Replaced outdoor courtyard carpet, the original red & brown only lasted two years.
That's your front entry, right?
I thought that was kind of neat when I saw it. That style of house isn't very common in Florida. I've spent ~20 years in Florida, though mostly on the East Coast, and most Florida homes generally do not have a front courtyard like that. That's a very Texas / Spanish (Central American) type of design. I've always thought that kind of open courtyard feel (where the front entry is surrounded by a small wall) has a nice open feeling. I kind of wonder though what you would realistically use it for. It's generally not something you'd put chairs out on since it's still by the front door. But you could put a lot of ornate potted plants.
Do you have a circle driveway off the front of it? Would love to see the whole front and how the entrance is framed by the rest of the yard.
I just bought in Tampa... I ended up with a craftsman-style home... which is a rare find in the Tampa area. It's got a big front porch, with a detached 3-car in the back... which is totally old-school!
That's your front entry, right? I thought that was kind of neat when I saw it. That style of house isn't very common in Florida. I've spent ~20 years in Florida, though mostly on the East Coast, and most Florida homes generally do not have a front courtyard like that. That's a very Texas / Spanish (Central American) type of design. I've always thought that kind of open courtyard feel (where the front entry is surrounded by a small wall) has a nice open feeling.
I just bought in Tampa... I ended up with a craftsman-style home... which is a rare find in the Tampa area. It's got a big front porch, with a detached 3-car in the back... which is totally old-school!
That's your front entry, right? Yes, although we usually enter from the garage on the driveway side.
Do you have a circle driveway off the front of it? No circle driveway.
That style of house isn't very common in Florida. The original owners hired a designer and built the house in a style they wanted.
I kind of wonder though what you would realistically use it for ? Well, it's actually just like an outdoor room. Some put outdoor seating / side tables out. It's up to the owners imagination & wallet. Potted plants / small trees are a great idea. Growing up, we never had this style house, so we're not sure what to do.
I know it gets down right hot in the direct sun most the year round. We also have an enclosed Lanai on the rear of the house, which let's us enjoy opening the sliding windows when the weather is just right. Or we can open the 3 sliding pocketed doors, and let the a/c cool that space.
The house was built in 1982 and sits on two lots, the detached garage was built in 2003.
(Please excuse the lack of outdoor plants around the house, haven't had free time to do any gardening.)
Good to hear you found a craftsman-style home w/ detached 3-car garage. If you want, post some photos, I'd be interested in seeing your house. I know when I was house searching, it was very rare to find any with detached garages. I installed a mini split AC on my detached garage, makes it usable year round.
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Originally posted by Rickady88GT:
That looks very cool
Thanks.
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Originally posted by maryjane:
I was waiting for Roomba to crash into the wall and bounce up thru one of the low windows or the door glass.....
LOL !!
[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 04-10-2021).]
One of the things I especially like about your house is that the garage is side-load. I don't want to offend anyone, but I cannot stand a house where the front of the house is made up of 75%+ garage, and then a front door on the side. So the fact that your garage door is on the side, really helps frame the house. No one wants to pull up to a "warehouse" that's been converted to a home. As a car guy, I like garages... I just don't want to live in one. With the garage on the side... your home is properly proportioned and has much grander lines.
People are crazy and weird, so I don't want to post a picture of my home, but I don't own it yet. I'm on contract for it. I was really lucky to get it, and I had to pay more than it's really worth. It's still a modern "style" of lot where the homes are right on top of eachother (small narrow lots). But all the homes in the neighborhood are Craftsman, Queen Anne, or Arts & Crafts. They were all built in 2007 with those specific design elements. They tried to capture what living was like in the 1940s-1950s when homes were usually built around a town square or park... where people walked around and neighbors talked to each other. The specific design elements of homes like that where you have a courtyard, patio, or porch in the front were important because communities were far more close-knit (for better or worse).
Most homes today, even though they are usually built on smaller lots, are not designed in such a way. People pull into their garage (or go in through their garage) and hide away in their home.
That style of house isn't very common in Florida. I've spent ~20 years in Florida, though mostly on the East Coast, and most Florida homes generally do not have a front courtyard like that.
You don't say....
My home has a front courtyard very similar to his right down to the double front doors and there are at least 4 to 5 more just like mine within a half mile of me on my street.
