Exploring Different Home Architectural Styles

Know which architectural style best matches your preferences is essential when purchasing or building a new home. From having design envy of homes seen on TV to simply needing more space, there’s bound to be an architectural style suitable for you and your needs.

Part Select has created an infographic showcasing various home architectural styles to assist buyers in understanding their options.

Ranch-style homes

Ranch-style homes are designed for casual family living. Built on slab foundations, these homes eliminate stairs making them an excellent choice for individuals with mobility issues. Their open design also makes it easier to integrate indoor and outdoor living spaces.

Add some variety and visual interest to a ranch-style home by adding an eye-catching door color or pattern on the front walk that stands out against its minimalist lines. Bold door colors create striking contrast while restrained patterns don’t overwhelm its facade.

Ranch-style homes make it easier to supervise children, while their lack of stairs reduces injury risks for elderly family members. Unfortunately, these properties require larger lots and can be more expensive to construct than two-story houses.

Tudor-style homes

Tudor homes are an increasingly popular choice among buyers seeking an aesthetically pleasing home. Originating in Europe during the late Middle Ages and post-medieval periods, today Tudor houses can often be found constructed using brick or stucco with an asymmetrical floorplan, making them well suited to cold climates.

These homes typically feature steeply pitched roofs with wood, brick, or half-timber framing materials such as wood or brick veneer. Tudors often include projecting windows like oriel or bay windows to provide natural lighting; and are frequently decorated with ornate front doors framed in different materials for an eye-catching effect.

Buyers of Tudor houses should take great care not to compromise its historical integrity by painting over exposed wood or altering original features, which can have a devastating impact on resale value.

Mediterranean Revival homes

Mediterranean-style homes evoke images of seaside villas and relaxing vacations at the beach. This style first gained popularity during the 1920s due to global travel and wealth accumulation that saw an explosion of Mediterranean resorts and luxury homes across the region.

Mediterranean Revival homes often draw from architectural styles in Spain, Greece and Italy as well as Moorish and Moroccan influences to form their distinctive design aesthetics. These houses often include features like wrought iron spindle gates with arched doorways and windows; as well as clay barrel tile roofs, terra cotta tiles and rough stucco walls for a Mediterranean charm.

Mediterranean-style homes feature open floor plans and high ceilings to increase airflow during hotter months, along with tile floors and travertine finishes, and often more exterior/interior integration than other styles of houses.

Prairie house homes

Home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright are distinguished by flat roof lines, massive walls of windows, open and asymmetrical floor plans and minimal ornamentation – hallmarks that represent his philosophy of living in harmony with nature. Additionally, these homes often include clerestory windows which let in plenty of natural light as well as air circulation into the house.

This architectural style featured horizontal lines, breaking from the beaux Arts symmetry of its time. Additionally, this aesthetic used natural materials and themes such as simple drawings of leaves or branches on its exterior walls.

Renovations of many of these homes are underway to adapt them to modern living. As well as updating kitchen and bath spaces, this also involves opening up rooms to create seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor areas.

Contemporary homes

Contemporary architecture may sound like an all-encompassing term that encompasses anything trendy; however, there are specific features that differentiate this style. Contemporary is sometimes seen as the antidote for more luxurious styles that preceded it.

Contemporary homes tend to embrace neutral and natural hues, placing emphasis on nature and functionality over decorative features. Furthermore, contemporary houses typically boast simpler or no moldings at all.

Contemporary homes feature strong lines and asymmetrical shapes that convey movement, floor-to-ceiling windows, various siding materials and floor-to-ceiling windows for natural light, unique floor plans with floor-to-ceiling windows that take full advantage of natural light, floor-to-ceiling windows with floor-to-ceiling views, unique flooring materials such as tiles or wooden planks, as well as floor-to-ceiling window designs that add to their unique appearance. They may be built from new construction or added as modern extensions to existing historic structures – such as this old Brooklyn row home that underwent transformation which included wood extension with rooftop patio.