Residential architecture: Prairie, French-country designs remain popular

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The prairie and French-country styles of architecture continue to be favorites among local home builders and buyers, architects and designers say.|ret||ret||tab|

The prairie style offers wide-open spaces and the French-country style has an Old-World style and goes well with antiques.|ret||ret||tab|

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Prairie style|ret||ret||tab|

H Design Group LLC does all of its residential architecture in the prairie style, which is associated with low roof pitches, deep overhangs and stone banding to break up the brick work. |ret||ret||tab|

The houses are in simple forms. |ret||ret||tab|

The interior of the prairie style has open spaces. The rooms, for example, are often separated by an island in the kitchen or a bar in the dining room.|ret||ret||tab|

Rob Haik and Brent Stevens, the principals of H Design Group, 3518 S. National Ave., say 30 percent of their business is in residential designs, while the balance is in commercial work. |ret||ret||tab|

Haik said a lot of clients are interested in the prairie style "because they are on the verge of retirement or are empty nesters. They want to downsize."|ret||ret||tab|

The prairie style, according to Haik, is a good trend for Springfield because it hasn't been overdeveloped in this area and suits Springfieldians because "we're a conservative, traditional community."|ret||ret||tab|

The houses his firm designs range from 2,400 square feet to 2,600 square feet, with a typical price range of $275,000 to $325,000.|ret||ret||tab|

"The price we charge for our work is somewhere between $2,000 and $8,000," Haik said. |ret||ret||tab|

"Our cost is based on either a percentage of the total construction costs or we charge by the hour. Then, the customer decides if he wants to pay us by the hour or based on a percentage."|ret||ret||tab|

H Design Group was formed in 2000, and Stevens joined the firm in October 2001. |ret||ret||tab|

Stevens is a member of the American Institute of Architects. |ret||ret||tab|

Haik takes care of the office paperwork, marketing and designing while Stevens oversees the architectural construction documents. There are five other full-time employees. |ret||ret||tab|

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French-country style|ret||ret||tab|

The majority of Keystone Architects LLP's customers want the French-country style home. |ret||ret||tab|

French country is defined by stone and brick accents, and wood shutters with divided paned windows. French-country style is fairly popular in Springfield and has been for about the last five years, said Steve Deckard, a partner with Keystone.|ret||ret||tab|

Deckard and Eddie Tims started Keystone Architects, located at 1722 S. Glenstone Ave., in 1997. Thirty-five percent of Keystone's work is residential while the rest is commercial. The company declined to provide what it charges for residential design work. |ret||ret||tab|

"This style is good for people who like older things because it has an old-world style," he said. |ret||ret||tab|

"A French-country home goes well with antiques, iron work meaning wrought-iron detailing and certain types of light fixtures." |ret||ret||tab|

Keystone designs French-country style homes from 1,500 square foot to 10,000 square foot. |ret||ret||tab|

The company works with general contractors and with homeowners looking for a plan. |ret||ret||tab|

The cost of the homes they design range in price from $150,000 to $4 million. |ret||ret||tab|

The amenities in the upper-end homes include elevators, a home-entertainment center with theater seating and an indoor swimming pool. |ret||ret||tab|

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Tomorrow's trends|ret||ret||tab|

Deckard predicts that within the next four to five years, people in the area will be looking for a new style in home design. |ret||ret||tab|

"What that new style will be, I don't know," he said. "People seem to be going back to the bungalow style. The bungalow was popular from the 1920s to the 1940s. It goes back to the arts and crafts style that was popular in the early l900s. |ret||ret||tab|

"The bungalow is either one story or a story-and-a-half. The half story is where the second floor is under the roof of the house. A bungalow usually has a front porch across the entire front of the house and dormer windows, windows that project out through the roof," said Deckard.|ret||ret||tab|

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