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Single Family Home Architectural Styles in Minneapolis

Posted: February 26th, 2018, 10:16 pm
by rlatta
I'm hoping to buy soon and have been looking all around Minneapolis. The market, as you know, is absolutely nuts and I often feel like I'll have to settle with picking up the crumbs: the moldy basements, the 50 y/o furnaces, the drafty windows, and the like. I have plenty of gripes with how the real estate world works (namely, the wide angle lenses used to make a 9x8 bedroom look like a master suite), but that's a topic for another day. For now, I'm wondering about the myriad of architectures in Minneapolis single family housing. Have a look at the picture attached. Can you identify a style with just one picture? It's a fixer upper in the southern part of town.

Thanks.

Re: Single Family Home Architectural Styles in Minneapolis

Posted: February 26th, 2018, 10:55 pm
by FISHMANPET
Everything is a foursquare until it's proven that it's not

Re: Single Family Home Architectural Styles in Minneapolis

Posted: February 26th, 2018, 11:33 pm
by sdho
I'd call that a prewar bungalow. But I'd use that term whenever there's a story-and-a-half with prominent dormers. Not a bad looking house.

Re: Single Family Home Architectural Styles in Minneapolis

Posted: February 27th, 2018, 12:10 am
by min-chi-cbus
I’d guess that was built between 1910 and 1920.

The yard needs some landscaping, otherwise a house like that is very much what I’m looking for for our family’s first home purchase (hopefully this year).

Re: Single Family Home Architectural Styles in Minneapolis

Posted: February 27th, 2018, 7:20 am
by David Greene
That's not quite a bungalow in the classic sense, but it has some characteristics. It was likely built between 1900 and 1920 and min-chi-cbus is probably right that 1910-1920 is quite likely. Almost all the houses built in that period fall under the "transitional" style, meaning they don't really have a defined style at all. At the time there was a reaction against the ostentatious displays of Queen Anne Victorians so houses in this period tend to be quite muted -- three colors at most, modest trimwork, etc.

The Central Library has some nice books on domestic architecture but you probably won't find a picture of this house in there. Still, they are a good way to do some learning.

As to the house itself, the porch was probably originally open and in my opinion resoring that would improve the street presence I looks like the upper windows still have their crowns, which is a plus. If the interior is in relatively good shape, I'd say this is a good little starter home.

Re: Single Family Home Architectural Styles in Minneapolis

Posted: February 27th, 2018, 8:21 am
by mattaudio
Anti-Healy sounds so much nicer than Transitional.

Re: Single Family Home Architectural Styles in Minneapolis

Posted: February 27th, 2018, 1:00 pm
by sdho
As to the house itself, the porch was probably originally open and in my opinion resoring that would improve the street presence I looks like the upper windows still have their crowns, which is a plus. If the interior is in relatively good shape, I'd say this is a good little starter home.
I agree that open porches add a lot to street presence over the "three-season" type with windows. Some people try to squeeze usable square footage out of those spaces, but it always really detracts from the appearance -- and the function of having this nice transitional space between private and public. I also *hate* having to enter an enclosed porch before reaching a doorbell. I feel like I am invading someone's home.

Re: Single Family Home Architectural Styles in Minneapolis

Posted: February 27th, 2018, 3:41 pm
by Mikey
Not to mention enclosed front porches have a nasty habit of becoming storage dumps.

"Where should we put this? Throw it out on the porch"

Re: Single Family Home Architectural Styles in Minneapolis

Posted: February 27th, 2018, 4:07 pm
by Anondson
Ah yes, the attached front yard shed ...

Re: Single Family Home Architectural Styles in Minneapolis

Posted: February 27th, 2018, 4:17 pm
by Multimodal
Everything is a foursquare until it's proven that it's not
Ha ha! Excellent point. Foursquares and “bungalows” everywhere. Later on, some “tudors” and “cape cods”. These aren’t so much true architectural styles as they were trends that were superimposed on standardized kits and plans. Hence the “quotes”.

Nevertheless, your average Joe (or Jane or Srinivas or Mohammed) on the street would call that house a bungalow.

There used to be magazines and local user groups dedicated to foursquares and bungalows back in the day, but I suppose they’re all on the web with blogs & forums & facebook groups nowadays.

I’m guessing most houses in the past century with a true architectural style would’ve been designed by architects, and would reside on Summit Ave., Park Ave., Kenwood, or the like.

Re: Single Family Home Architectural Styles in Minneapolis

Posted: February 27th, 2018, 4:41 pm
by David Greene
The Minneapolis Central Library has an online collection of Minneapolis house plans:

https://reflections.mndigital.org/?_=15 ... ned+Houses

A lot of these plans were "stock" plans for the Twin Cities area and many copies were built. I've driven by houses and recognized them from the books.

We actually found what I believe to be the original floorplan of our house in one of those books. At some point the staircase was reversed and the entire second floor reconfigured from two bedrooms to three. You can tell because of the patched floors, false walls and odd "builtins" that cover original openings.

The Minneapolis building index cards are also online (up to about 1950 or so) and that can also shed some light on the history of a place.

Re: Single Family Home Architectural Styles in Minneapolis

Posted: March 2nd, 2018, 1:38 pm
by Nathan
I just happened to see this event coming up in the next month. Looks like it's a good resource and possibly a good place to ask questions!

https://www.facebook.com/events/159759107983644/?ti=as

Re: Single Family Home Architectural Styles in Minneapolis

Posted: March 13th, 2018, 12:07 pm
by cooperrez
I personally love my three-season porch. It's my favorite place in my house. Ours definitely was converted from an open porch. The converted porch cut through a window, so the window was covered over. We've since shifted the window over and opened it up again. I really like open porches too, but I love sitting in mine on a day like today when it heats up a bit and i can get some much missed sun.

Re: Single Family Home Architectural Styles in Minneapolis

Posted: March 13th, 2018, 1:38 pm
by FISHMANPET
Also I can let my cats onto the screened in porch.