The front vestibule gable features buttress-style brick pillars. These pillars angle outward to create a unique proportion that draws the eye to the center of the home when you first set your eyes on it.

This specific masonry detail creates a sense of solidity when looking at the front facade, while characterizing this home with timeless traditional charm. The single-storey massing compounds this intended feeling of solidity, warmth, and traditional charm. These “wings” of the home feature mansard roofs clad with cedar shakes and iron spire roof details. By incorporating single-storey proportions, Jesse’s intention was to capture the sprawling and rambling character of historical renditions of this home in proportion, layout, and composition.

They are reminiscent of the libraries, chapels, and orangeries that were commonly associated with original renditions of this grand design style. The massing of these single-storey rooms serves to ground the home among its surroundings despite its impressively large proportions. This reduces the imposition of the massing while creating a front courtyard that is uniquely inviting. Lined with gardens and ambient lighting, these structures create the feeling of the home sprawling and rambling to every corner of the property. This highlights the cedar shake roofing texture as well, as it is set at a much lower height. The result is a classically traditional rendition of a sunroom that extends forward to greet guests.

The garages were quietly tucked away on the left side of the home in order to prioritize both the interior layout as well as the front facade. Jesse designed a cohesively styled bay window that looks into this garage in order to hide its presence. This feature also creates a courtyard on the left side of the home with plenty of space for accommodating guests, the benefit of working with a prestigiously large lot. This not only creates a cohesive front facade but also results in an impressively wide facade with no visual breaks that aren’t proportionately intentional.

The swooping eyebrow dormers and bay windows are a quaintly charming feature, offering natural light to the second floor while uniquely characterizing the front facade. The view of the massing on your left is another specifically unique part of Jesse’s design. This is a great display of his use of proportions to capture the specific emotion he wants a viewer to feel when they first lay eyes on the finished product. It speaks to Jesse’s approach of designing the home through the eyes of what a visitor would experience walking up to the front door for the first time. In this case, you are met with a range of proportions, materials, and unique masonry details that strike you with traditional English Countryside charm.