New Build, Old Soul: Designing A Colonial Style Home

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If you have been around here long, you know I love historic design. From interiors to exteriors to materials to construction methods, I am fascinated with the rich history held within the design of buildings and homes. Seeing this, when Charlie and I first began toying with the idea of building our house and starting a homestead, I immediately had visions of bringing the amazing European charm and historical details we had seen all throughout our travels and expat in Germany to our own home here in South Carolina. However, the more I dove into this and began to envision our home coming to life, the less I was convinced that a distinctly European style would fit our property, because you see, often what makes a design style special to a region is the region itself, with all of its landscape, materials and cultural influences. In Italy, structures are covered in marble as their mountains are full of marble quarries. For Scotland and all of its castles, stone is the predominant material due to the highly rocky terrain. In many medieval German buildings, half timbered facades of wood and plaster with quirky slate and tiled roofs are common, again due to easily available materials and unique building environments. While design and historical styles can absolutely be replicated in other places, often they are region specific for a reason, making traveling all the more fun! Knowing I couldn’t recreate a whole region, what was I really looking for in a European style? Mainly, something that felt grounded. Timeless. Interesting, but simple. Something rooted in authentic materials, historical design and quality craftsmanship. So, instead of trying to recreate a European styled home in South Carolina where neither stone nor marble nor slate is abundant, I pivoted to focus on historical, Americana design inspiration, namely the Colonial style. With British roots from the early settlers, the Colonial style, with all its variations, can be seen in homes from New England to down South to out West, each simple, historical and timeless. My desire for this design is to feel inspired by the spaces and materials we have seen throughout our travels for sure, but also to embrace the heritage we have here in our own backyard as much as we can within our budget. So, if you too are looking to give a new build an old soul, let’s dive into the Colonial style, floorplan options and how we designed our own!

Key Characteristics Of Colonial Homes

Colonial style homes can be seen all across the United States. Built originally while under Colonial rule in the 1600s and 1700s, this architecture broadly includes several styles within it (ex Cape Cod, Georgian, Salt Box, Federal, etc.) as it pulls from British, French, Spanish and Dutch influence, mostly depending on where located within the country. Wherever located however, these 5 characteristics can be seen:

Symmetry

Colonial homes are highly symmetrical with strong clean lines and classical proportions. Whether one story, two story or three, these rectangular homes center around the front door (usually a single door or a door with sidelights) and majority match on each side of the home. Some Colonials include a portico with columns around the entry (or a larger porch, often in the South) while others do not include any entry covering. Regardless, symmetry is prioritized with a strong center focus and the same number of windows on each side of the door.

Fireplaces

Fireplaces also are iconic for Colonial homes. Typically, a central chimney or double chimneys with one on each end can be seen. Often, a central chimney was used in colder climates to allow the warmth from a fireplace to radiate throughout the home, while in warmer climates, a chimney on each side is more common to shed excess heat. Whether using one central chimney or two outer chimneys, the accents of the chimneys help to continue the strong symmetry of the home.

New Build, Old Soul: Designing A Colonial Style Home — Image

Steeply Pitched Roofs

Another trademark of the Colonial style is the steep roof pitches used. Most Colonials feature steep, gable roofs (7:12 to 12:12, though 8:12 and 10:12 are most popular) to provide usable attic space, good drainage for rain and snow and easy construction. Occasionally, hipped or gambrel roofs can also be seen, espeically in Georgian, Federal or Dutch Colonial styles, and some have dormers while others do not. With the exterior form of the home being a rectangular shape and a gable roof, it remains one of the most simplistic and easily constructible home designs while still providing a stately appearance.

Wood, Brick Or Stone Siding

The fourth key feature of the Colonial style is the exterior materials used. Most commonly, wood, brick or stone (or a combination) can be seen on the exterior, with wood and stone more common in the Northeast and wood and brick more often used in the South.

Balanced Interior Layout

Not only does the exterior reflect symmetry, but the interior does as well. Many Colonials prioritize a balanced, slightly formal interior layout with a center entry stair hall and flanking rooms. Historically, the public rooms like the living room or dining room would be downstairs with specific rooms dedicated to a defined function while the private spaces, such as bedrooms or bathrooms would remain upstairs.

If looking for more Colonial characteristics, the articles below can also be really helpful!

Floorplans We Considered

When I look back at all the floorplans we have considered, it is quite a plethora as we must have searched through HUNDREDS at this point. Certainly, there are so many beautiful homes and floorplan options, but finding a plan that had everything we were looking for was immensely challenging and eventually we decided to just draw our own. However, that decision was not made out of dislike for these plans, but more that by the time we bought a plan and made changes to it, we might as well start from scratch. Having been trained in creating floorplans and us looking to tackle much of this project ourselves either through subcontractors or by our own work, I probably am pickier than most in finding a plan that fits us just right. So! What were we looking for? Let’s dive into that below and a few of the options (of all sizes and styles!) that we considered along the way!

