Introduction
This page is dedicated to illustrating and writing about different home styles. Most home styles are rooted in trends in the past and present in different geographical locations around the world. It is wonderful to have such a variety of choices for your home.
French Country Style
French Country designs reflect an area of France known as Provence. It differs from a European castle style home in that it is more country rustic in appearance. In keeping with its natural setting, you will commonly find interior beamed ceilings, stone fireplaces and planked floors. All of which can be distressed for a feeling of coziness.
On the exterior, there may be a mixture of rustic stone, stucco and wide windows. The windows may have vintage shutters on either side. Windows and doors may be arch topped. There may be high Romeo and Juliet black wrought iron balconies on some upper windows and french style exterior doors. Large chimneys are built along with high dark colored sharp roof lines. The upper story roof lines may impinge on the upper story windows, causing those windows to partly or fully dormer into the roof. Windows and doors may be accented with Mahogany wood details.
Landscaping may include wide courtyards. Walks may have more subtle curves and be composed of stone instead of hard angles of concrete.
English Cottage Style
On the exterior of an English Cottage style home the roof is usually steep pitched. Roofs may have cross-gables and may even have clipped gables. The roofs over entries are usually front-facing gables where one side is steep and straight and the other side is curved like a slide. The homes that this style mimics were built mainly in between 1920 and 1940 in England. The roof then would be thatch covered or made to look like thatch by soft rounding shingles over hip and ridge lines.
Exterior wood doors are typically arch or round top in shape. The hardware is decorative to ornate. Windows are usually casement tall and narrow units segregated into small panes, sometimes turned into diamond pattern. Decorative timbers may accent the building lines.
The home overall on the exterior is small, asymmetric and one to two stories in height. Chimneys are usually over sized and use stone, decorative stone, clinker brick and are topped with chimney pots. Exterior wall surfaces can be made of stucco, shingles or lap siding.