Contrast and Dialogue For the most part, current housing stock ripe for remodeling in most of the U.S. is not architecturally designed. “Some of the newer houses since the 1960s are hard to define,” Walter says. “Architectural historians haven’t [yet named] the great suburban boom — Spanish Taco Bell modern, maybe, or neo-Tudoresque. It is cheaply done production housing with a fairly strong front façade and not much on the side. The back is weakest of all.”
McInturff also considers the “big three,” but, he says, “It doesn’t mean you have to mimic the roofline, mass, or materials. There could be a healthy dialogue or contrast that could begin to add more life to both things.”
Although McInturff Architects, Bethesda, Md., does work for clients all along the East Coast, many of the homes McInturff works on, particularly in the D.C.-metro area where the housing boom occurred post-World War II, are what he calls “prosaic.” They are small homes with great value because of their proximity to the capital. His upmarket clientele is cosmopolitan and well-educated. “An awful lot are from other cultures and they don’t understand why the housing stock is so traditional,” McInturff says. So he has the freedom to explore textures and designs that might not be acceptable in other cities.
Since every home does not necessarily have architectural character, McInturff works under the premise that his additions — which are contrasts — may be “the most appropriate and reasonable thing to do rather than extending something that’s bad.” Many architects talk about an addition being seamless, but “maybe 20% of the time that would be good,” McInturff says. “And for the other 80% it doesn’t make sense. Fitting an addition — as in copying something that doesn’t have any quality — just doesn’t make sense.”
His approach to houses that are not “architectural,” (i.e., homes that lack a distinct character or style, such as a Victorian or a Georgian), is to “make the house go into the background.” McInturff says, “It becomes, in a way, secondary to what we’re doing. We keep it simple in color or form, and what we [design] is bolder in color and form. If the house is more articulated, it’s hard to make that go away. [The design of the addition] depends on the situation.”
But, he adds, “It’s not about beating your chest and shouting out and being rebellious. There are interesting things to do that satisfy both me and the clients that I think are respectful — in an abstract use of respectful.”