Details of home, not size, most important

When most people contemplate remodeling their home or building a new home, they tend to focus on floor plan options and square footage. Often the big-production houses today are increasingly squeezed onto lots barely large enough to accommodate them.

This approach has resulted in the "steroid style" houses we see today in many of the expensive developments across the nation.

Steroid style tends to pump up the house with space and emphasize certain features with little regard for how well they fit into an intelligent overall design. Steroid style is epitomized in median- to high-priced houses in an effort to cultivate curb appeal.

If we draw a parallel between the automobile and the American home, it appears that today's homes lag behind the automobile by four decades.

Driving through today's neighborhoods reminds me of Cadillacs. Not today's Cadillacs, but rather the 5,000-pound behemoths of 1959, the epitome of Detroit baroque.

Today's upper-priced production houses and vintage Cadillacs show an unrestrained, bombastic yearning for the super-deluxe effect.

The 59 Cadillac sprouted superfluous chromed tail fins, while the turn-of-the-millennium houses sprout gratuitous hips, multiple gables and dormers in no apparent patterns.

Where the Cadillacs impressed us with their 350 horsepower engines and rumbling dual exhausts, houses today try to wow us with haughty two-story entrances and a promiscuous display of round-arch windows.

In "The Old Way of Seeing," Boston architect Jonathan Hale argues that since about 1830, American houses have lost the patterning of their exteriors that once gave even common houses "magic and harmony."

He associates the change with the economy becoming more "calculating" and impersonal during the first half of the 19th century.

A comparison of 20th century tract houses suggests that a similar decline occurred between the 1920s and the postwar decades. This was probably because home building became a large volume business, less influenced by skilled craftsmen and good pattern books.

Home buyers began to see houses as investments to be equipped with whatever features the market said they should have for resale value. These shifts are virtually a recipe for diluted design producing homogenous housing.

It's not surprising that today's houses rarely have the pleasing patterns of solid, void and ornament that make so many ordinary houses from 70 years ago alluring.

A drive along Sunshine Street west of National Avenue and through the adjacent neighborhoods illustrates this case. These homes have a charismatic power born of the spirit of those who designed and built them.

After 70 or 80 years these "old" houses still radiate more energy and life than houses today costing five to 10 times as much.

What truly defines the character of a house, and makes an impression on us, is details more than space. A warehouse has a great amount of square footage and space, but who wants to live in one? In the book, "The Not So Big House," a client stated, "We spent over $500,000 on our house and all we've got is square footage with no soul."

It's the details that we cherish and remember; details such as a beautiful stair railing, well-crafted moldings, attention to light, texture and finely tailored built-ins. These details are what attract us to older homes. New homes should be no different.

Architect Sarah Susanka of Minneapolis, author of "The Not So Big House," writes, "Unless people are working with an architect, it is unusual to spend much time thinking about these aspects of the design. Most people start with a desire for more space than their budgets allow. Anything more than basic space, minimally detailed, will exceed the budget.

"People who are attracted to architecturally designed homes also tend to seek a high level of detail. An architect will suggest reducing square footage to allow for more detail. It isn't unusual for an architect's estimate of square footage cost to be half again as much as a builder's. The architect is aware that, given the client's desire for detail, a house without detail is not going to be satisfactory."

We're already familiar with this concept in automobiles. The quality and detail of a Mercedes, Lexus or Jaguar, are far more important than the size of the car.

More space does not equal more comfort. In fact, size has nothing to do with the appeal of these cars. If you want only space, you buy an equally expensive diesel truck.

I'm not advocating that everyone live in a small house. I've designed my share of big ones for rare clients who could afford size and quality. However, I do suggest that when you build a new home or remodel an existing one, that you honestly assess what makes you feel at home.

Put your money toward what you like, rather than settling for sheer size and volume. This concept is just as applicable to someone building a very expensive home as it is to someone on a tight budget.

(Donald G. Briggs, AIA, is president of Briggs Architecture + Design in Springfield.)