# What Architectural Style House is This? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 9, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916 "2019-09-09T03:02:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/21 "2019-09-09T14:30:54Z")
Faux-Tudor. (I just looked it up–it’s a real word! :eek: That’s no fun!) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/22 "2019-09-09T14:35:45Z")
Can folk show what they think of as ranch “style”? I’m thinking pretty much a single-story self-contained rectangle, with the living areas, kitchen, and bedrooms all fitting inside a rectangular footprint, with a pretty simple roofline. Maybe an “L” to include a family room or garage. For example, [this](https://www.nextmodular.com/floorplans/barton-ranch-modular-home-prices/) is clearly what I consider to be a ranch. I’ve heard the term rambler, but never really understood what that meant. I guess I assumed a single-story home that was NOT as compact as what I described above. So I guess it could apply to the OP’s home the way the front building line varies, and the left side seems to be other than a straight line. In my mind, I imagine a rambler strives for more differentiation between the various living areas, such as the bedrooms in a wing separate from the entertaining areas. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/23 "2019-09-09T14:57:03Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > “Nouvelle Pastiche” gives it a much classier and continental air. > [@Alessan](#): > > Just call it “post-modern”. That covers just about anything. Post-something style? Maybe “Post-style” style. > [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Faux-Tudor. > > (I just looked it up–it’s a real word! :eek: That’s no fun!) fake Tudor generally involves the stucco between planks that masquerade as black-painted solid oak beams. Still, it’s basically the designer trying to avoid being boring; mix and match rooflines, additional roof planes, features like bay windows, assorted siding, rock, etc. to avoid the image of cookie-cutter houses. So it’s not any particular style, but if it works and you don’t find the look unpleasing, it’s a house and it’s fine. Looks like several of the houses on my street. The only concern is the colour scheme. If you like it, good - there were 2 pink stucco houses in our area, until someone painted one dark grey. IMHO - As long as your house doesn’t look like a flamingo nesting ground, you’re ahead of the curve. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/24 "2019-09-09T17:25:51Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I always assumed “ranch” simply meant “living spaces all on one level.” There’s more to it than that. For one thing, I’d say the OP’s roofline has too steep a pitch to be ranch, and the eaves are way too narrow. Also, bay windows are not very ranch. Other elements, like the asymmetry and the mixed facings, are. That’s why the \*eclectic \*part of Neo-eclectic. > [@Alessan](#): > > Fun is subjective. Post-modern buildings may aspire towards “fun” Just aspiring is sufficient. Personally, I fucking hate Frank Gehry and all his works with every fibre of my being, but I can see what he \*thinks \*he’s doing. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/25 "2019-09-09T17:31:06Z")
> [@Charlie\_Tan](#): > > [McMansion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMansion#Design) > My bolding IMO, to be a Mcmansion, you need at least one of: a) multiple stories; or b) unnecessary size. I don’t think the OP’s house qualifies as either of those two. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/26 "2019-09-09T18:28:55Z")
Never heard of neo-eclectic before. Thanks. Good to have a word to describe such houses. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/27 "2019-09-09T20:52:18Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > IMO, to be a Mcmansion, you need at least one of: > a) multiple stories; or > b) \*\*unnecessary size. \*\* > > I don’t think the OP’s house qualifies as either of those two. My bolding. I think the steep roof qualifies as being unnecessary. I don’t know where this is located, but the windows/walls ratio looks as if it will be fairly dark inside. The bay window looks as if it sits at the end of a smallish wing, and I wonder what can fit there. A bay window protruding from a larger area will make a nice nook, but on its own I think it will be cramped. I think that wing was added to break up the front wall of the house and make it look less ‘boring’, w/o actually serving any kind of practical function. As for multiple stories, to me it kinda looks like someone pressed a two story house into the ground and added a front door. The roof would be much better looking - or at least more proportional - on a taller building. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/28 "2019-09-09T20:56:53Z")
> [@Charlie\_Tan](#): > > My bolding. > > I think the steep roof qualifies as being unnecessary. Don’t know where the house is in terms of snow. I always gathered Montana gets a lot, so I don’t know about “unnecessary” there. But that’s not what I mean by “size”, I mean area (\> 3000 sq ft), high ceilings (8-9 ft) and number of rooms - multiple spare bedrooms, but also often extra unnecessary shit like reception rooms, “[great room](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_room)s” and the like. Also, big on its lot, not proportional. The OP’s house looks nothing like that from that pic. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/29 "2019-09-09T21:53:40Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > It’s the byproduct of a modern house designer, I would say, who’s stolen concepts from multiple designs. My answer was going to be Modern Mansionette Nightmare. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/30 "2019-09-10T01:30:25Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > The flying butresses are a nice touch (meant only half sarcastically). My gut reaction is that it’s a pretty little house. At the same time I’ve been reading too much McMansion Hell, and although this isn’t big enough to be called a McMansion, it does borrow rather a LOT of details from one. I wouldn’t call it a McMansion around here. McMansions are, by definition very standard looking buildings, done cheaply, ie as standard as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/31 "2019-09-10T01:47:47Z")
