Suburban-Subversion

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Suburban Subversion

This is Now: Suburban Subversion

The Center Hall Colonial is the Poster Child of Colonial Pandering in American for-profit spec homebuilding. Millions were cranked out in the last half of the 20th century and used to be as bankable as pork bellies. As generic as the Ranch, Bungalow or Cape, they are a size upgrade from those starter homes, without the risks of a McMansion. But their layout is virtually a functional straight jacket and their mannered window composition and arbitrary symmetry is mean-spirited in the way it disconnects homeowners from their sites.

This a phased set of discrete budget-focused "interventions" on a 1979 spec Center Hall- expanding interior (living room glass bay), beckoning the visitor (entry roof/steps), outdoor space (deck/shower) – executed to avoid disturbing the existing vinyl siding, windows, and doors. The interventions subverted mediocrities while addressing classic homeowner desires – dealing with a centered entrance enfronting nothing, open access to the outdoors, and visual connection to the landscape amid the gapped 30"x5' windows.

1) Rigorous budget ($100,000 all in) - this meant no steel, curves.

2) Aggressive reliance on plywood: stress skin roofs, microlams beams and columns, fins outboarding bay support, and expressive brackets at new entry roof.

3) Use of sheet PVC to allow angular faciae at lower cost than wood, with long term indestructibility.