Buying my first old house, but what am I buying?

[zerotwofour (WavyGlass)]

Hello all, my name is John. I am working on the closing of the house in the photo above. The good news is, it is a 1924 built house of the perfect size and layout. The bad news is, I can't pin down the style. It has craftsman bungalow-esque low roofline and porch details mixed with cottage style features. Is it a cottalow?

The other bad news is the presence of aluminum siding, vinyl windows and white painted trim throughout the interior. But I see tons of potential. It's on several acres, so no historic district community, but I wonder if I should put my energy into historically accurate 1920s fixtures and restorations or just let my wife pinterest the heck out of the interior to her hearts content?

I personally want to see more bungalow features enhanced on the house, but would adding stone veneers to those columns and the foundation be a no no around this forum? I also think a two tone shingle and wood siding job would look nice, but I imagine there is just plain old wood siding under that aluminum. Or maybe my love of bungalows is clouding my vision, and this house is a straight up 20's cottage, farmhouse or???

Unless I am not seeing it right, the house is in the middle of two styles, and the middle of being crappily modernized, an I don't know what to do for her if and when we close the sale.

[Indianer (WavyGlass)]

Do you have any pics of the inside?

[zerotwofour (WavyGlass)]

I do have pics of the inside, but until we close I told the current occupant I would not post them online due to his stuff, family pictures etc being in them. I can tell you more about the trim, layout and features if interested in some specific detail.

[DRJR]

I don't see anything wrong with stone columns.

[nlswitz]

It might be a good idea to live with it a bit after you close...it might then start telling you what it wants. It's a very cute house.

[Bungalove]

Welcome to the forums! I definitely agree with nlswitz that living with the home for a while before doing any remodeling is an excellent idea. For the interiors, this gives you a chance to see what the light is like at various times of the year and so forth.

For the exterior, I highly recommend reading as much as you can about bungalows before making any changes. This way, you'll get a better idea of what you have and what you might want. Jane Powell's "Bungalow Exteriors" is an excellent resource (she also wrote fantastic books on bungalow interiors, bathrooms, and kitchens too).

It's hard to name a style from just one exterior photo but I would call it a modest bungalow, due to the size, roof line, and especially the porch columns. Taking off the vinyl siding and shutters would be a big improvement, as would giving it an earthy paint scheme. Bright white and light gray are the anti-Craftsman colors! (And we got a ton of that in our Craftsman when we bought it; warm tones are making it look so much better and period-appropriate.)

[phil]

Id go with shingles or wood siding and cover the posts with the same. It looks like they lost a major detail in that they lost the outside window casings, and they should be cut at an angle where the top casing ends above the two vertical side pieces. that part is easy to fix.just look at other craftsman style houses.
Yea it is lots of white, too much white. I wouldn't do stone laminate on the pillars, I'd do wood. No one is crazy about vinyl but if price is a consideration could you clean the siding and spray on a different color? maybe a vinyl dye?

[Nicholas]

The porch columns and bracket under the eave do give it that Craftsman look. Kind of a hybrid in style.

Cottalow?...lol.

[Neighmond]

It's kinda craftsmanny! I bet it can bee whatever you want it to-it looks like a blank slate now. How is the inside?

[SmellyHouse]

Hi John, welcome to WG!

A lot of houses at the beginning of the 20th century were 'mutts'. Architects started to publish design books, and I think builders took a bit from here, and a bit from there, when building from scratch. I know my house is sorta the same 'mutt' approach (a 'Farmgalow'). But your house looks a bit like Wilson Bungalow 567 (see below). And I think most of us are all for enhancing the older characteristics of your house, as long as you keep it somewhat period appropriate and you don't make a 'great room' out of your KT/DR/LR, okay? Otherwise, if you don't abide by our taste, you will be relegated to those fancy glossy forums whose kitchens are bigger than some of our houses, okay?

Common Characteristics:
Usually 1 – 1 1/2 stories
Low-pitched roof, often with broad eaves
Exposed Rafter Tails
Often uses dormers to add headroom
Entry typically opens directly into living room
Often has a large front porch that creates an outdoor room (often with tapered columns)
Easy access to outdoor spaces like verandas, porches, and patios
Open floor plan maximized for efficiency & flow from room to room w. minimal space wasted on hallways
Often small with reliance on built-ins for organization
Siding varies. Stucco, shingle or lapped siding, or brick. Stone for porch/foundations, columns and chimneys were common.

http://www.bungalowhomestyle.com/about- ... nition.htm
http://www.antiquehome.org/House-Plans/ ... ngalow.htm

Your house does fit some of those definitions. I think if you did a bit with the front porch (replaced the brick supports with stone) replaced the windows in the front ell, your house could certainly look a lot more Bungalow-y.

Welcome!

And make sure to post interior pics, k?