterior siding fiberglass or other plastic material, little or no ornamentation
      9. Contemporary Rustic or California Contemporary – unpainted or stained diagonal siding, 2 or more shed roofs, nonrectangular window tops that follow the roof slope
      10. Postmodern – large triangular or gable includes circular oculus window
6. International and regional architectural styles
   1. English
      1. Cotswald Cottage – ground hugging, asymmetrical, prominent brick or stone chimney
         1. Tudor – multi-story fortress like, oriel windows, Tudor arches
      2. French
         1. French Provincial – formal 1 ½ to 2 ½ story, high steep hip roof
         2. Creole, Louisiana, or New Orleans – 2 or 3 stories, balcony with fancy iron work entire front at second story level
      3. Swiss
         1. Swiss Chalet – 1 ½ to 2 ½ story, gable roof, natural decorative woodwork or exterior, open porches at second story level
      4. Southwest
         1. Spanish Villa – asymmetrical, 1 to 3 stories, painted stucco exterior walls, red tile roof
         2. Pueblo or Adobe – real or simulated adobe brick, flat roof, massive
      5. Oriental
         1. Japanese – 1 story, exterior wall panels, tile, thatch or wood shingle roof

References:

• Houses by Henry S. Harrison,
• Your Home Inspection Guide by William L. Ventolo

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Additional references:

• American House Styles - A Concise Guide by John Milnes Baker, AIA, 1994: History with sketches and floor plans:
• The Abrams Guide to American House Styles by William Morgan, 2004: Lots of pictures
• A Field Guide to American Houses by Virginia and Lee McAlester, 1984: especially interesting for the architectural details of a house.
• Great information on the history of the split level house.