Shutters 04/30/2012
 
Ah shutters. If there is one architectural element that looks out of place it's a poorly proportioned or executed shutter.

These babies were originally intended to actually open and close so you must make sure the size and placement mimics that function and makes visual sense. These are too tall, too skinny, too few, the wrong shape and they are upside down. 
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Another senseless cover up.

In the photo you can see how the texture of the brick is about to be covered over by a flat and lifeless layer of styrofoam and stucco as the wall to the right already has. Dull, bland, ugly and boring.

Please, all old building owners: when you contemplate leaving those wonderful brick arches exposed please take it one step further and leave all the brick exposed. Stucco is not as attractive, durable or architecturally correct as what you already have!
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Fakey-Fake Stone 04/30/2012
 
There has been a trend for the past decade or two to try and mimic the look of stone at a better price point than stone. It rarely works.

This retaining wall system is made up of precast concrete blocks that are intended to look like six individual "stones" but the modular joints are a dead giveaway. The "stacked marshmallow" appearance of this wall is absurd!

A simple poured in place concrete wall that is honest about what it is would be much more pleasing. The fake stone veneer on the building itself isn't much better...what would be wrong with a nice brick?
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Left of Center 03/15/2012
 

Cottages are all about proportion and symmetry, it's what makes them pleasing to the eye. One could easily correct the fact that the front windows are entirely too small, but this newly built interpretation of a cottage has the front door and gable off center by about a foot and a half. Whatever the reason...it ruins the house completely.
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Another day driving in the country and what do I stumble across? There's a nice old 2 storey in behind whatever the heck this is supposed to be. Looks like someone bought a slew of bad from a "going out of the window business sale".

Seriously though, bizarre rooflines, wacky proportions, mundane colors, windows of all shapes/sizes/placement and an unfinished shingling job. I don't see a front door and the more I look the more perplexing this is. Someone spent a great deal of energy and money on this addition. It doesn't have to be this way!
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A grand old home is treated to a new mask... of acrylic stucco. I can imagine the sales pitch of "adding a layer of styrofoam to cut your heating bills" and "maintenance free exterior finish". Rubbish. The brick work was in fine shape, perhaps in need of pointing, and the color, texture and visual interest of the historic fabric of this building is now lost. 

I had a hard time not contacting the owners to question why on earth they were ruining such a great house. Just because a monochromatic blanket of off-white stupidity improves the horrible box on the rear of the house does not justify the irreversible damage wrought by another builder chasing a profit.
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The Castle 12/12/2011
 
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Different coloured roofing is ugly, not creative.

This building actually uses the word "castle" in it's name. For a brand new building, it wound up looking for all the world like they robbed the salvage yard for used building materials. The use of different colored roofing and siding materials is baffling, and the one material used throughout is the world's most boring grey vinyl siding. This material even covers an enormous wall section at the rear of the building, (it is already falling off!) and the lack of windows in that wall is puzzling... it faces the lake, and the best views! The worst views in the neighbourhood are looking at this building.
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Columns to nowhere are unsightly.

This house could look so much better, just envision it:

- minus the round top window over the front door;
- with much shorter columns (it would be nice if they supported an actual beam);
- and the gable roof dropped down so the fascia lines up with the rest of the house.
Then it would actually shelter the entry point, and not look like a ridiculous afterthought.
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Architectural embellishment could cause water overload problems.
Our first example for "The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly series was not difficult to find. Just a quick spin through a couple of subdivisions and, oops, there it is!

Here is an example of an "architectural embellishment" that creates big-time water problems. I'm not quite sure what to call this structure that has been added between two rooflines, and completely blocks two valleys, carrying 60% of the rainwater from the front of the roof. The valleys have been "re-directed" around this obstruction, but judging by the attractive vertical flashing that has been added, the volume of water coming down must surely overload the gutters and make approaching the front door treacherous in cold weather.

Below is a fine example of the "floating porch roof" – No beams. It appears as though at any moment, the posts will punch right through the ceiling from the load. Beams create visual sense, even today, when they are often no longer structurally necessary.
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Floating Porch Syndrome. Adding beams would create a cohesive look.
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