Thursday, March 04, 2010
Front porches are back!
Enid News reports on a set of low-priced houses built by the local Community Development agency.
Purchase price is high at $80K, when you can get a fairly new house in a better neighborhood for $40K. Utility cost is excellent, and might compensate for the purchase price over time.
What really catches my attention is the fine generous front porch.
A deep porch on the south side, plus wide overhangs on all sides, is the bungalow's secret of natural coolness. This house isn't a strict bungalow but it certainly has the right qualities for both coolness and community.
The style nicely matches a type of house common in Oklahoma before the bungalow trend came along. Most new 'retro' designs miss their mark, looking more like nastily ironic references to an older pattern; this one simply and honestly looks like the old.
Specifically it resembles an Aladdin style:
If I'd been designing this house, I would have gone closer to the Aladdin proportions, and would have used wide casement windows farther off the ground (like the nearest window on the Aladdin) instead of narrow doublehung sashes. A high-up casement can be left open at night without the feeling that a burglar could just step on through. (I know serious burglars won't be stopped, but this is more about the internal feeling of confidence than the actual odds of burglary.)
= = = = =
While looking closely at window heights, I realized the people in that Aladdin drawing are ridiculously small. The man and two women are correctly proportioned to each other, but the man is half the height of the front door, which makes him about 3 feet 6 inches tall! These are circus midgets! ¶ 9:43 AM
Enid News reports on a set of low-priced houses built by the local Community Development agency.
A recently completed house on East Randolph may be the secret ingredient to helping achieve that goal. The model house is newly constructed with Styrofoam insulated panels, which are highly energy efficient, said Craig Stokes, CDSA housing director.
“We can do any size house,” he said. “This is the first one.”
The house is 846 square feet with two bedrooms, one bath and a loft. It is completely electric with an anticipated average monthly utility bill of $50. Stokes said the next home will be 1,000 square feet.
Purchase price is high at $80K, when you can get a fairly new house in a better neighborhood for $40K. Utility cost is excellent, and might compensate for the purchase price over time.
What really catches my attention is the fine generous front porch.
A deep porch on the south side, plus wide overhangs on all sides, is the bungalow's secret of natural coolness. This house isn't a strict bungalow but it certainly has the right qualities for both coolness and community.
The style nicely matches a type of house common in Oklahoma before the bungalow trend came along. Most new 'retro' designs miss their mark, looking more like nastily ironic references to an older pattern; this one simply and honestly looks like the old.
Specifically it resembles an Aladdin style:
If I'd been designing this house, I would have gone closer to the Aladdin proportions, and would have used wide casement windows farther off the ground (like the nearest window on the Aladdin) instead of narrow doublehung sashes. A high-up casement can be left open at night without the feeling that a burglar could just step on through. (I know serious burglars won't be stopped, but this is more about the internal feeling of confidence than the actual odds of burglary.)
= = = = =
While looking closely at window heights, I realized the people in that Aladdin drawing are ridiculously small. The man and two women are correctly proportioned to each other, but the man is half the height of the front door, which makes him about 3 feet 6 inches tall! These are circus midgets! ¶ 9:43 AM
