English/American term

[Daniel89]

Can anyone tell me the english or american name for a house built in this style?

 

[intune]

I couldn't really find anything similar, but to me it looks like a mix between contemporary and victorian styles. But I found this link.. so you'll probably be able to make a better guess than me

http://architecture.about.com/od/periodsstyles/ig/House-Styles/

[Daniel89]

Thanks for the link. I will check it out.

We call the Swiss Villas or Crows Castles, but that is a direct translation and it probably wont mean anything to someone from another country, so I was hoping someone could help.

[Zombie]

The style is "Gothic Horror". I think I can see Norman Bates's mom in that little tower

 

EDIT

Seriously this is a frightful mish-mash of styles which, in a domestic setting, is unworthy of a serious architectural label. The developer probably got together several "pattern book" designs, mixed them up in his computer, and this nightmare popped out. But if you want a label then I guess Folk Victorian / Postmodernist neo-Gothic Revival would do. It's still a horror though ...

Edited February 15, 2012 by Zombie

[ToddYoung]

I can't recall ever seeing a house like it, though it does seem to have some Victorian characteristics.

[option]

Based on the site that image is from, its Norwegian

therefore it wouldnt be classified as victorian style, as that didnt/dosnt exist in norway

[MidnightMan]

After a little research, considering the window and roof types, the house seems to be either Mediterranean or Spanish style. Stil... it's just different. Search on those styles of homes and see what you think.

[John Doe]

Archtecture like art are categorized the same across the globe. Impressionist, rococo, pointalism... all the same thing and category globalwide. This house looks to be a mix of two or more styles. So it most likely end up being considered "contemporary." I know most Americans unless familiar with the architecture industry, I mean real architecture, those guys building homes some know nothing about classifying homes, its those who actually desgin and draw the blueprints. Builder read the blueprints, but are not always familiar with style. Anyway most folks don't even know the differences in home design, couldn't tell if a house was a cape home, or ranch home, cabin styled.

 

So what I guess I'm trying to say is use what you know... call it Swiss Villa, if that's what you and most folks in your area call it then its most likely right, assuming someone there knows what they are talking about.

 

This house for sure is a blend of styles. Here's what Better Home and Garden (which I would say is a reliable source) has to say [things in bracket are my words]:

 

http://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/exteriors/curb-appeal/house-styles/#page=12

 

New Home Additions

Juxtaposing building materials and mixing window shapes [oh! that's your picture!] create architectural intrigue between this home and its addition. Although they were built at different times and feature radically contrasting materials and elements, they are connected by a playful use of angles and a passion for strong geometry [which is what your picture seems to resemble]. You will often see elements of different styles combined in one home [seems like we got a winner explanation here! ]. It's a product of one era moving into another while retaining some features of the previous period, and it can easily be adapted to your design scheme. Although you should avoid a hodgepodge of styles, you can alter a particular style for your addition, especially considering the many house styles to choose from. Once you understand the style of your existing home, you can thoughtfully move forward with the design of your addition.

 

Okay, back to reviewing your picture. You can see clearly where the addtion split is in your picture. The boarded side and triangular window frame. Two different structure styles, one house. I say structure because like someone else has pointed the building material seems to cross over into other styles, which is a minor detail compared to the structure and overall image of the home.

 

 

 

[John Doe]

Oh I clicked over a few pages and viola! I think I found your house classification: Shingle Style!

 

 

^ Right here! This house! Yeah? Yeah? (I still think its also a mix but overall.... )

[Daniel89]

Thanks to all of you for your input.

I do have to say that this house is not a mix of styles, but a certain type of house that there are many of, especially in certain parts of the capital. These houses are usually built around the late 1800 by rich families. We call them swiss villas, and I don't know why. I don't think it is a recognized architetural term, but I will have to use it. I wasn't really looking for the bookish term for this kind of house, more what people would call this kind of house, my fault for not explaining properly.

 

A few more photos of houses in the same style

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, different, yet somehow similar.

[Red_A]

I think the English (UK) term would be chalet, or Swiss Chalet. they do not quite fit as a Swiss chalet, as I understand it is a timber house with large overhanging eaves and verandas with stone chimney stack built on a stone baseement or half basement (below the grade). Here is a grand version, others can be found by searching for "images swiss chalet house".

http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2012/01/26/9141918/Switzerland.jpg

 

shingle in the states means a wood tile(wood slate), although now a days asbestos tile. A shingle house in the parts of the states, I have been to are normally houses with large roofs, but not necessarily verandas or enclosed verandas. although some do.

NB A shingle @House in the UK usually means one built on shingles(in UK, a pebble beach.

[John Doe]

Do a search for google images for "shingle style homes" and I think the pictures of the houses look similar to the ones you posted... though they are missing the overly decorative panel arches. They look more like the bottom pictures you reposted.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shingle_style_architecture

 

The time period seems right too. And these styles of homes were commisioned by the rich and wealthy.

 

Are you doing this for a story you are writing? Maybe we can be of more use that way... what is the intention for this information? (jeez that sounded very accusatory... )

[Daniel89]

Yes, I needed the information for a story I am writing. No, it's not a big deal, more me hoping there was some easy word to describe this so that I didn't have to go on and on about this house, because although it is important to me, it is not really important story wise....at least I think so...I haven't finished. (Sometimes my characters say and do stuff that I didn't imagine happening in the begining of a story)

[John Doe]

its important to an extent. If you say, "this is a ranch home." You still have to describe because some folks will have no idea what a ranch home look like. So getting the term down wouldn't matter too much. Rather give readers a short and concise visual descriptions.

 

"The black shingled roof house stood on a dilapilated hill. Its walls were painted bright pink - too bright for the eyes, massive windows scaled the walls, a spire rose from the top of the house like a cathedral tower. Green vines covered the bottom portion of the house like worms struggling out of the soil. Despite its gaudyness, the house radiated a homeliness."

 

Eh that was my quick attempt to invoke a house. Here readers should get a feel for the house. Oh a better example would be Poe's (yes the famous one) Fall of the House of Usher. He describes his house very well with a few sentences. Interesting way and it also creates a feel for the inhabitants living in the house. If you want to go the more descrptive route. Really, in the end, the type or name style of a house don't matter all that much.

[Celethiel]

Poes would be Early Victorian as Edgar Allan Poe was the Early to mid 1800s, and Victorian Period Architecture spans a great variety of styles but basically spaned the styles that came out in the 1800's however the wooden ones look much like those. Moreso however the first one is actually a mixture of modern and Victorian Styles... I know it isn't Tudor...or Pioneer, or Spanish-colonial....nope it's Victorian.

 

I was going to say, I don't exactly know but I WANT It XD... Actually I want an Frank Lloyd Wright Style House...