By Design: A Tale of Two Houses

Designing a house involves hundreds of decisions, many of them choices between two alternatives that both have merit. You often wonder, “Did I make the right choice?” But you usually never know, because you can’t build both and compare A with B. The houses illustrated at right offer an unusual opportunity to do such a comparison. Except for a few subtle differences, the two side-by-side houses are identical mirror images of each other. Both houses are on small urban lots. Both face west and feature generous porches along their front elevations. House A is on a corner and House B is next door, 25 feet away. The front street is flat, but the sites are relatively steep, dropping