ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

The unique­ness of a design lies in the relationship between the existing and the proposed. SUMMARY
The typical American residential site has a number of attributes as well as negative traits, as discussed in this chapter. Design #N3562 (top), Design #N3341 (mid­dle), and Design #N3307 (bottom) © Home Planners. Having read this chapter, you should know the following:
• Overall traits of the typical residential site such as lo­cation of house, types of yards, and the general char­acteristics and uses of each
• Conventional problems of the front yard that relate to the lawn edges, driveway, garage door, front walk, entry foyer, foundation planting, plantings, and use of the front yard
• Typical concerns of the backyard related to views to neighbors, enclosure, size of outdoor living areas, pri­vacy, microclimates, visual character, relation to inte­rior of the house, storage sheds, and vegetable gardens
• Ordinary difficulties of side yards such as access, stor­age, microclimate, efficiency of space, and views be­tween houses
• Factors that establish an architectural style of a house and why some houses have no particular style
• Features of a house that give it character and can give visual clues for the adjoining landscape What can make something special or different is focusing, with your attention on the rele­vant detail, on the character of the client, house, and site as a landscape design evolves and unfolds. Architectural character can be viewed as the composite of physical attributes and features that together display an overall integrity. Figure 1-30
Some houses do not have a specific architecture style but still have distinctive character. All they need is architectural character, which each of them does possess. Blueprints available, 800-322-6797. Figure 1-30 shows three different houses that do not have styles that are easily recognizable. Houses like these that have aspects of different styles are often referred to as eclec­tic. It is normal for people to want landscapes that are similar to other people’s landscapes, but they want them to fit themselves, not others.