Ah, architecture. It’s one of the things that I like most about living in Montgomery county, Maryland, but which architectural styles are most popular?
What I find is most people don’t really know the names and the attributes of the architectural styles in the DC area. They oftentimes rely on what their friends or family tell them they should like when purchasing a home. There’s no question. It can be difficult to determine what the right style is for you. And you definitely don’t wanna make a mistake that you are gonna regret for years.
When it comes to the most popular architectural styles in Montgomery county, Maryland there’s no question that colonial styles and contemporary styles lead the way. Colonial-style homes, actually date back to the early 17 hundreds. They typically feature three levels. Usually, there’s a main level for the main living area. The second level, where usually you’ll find most of the bedrooms as well as a basement.
In the design, you’ll find symmetrical steep roofs with dormers. Contemporary style homes are more modern and oftentimes feature larger windows, higher ceilings, and a more open floor plan. If you are looking for a more conservative type of home, then a colonial style is probably gonna be what you’re looking for.
And if you are looking for something that’s more modern than a contemporary style home is probably the way to go. Let’s go back in history a little bit. If you go back in time, there’s no question that the colonial-style home has been around just about forever. Still remains one of the top sellers with the most amount of demand in the DC area. What I find is the colonial homes definitely are more conservative, and more formal, and that’s one of the things you will find about the DC area. However, as time goes on and more people come in from other areas, I’m definitely noticing more of an influence from maybe the west coast when it comes to the contemporary style homes with the larger ceilings, vaulted ceilings, and more open floor plans. So what’s right? What’s wrong? That depends more on you. As far as some of the benefits of each style.
I would say when it comes to colonial style, if you like that more formal look, you like the more separation between rooms, then the colonial style actually could work very well. I raised four kids in a colonial-style home. And what I really liked is everybody kind of had their own space, but then we also had kind of the family space where we could gather. So I thought it had the perfect balance of separation, as well as inclusivity, where everybody could gather in one place. So when it comes to contemporary-style homes, there’s no question. I’m seeing the younger crowd, millennials moving more in that direction. One of the reasons for this is that there are less of large boxy formal rooms. Like you’re not gonna see in the contemporary style homes, those large dining rooms with the table that fits 12 people. You’ll probably also find very small living rooms.
What you will find, however, is more open space, a more open concept where kitchen you’ll find breakfast bars, kitchen islands for more informal eating as well as large family rooms that open up from the kitchen. Once again, no rights, no wrongs. It just really is personal taste. So what style is best for you? I would say if you have a larger family and you need that separation, yet those areas where you can be inclusive of the whole family, then potentially a colonial-style home works best for you. If your living is more casual, you like more open space, natural light, and maybe less informal eating, then you probably want to move more towards the contemporary style.
What do you think? If you were thinking about buying or selling a home in the Montgomery county or DC area, click on the link below to set up a time to talk.
