Look to neighbors for ideas on vintage architectural details

The nice thing about remodeling an older home in a neighborhood of such homes is that you need simply walk around the area with your eyes open to find ideas for exterior architectural details.

That's what Aaron Raymond did when he remodeled his 1942 French Normandy home in the Windsor Hills area of Los Angeles. While previous owners had taken off the decorative corbels on the front porch, Aaron noticed them on other homes in the neighborhood that had similar architecture. So he asked his carpenters to re-create them.

He used a similar tactic when thinking about his second-story addition. In other homes of likewise vintage, he noticed the second story hung over the first by several feet, with decorative corbels visually tying the two together. See that here.

We're not all lucky enough to live in neighborhoods with older homes, but if we are so fortunate, the homes themselves can be a great inspiration.

See the whole story of Aaron's remodel.

(After photo: Jay L. Clendenin, Los Angeles Times; before photo: Aaron Raymond)

Comments

[Jose]

We did the same thing when we were planning the details on our remodel of a 1950 Lakewood house into a faux 1915 craftsman. We traded off detailing against architecture and the practical aspects of a modern house for ventilation, etc. There is an collection of photos of craftsman detailing on my hard drive from cruises my wife and I took through the older sections of Long Beach and a visit to the Sunset Design House in Ladera Ranch that we used for inspiration. Its a great way to see what does and does not work.