I’ve uploaded some larger photos of my house. I have recently learned that on some official report that I got, the house was built in 1942. It’s a bit older than I expected it to be.

Here’s the photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/71774518@N00/

I believe that we live in an RBW from 1933. That is what we have been told. The house is in Medford Ma. This picture is from a few years ago during some landscaping construction. The original owner was named Archibald Sweetman. He was a local artist.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49664168@N00/4156773728/

I’d love to know for sure this is a RBW. We love the house. The inside is wonderfully laid out in a practical and beautiful way. I called the RBW firm a few years ago looking for plans, and they said they had very few plans from the 30’s still around.

Thank you.

Hareesh

Take a look of what my house looks like by going to http://www.flickr.com/photos/71774518@N00/ and check out the profile picture that I have set up.

Verifying the “authenticity” of an RBW home is something we do at least once a week here at the firm. The only sure way is to cross reference the name of the original owner of the house with a commission number in our file. We can also give a qualified opionion based on a quick review of photographs of the exterior. Most inquiries reveal a negative match.

Regarding additions, there are two rules of thumb that we use to guide the design process. The first is to respect the geometry, scale and detailsof the existing structure. The second is make any addition subordinate in scale to the main body of the existing house.
On more than one occasion this approach has led to the demolition of the original home when it becomes apparent that no addition will satisfy the program of the client.

Shed dormers have been successfully used on thousands of RBW homes. I may get around to submitting a graphic primer on this, but the general rule is to keep the width of the dormer several feet narrower than the width of the main roof and to get as steep a roof pitch as possible.

I actually have a question regarding this post. If I were going to make an addition to a mid-century house with similar lines — say, my “colonial ranch” which actually has a roof pitch on the box quite similar to the “good” RBW design above… well, if I were to make an addition – say, dormers, or a garage extension… how would I know that the proportions were “good”… “right”…? Is it a mathematical principle – like split into thirds?

Even if many of the “cape cods” built mid-century departed from RBW’s design elements, his influence is apparent because of the sheer number of cape cod style houses (or distortions thereof) that were built about the same time as his books were being published and the magazine articles were being written.

The appeal of the cape cod type of house post-WW II makes sense: The returning GI with the shoestring budget could buy a house with one or two bedrooms and bath on the first floor with an unfinished upstairs. As the finances and family grew, the second floor could be finished with additional bedrooms and bath(s). Eventually, the basement would be finished as well, as a rumpus room. Which is exactly what my parents did.