Buying this house, ideas for design improvements?

[newhavendave]

Hello all! The bank has accepted my offer on this home and I am in an inspection period. Right now it is not the prettiest home, but I am wondering if it has any potential to look 'good'.

Specs: Cape built in 1926 with an addition on the back and dormer built in the 80's with garage under addition.

Thanks for any input. I am thinking a lighter color paint first, followed by shudders, trim? I would like to spend some money to make it aesthetically pleasing, even with the ugly flat roof. Maybe there is someway to blend it? - Dave

[csintexas]

Hi Dave,
Well it seems I have given this advice a few times lately (even though I favor traditional elements) I just don't see how this house is really ever going to look traditional without some major remodeling work.

You could maybe play up the modern and maybe get something fun and quirky but I don't see shutters helping this house. Maybe a lighter color tan would help. My immediate thought is sage green with light brown trim.

[newhavendave]

Thanks, I can appreciate that. I liked those colors too, they have been my first choice. I dont think there is enough trim though to have a good mix of both, do you think? Would I be able to add trim on the corners of the house and around windows, eves, without trying to go too traditional with shudders, etc?

[csintexas]

What do you think about a slightly lighter color on the front "dormer" part?

That would be the conservative approach anyhow I guess if you allow yourself to think of it as a modern design I think you open a lot of possibilities as far as color and decoration.

[phansford]

[newhavendave]

Thanks guys. I will check to see what the town has, its too bad I dont know the previous owner as I am sure they would have blue prints. As I like ideas of trim and paint, I just need to study them on paper as you mention before choosing my direction.

I think I will probably retain the current shingle siding as it is still in such great shape. Unless I decide to do blown in insulation, depending on my heating bill this winter, then it will be time to experiment with siding.

Yes, it is exciting to be a first time home buyer! Thanks again, great ideas and advice both of you.

[nanrehvasconez]

I appreciate your consern about the looks of this house, as you indicated the house has gone through many additions and modifications, therefore my main consern would be the soundness of the structure, maybe termites, dryrotted structural members, wiring, black iron or galvanized plumbing systems, lead paint, asbestost, etc.

[househugger]

It looks like in one of the additions they took off the eave on the left side, or is that the back side? (what looks to be behind the chimney in the picture) If that eave was put back on and if the rooms above it, such as the shed dormer, where painted a lighter or darker shade of whatever color you're doing, then the house would look much more authentic to the time it was originally built. Use a roof finish like black asphalt shinges that are cut into a pattern authentic for that time, and not the rectangular stuff you find at Home Depot. Let us know what comes of this.

[jenniferedwards]

I think you should go for bay-window which is the peculiar feature next to the veranda that an rural home loves to indulge in. There can, indeed, scarcely be too many for the comfort of the house, or too few for the comfort of the purse, for I regret to add that they are expensive features. The simplest form is a plain semi-octagon, with simple shed-roof, shown above. This sort of bay is very commonly finished with a roof running up to a point against the wall; but the effect thus produced is always mean and disagreeable, and a straight line for some distance, as shown on the sketch, gives the appearance of the windows belonging to the house much more than the other mode.

The balcony is a feature that can now and then be introduced to advantage; and a specimen that tells the whole story, and scarcely needs any further detail, is shown in the illustration.

Dormer-windows are of several sorts, according to the style of the house. They are often made too small, and considerable comfort and effect is thereby lost, for a small one costs very nearly as much as a large one, and is not half so available. A dormer is a capital feature in a country house.