(We also mostly enter and exit through the 2 car garage.)
Generalizing about homes in Florida is a dangerous thing to do, especially if you haven't lived or travelled very much around the state.
From beautiful old Victorian "painted lady" style homes in small towns like Arcadia, (East of Sarasota), to huge 1920s stone mansions in Tarpon Springs, to massive log home lodges just north of me around the Ocala National Forest to sprawling brick ranch houses on honest-to-God horse and cattle ranches.
The home that I had custom built for me back in 1988 in Palm Beach County was a 2800 sq. ft. "stick built" house with wood siding.
Southeast Florida is an endless sea of concrete block and stucco houses, but the rest of Florida has everything you can imagine and more.
[This message has been edited by randye (edited 04-11-2021).]
Can you tell me more aobut the carpet itself? Brand, expected life etc? My wife dosn't like the wood on the back deck and mentioned a outsoor carpet. While the boards are in good share, I don't want to siwtch to composite or other solution if there isn't a need so I need to research outsoor carpets,rugs that we could remove seasonally.
My home has a front courtyard very similar to his right down to the double front doors and there are at least 4 to 5 more just like mine within a half mile of me on my street.
(We also mostly enter and exit through the 2 car garage.)
Generalizing about homes in Florida is a dangerous thing to do, especially if you haven't lived or travelled very much around the state.
From beautiful old Victorian "painted lady" style homes in small towns like Arcadia, (East of Sarasota), to huge 1920s stone mansions in Tarpon Springs, to massive log home lodges just north of me around the Ocala National Forest to sprawling brick ranch houses on honest-to-God horse and cattle ranches.
The home that I had custom built for me back in 1988 in Palm Beach County was a 2800 sq. ft. "stick built" house with wood siding.
Southeast Florida is an endless sea of concrete block and stucco houses, but the rest of Florida has everything you can imagine and more.
Haha... Randy, I've spent a lot of time in Florida. Over 20 years in nearly every city, including Acadia. By sheer numbers, that style of home is uncommon.
Craftsman, Arts and Crafts, Queen Anne, Queen Victorian, Tudors, etc.. and all the old-world American style of homes are also not common because the overwhelming vast majority of people did not live in Florida until after the invention of air conditioning... which is when that type of construction was coming to an end. Places like Tampa, St. Augustine, etc... were not large cities, and were rooted more in industry that made use of the type of climate that exists in Florida (Tabacco, sugarcane, etc.). While of course those homes do exist in Tampa, Tallahassee, etc... they are few and far between... or were in many cases leveled for newer construction.
I think it's pretty OK and correct for me to say that that style of home is not common in Florida. It's sure more common than what you'd find in Maine, or Northern Virginia... lol. But it's definitely more influenced by Central American Spanish design, than most of the Spanish Mediterranean style of homes you see in Florida... you know, ignoring all the usual 50s ranches and whatever that sprung up everywhere. A Spanish style home with a front courtyard (like that, symmetrical) is far more common in places like Texas, Southern California, etc.
Haha... Randy, I've spent a lot of time in Florida. Over 20 years in nearly every city, including Acadia.
Todd, I moved myself, my wife and our 2 kids to Florida, (Palm Beach County) in 1984 soon after I got out of the Army.
You do the math.
I've lived in this state and travelled all over it enough in the years since to have more than a pretty good idea what homes look like.
For many years my wife and I have taken weekend "road trips" around Florida at least twice a month and some months every weekend and we like to say that we have explored almost every "coochie", "ola", "ala" and "okie" in the state from Pensacola to Jacksonville to Yeehaw Junction to Jerome to Key West.
The goal is to try to see every nook and cranny of this state, especially the places where the tourists never go and never would go.
I have an excellent knowledge of what this state looks like and what the majority of the homes in it look like.
Thank You.
By the way Todd, the name of the town is Arcadia, not "Acadia"
[This message has been edited by randye (edited 04-12-2021).]
Can you tell me more aobut the carpet itself? Brand, expected life etc? My wife dosn't like the wood on the back deck and mentioned a outsoor carpet. While the boards are in good share, I don't want to siwtch to composite or other solution if there isn't a need so I need to research outsoor carpets,rugs that we could remove seasonally.