The name for this house is simply “contemporary.” Yes, it could be described as generic, and aesthetically unconnected to the established prestige styles of architecture with 100 years or more of respected and beloved traditions. No, it does not have the classic rustic heft of a Craftsman, or the clean modern lines of a mid-century Ranch, or the old-world charm of a Tudor. It doesn’t have any of that. And, as a real estate broker, I would rather deal with someone buying, or selling, the OP’s house, than any one of those authentic houses from storied architectural traditions, ANY fucking day of the week. What it lacks in history, it also lacks in headaches. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/32 "2019-09-10T04:09:35Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Personally, I fucking hate Frank Gehry and all his works with every fibre of my being, but I can see what he \*thinks \*he’s doing. Absolutely! I had the misfortune to once be in a hospital room just across the river from one of his monstrosities. This horror is covered in tin foil, and the afternoon sun glares off of it and directly into the hospital rooms of patients, many confined to beds and unable to escape the pitiless glare of the _‘ugliest building in Minnesota’_. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/33 "2019-09-10T04:17:26Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > Most architectural style names are applied in retrospect, sometimes decades after the buildings were built. What we now call Art Deco, for example, was at the time mostly just referred to as “the modern style,” or at best Moderne. It wasn’t called Deco until the 1960s, and the name wasn’t broadly applied until after some 1980s museum exhibitions. I’ve noticed the same thing, and am wondering what the Corporate Campus architecture will be called which has been going on for a couple decades, which is not quite the same thing as the International style it is closest to since it relies even more heavily on glass, and features non-perpendicular, yet geometric and non-ornamental, lines, which doesn’t fit with either its ancestors in the more minimalist wing of modern architecture nor its more decorative cousins. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/34 "2019-09-10T04:29:33Z")
Thanks, everyone. Good comments. I like the term “neo-eclectic” or “contemporary” since it doesn’t fit any other established architectural style. I don’t know who designed it or built it, but it is 15 years old and I am buying it from its second owner who is currently going through a divorce. The small lot borders a canal that leads to a yacht harbor in Bigfork, MT on Flathead Lake. The house comes with a dock for our pontoon boat. (We can now sell the slip we own in the yacht harbor or lease it for the season.) We get quite a bit of snow here, which might explain the high-pitched roof. This house is not part of planned development. Someone just bought the lot and had the house designed and built. The neighborhood has a mix of many different styles of houses, but most are contemporaries with a lot of wood and rock on the outsides. This house stands out from the others somewhat but that doesn’t bother me. It’s 3,280 sf and has a large great room and no formal living room. The bay window you see on the left is part of the office that I will be occupying so I can see if anybody pulls up to the front. My wife found this house and lobbied for it for 6 months before we made an offer. At my age, a one-story house on a small lot is very appealing compared to being on 6.5 forested acres that require a lot more maintenance than you could imagine. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/35 "2019-09-10T05:10:51Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Faux-Tudor. > > (I just looked it up–it’s a real word! :eek: That’s no fun!) What’s Tudor about it?! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/36 "2019-09-10T12:16:03Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Thanks, everyone. Good comments. > > I like the term “neo-eclectic” or “contemporary” since it doesn’t fit any other established architectural style. … Contemporary is a curious term - as is "modern. Because it is a moving target. What will it be called in 50 years? 😃 I had generally thought of “contemporary” as denoting boxy structures with flat roofs, and a lot of right angles and glass. But perhaps that was contemporary 20 years ago. Personally, I wouldn’t worry about the “style” of house, and would just do what it took to make it my “home.” 😉 I imagine the interior is very livable, and the location looks and sounds divine. Enjoy it in good health for many years! ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/37 "2019-09-10T12:39:30Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Personally, I fucking hate Frank Gehry and all his works with every fibre of my being, but I can see what he \*thinks \*he’s doing. \ \ People \*hire \*this man? They actually build his designs? Those things look _horrible_, and I bet they leak at every joint. If that’s not a pure example of the “I don’t understand what he’s doing, so he must be a genius!” attitude, I don’t know what is. Is this the same dude who crumpled up a piece of paper and turned the result into an office building? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/38 "2019-09-10T12:44:14Z")
Let me join the Gehry pileon. While I dislike the general overly cute and clever architecture he embodies, it’s mostly harmless except for his own work, which makes me physically ill. It’s supposed to be disorienting and succeeds too well in that. I don’t mind architecture that makes you mentally uncomfortable as it is exciting to challenge yourself once in awhile, but I draw the line at physically uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/39 "2019-09-10T13:52:32Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > People \*hire \*this man? They actually build his designs? Those things look _horrible_, and I bet they leak at every joint. My former client was the patron for a Gehry building. It does indeed leak, uncontrollably, leading to multiple lawsuits. But people talked about the building when he announced the gift, when the architect was named, when the building was unveiled, when it won awards, and when the lawsuits happened. If your goal in giving a gift is to be remembered, this Gehry building worked like a charm. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916/40 "2019-09-10T14:27:51Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > What’s Tudor about it?! > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk The second door is probably in the back. \* [Rimshot]\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-architectural-style-house-is-this/839916.md?page=3)