Top Five Items On Our Floorplan Wishlist (in no particular order)

4 Bedrooms total with preferably two up and two down
- Having a master and guest bedroom (or kids room) on the first floor is definitely preferable to me to allow for the greatest longevity within a home. That being said, for construction and budget, it is easier to gain space through a second story than have the whole home one story, so ideally we would have two bedrooms downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs.
Open yet defined living spaces
- We would love good sightlines and easy flow for having people over, but also don’t want to see every “public” space at once. A little division, but not closed off.
Preferably under 2500 square feet
- We really want something that can weather all the seasons – young family, older family, empty nest etc. If too small, you grow out of it quickly while if too large, it becomes a lot more expensive to build and too much to maintain over time.
Music library space
- This could be listed as an office or library space, but we would use it as a dual function library and music space for our piano, guitars, reading, kids projects etc. Ideally, this space would be on the main floor for easy access and frequent use.
Less expensive to build
- fewer porches, rooflines etc. – I absolutely LOVE porches and rooflines for adding character to a home, and most European or Southern styles have a lot of them, but complicated rooflines and endless porches can eat up a budget in a hurry.

Floorplan Options

These five options show the evolution in the designs we were considering but don’t come close to the immense number of plans we evaluated along the way.

Orchard Lane

Designed by Plan & Pillow, the Orchard Lane house plan is darling and full of European charm. Coming in at 1827 square feet with three bedrooms (with optional bonus), this plan had much of what we were looking for but was without an ideal music library space and likely would have been a bit pricier to build with the beautiful, but complicated rooflines. Plank & Pillow has several amazing European inspired floorplans though (way more now even than when we were first looking), so if you are trying to find a home with this aesthetic, I highly recommend checking them out!

The Contemporary European Cottage

With only 1244 square feet and two bedrooms, THIS quaint cottage has many lovely features. While we initially envisioned it as a starter home and future guest house once we built something large, we decided that for the stage of life we are in and the length of time we would need to live in it before building something else, it wasn’t worth it. That being said however, I loved the arches, vaulted ceiling and sizable living that this cottage offered and if we were in a different stage of life (or financial bracket!) we might have gone for it.

Cole Town Cottage

The Cole Town Cottage is one of the pivotal plans in our floorplan journey that led us away from the European aesthetic and towards the classic Colonial design. A southern Colonial with large porches, the Cole Town Cottage is 2,448 square feet with three or four bedrooms. Positively, it had a music library / office space on the first or second floor depending on preference, however on another note, the majority of the bedrooms were on the second floor. While this is a classic choice for a Colonial house as we discussed above, I really wanted a few bedrooms downstairs for health and aging flexibility, so it wasn’t quite right for us. Otherwise though, it is a great plan with a beautiful historic feel!

The Country House

Once we loved the Cole Town Cottage, we temporarily toyed with the idea of fully embracing the classic farmhouse vibe with THIS historically designed Country House. The Country House is just under 2000 square feet with four bedrooms, one of which is the master on the main floor. I love how this house has the aura of a historic farmhouse, but unfortunately, without a music library area and with a living space that is a bit more closed off, it didn’t quite make our final list.

Traditional Stone Cottage

Lastly, but certainly not least, is the Traditional Stone Cottage. With 2,976 square feet and three bedrooms, this cottage has a strong Colonial design both inside and out and became some of the biggest inspiration for the shape of the exterior of our home. I loved the dual chimneys, sunroom, and large windows (not a historic Colonial feature, but a nice modern touch all the same). That being said, the square footage was a bit bigger than we were looking for and the floorplan didn’t flow how I hoped, especially with all the bedrooms on the second level, so we didn’t settle completely on this plan, but it did become a huge inspiration for us moving forward!

How To Design Your Own Floorplan

If you can’t seem to find a perfect solution for your home needs, why not design your own?! In the end, this is the route that we have chosen. Having majored in interior design in college and worked in the design industry, drafting floorplans is not new for me, however whether you have design experience or not, this is possible through hiring an architect or architectural draftsman. In simplest terms, an architect will collaborate with you on the design and oversee the project throughout its build phases while a draftsman will help primarily with the architectural plans and drawings for new builds, renovations etc. Both help to ensure the house documents meet local codes, look appropriate and are ready for construction. Often draftsmen work for architects preparing documents, but you can find individual businesses as well. We opted to take this route as a) we had already designed a plan but needed a full set of construction documents and b) it is much more cost effective. For our plan, I sent our draftsman the floorplan we had drawn out (mine was through a design program, but drawings on graph paper can work too!) as well as inspiration images for what we wanted our exterior to look like. From there, he would send us plans and elevations for us to verify the details and make changes if desired. If you do not want to start completely from scratch, you also can send a preexisting floorplan with the modifications you desire. While designing your own plan allows you to customize every detail, it also means that all the highlights and all the pitfalls are on you! So, the jury is still out with how ours will be as we were embarking on this process while I was very largely pregnant and newly postpartum haha! I will dive into more of our final plan and details in the posts to come, but I will say that while the process can be a bit daunting at times, it also is a really fun experience if you are looking for a fully custom home option that previously has only existed in your mind!

Final Thoughts

Our home evolution has been quite a process but slowly and surely we are designing a new build with an old soul! Whether you lean toward a Colonial style or European or Modern or something entirely different, embarking on bringing your floorplan vision to life is an amazing experience. Are you drawn to historic homes? If so, would you rather build new with old vibes or purchase a historic property and renovate? Definitely both have their joys and challenges, but stay tuned for all the design details and construction phases to come!

Happy designing!