Here is the back of the Middle River house.. the far side… the neglected face… the one never to be seen by the public… here she is. Who cares what the back of a house looks like? Well I do, and I think you should to.
It is my opinion that the most important aspect of creating an attractive home is that it must be attractive from all sides. At least three of them… I admit… it’s hard to design a home with four great faces.
I urge everyone to start looking at houses and pay attention to the sides and backs of homes… are they as attractive from the side and back as they are from the front?
I have found that old houses always pass the test, but new homes, those built in the last thirty years, have dressed up the front to make an ugly box appear to be a glamor queen. The result is more like a drag queen… not quite what I would want.
Houses are three dimensional objects and are rarely viewed straight-on from the front, except when they are in plan books, or sales brochures, or listings to sell, (that should be a hint to the fact you are being sold something… “here’s what the home looks like, don’t look at the other sides”) .
I’m often told by people that they really like the way my homes look, but they don’t know why… this little secret is one of the twelve key factors. And it’s easy to do, if you just stick with time-tested designs of the older houses in your area.
Ok… back down off my soapbox. Thanks for listening.
Originally posted 2015-02-05 15:47:12.