mcmansionhell
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Good House of the Month: 1971 (Morris County, NJ)
🕑 Added 2020-02-25 19:18:15 +0000 UTCCall me a normie, but I have an immense soft spot for a good split level. Though they've gone out of style, as a form of housing they make immense sense in terms of how they allocate space through the story-based demarcation of public-facing (upper floor) and private (lower floor). This adorable example was recently renovated, and though the changes don't match my personal taste, they're mostly decor and surface level (plus, there's a sewing room!!!!)
I love this house because it's architecturally consistent; the shingle cladding and blue shutters create continuity between the two masses, and the slight overhang of the second story breaks up what would be a rather monotonous front facade otherwise, and does so without making the 2nd story look overly weighty. Even though the house has an attached garage, it makes the most of it by concealing the garage door and clearly demarcating the garage mass as a secondary space through the use of a low-pitched roof and smaller windows.
This adorable abode, which boasts 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, is currently on the market for $599,000.
Comments
I grew up in one in the Chicago area, where the common way to build them was with the middle level in the front of the house, and the upper and lower levels in the back (second photo in the Wikipedia article).
Wikipedia has a good little article on split-levels, with a good photo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-level_home
