#1: Personalization
Traditional style homes inherently have more character as they are more romantic and family-oriented. The design process is flexible and grants you and your family greater freedom to personalize your home in a way that is perfect for your lifestyle. You may want a large deck, a second floor, a finished basement, and modern touches. Whatever you want, it can be designed. In particular, newly constructed colonial and shingle-style homes offer a great opportunity to create your own spaces for your own needs.
#2: Cost
It does not get much better than living in your dream home at an affordable price. The beauty of traditional architecture—beyond its aesthetic—is that it is cost-efficient, especially compared to the higher costs of modern architecture projects that ensue from design time and materials. Specifically, in the New England marketplace, modern homes are typically less desirable and more difficult to sell than traditional homes because they generally do not offer the same level of romance and privacy.
#3: Blends in with the Character of the Locale
No one likes the odd-man-out house on the block that overtly rejects the notion of “neighborhood.” When going about new construction, designing a home that is in keeping with the character and form of the houses in the area is extremely important. If you are seeking to build a larger home in an area of smaller to medium-sized homes, it is important to break down the scale of the house with traditional architectural elements—such as incorporating solid to void relationship—to preserve the scale of the locale. The objective is to not have the house stand out as new construction, but rather to give the impression that it could have been there forever. The seamless architecture of traditional-style houses allows for such a timeless aesthetic.
#4: Timelessness
The timelessness of traditional houses is more akin to the way people want to live as its realization is based on the nuclear family and traditional ways of living. You can start the design process by scripting a story about your home. Whether your home was built five years or fifty years ago, let it communicate a story about additions or changes over time, yet accommodate the way your family wants to live today. The incorporation of traditional craftsmanship and materials that have proven durable over time accommodates a modern lifestyle, but in a familiar, comfortable way. While many do not associate traditional style homes with the latest trends in new construction, they never go out of style as they continue to serve the aesthetic and functional needs of contemporary lifestyles.
#5: The Benefits of Natural Materials
There are benefits to using natural materials, such as brick and cedarwood over concrete and asphalt. Concrete is monolithic and thus lacks human scale as opposed to brick that is scalable. It is advantageous to use cedarwood shingles instead of asphalt for your roof as cedarwood lasts longer and serves as a natural insect repellant. You can further benefit from the use of local materials as they are generally more reliable and durable and lend to a higher level of detail and craftsmanship.
