Home Building Diary

Separated at birth?

June 5th, 2007

I just bought the annual Houses issue of Fine Homebuilding magazine, and there’s a house in there that could be a sibling of my house (article begins on page 83). The designs definitely come from the same family tree … both were inspired by the Charleston Single House.

Quoting the article: “The Charleston single, a popular architectural style during the 1800s, made efficient use of narrow building lots. Pushed all the way to one side of the lot, a typical single makes room for two-story, side-loaded porches that encourage outdoor living. With few interior walls and lots of doors and windows, the Charleston single promotes natural lighting and cooling cross ventilation, important in a hot, humid climate.”
You can see photos of the magazine house online. It’s in a South Carolina subdivision called New Village Homes. Of course the homes share the major design features of a Charleston Single House: narrow end to the street and side porches (although mine has the traditional 2-story porches and their’s doesn’t). But the designs also share the bump-out on the porch side and the high windows on the other side.

Great minds think alike.

Entry Filed under: house plans