One of the things that we truly believe in is that houses/homes have souls. And the soul of a house is created when the original architect designed it. The architect gave it a presence, useful features, a way to live in the house in the form of a floor plan and personality in the form of its appearance. People living in the house give it life, and lives have souls.
But it really is a shame when people make alterations to their homes that destroy the soul and personality of the house. Yes, we understand that budgets are always a factor and one cannot always have what one wants. You have to hire an architect to draw up plans to submit to your city's building department, why not find an architect who can keep the feeling and soul of the house intact? It costs no more to have good plans drawn up as it does to have bad plans drawn up. Architects are architects and have to be licensed in the state in which they practice which means they had to get an education and pass tests.
How many ranches have you seen that have a cherry on top in the form of a second story addition that just doesn't belong either visually or architecturally? People generally have a good sense of proportion and they know when something is just incongruent. In the U.S. we call them additions. In Canada, they call them extensions. Either way, they need to fit in with the original architect's vision and design and not look like they were imported from another time and place.
Your home is, perhaps, your biggest investment. Don't depreciated that investment with poor choices in terms of design and materials. You'll pay later.
But it really is a shame when people make alterations to their homes that destroy the soul and personality of the house. Yes, we understand that budgets are always a factor and one cannot always have what one wants. You have to hire an architect to draw up plans to submit to your city's building department, why not find an architect who can keep the feeling and soul of the house intact? It costs no more to have good plans drawn up as it does to have bad plans drawn up. Architects are architects and have to be licensed in the state in which they practice which means they had to get an education and pass tests.
How many ranches have you seen that have a cherry on top in the form of a second story addition that just doesn't belong either visually or architecturally? People generally have a good sense of proportion and they know when something is just incongruent. In the U.S. we call them additions. In Canada, they call them extensions. Either way, they need to fit in with the original architect's vision and design and not look like they were imported from another time and place.
Your home is, perhaps, your biggest investment. Don't depreciated that investment with poor choices in terms of design and materials. You'll pay later.