The first house is one of my favorites in the area, the design isn’t necessarily to keep others from viewing inside, it’s the new style. Because if that was case they would have changed the orientation of the house where their own yard wasn’t the side with less windows. There’s another one almost identical on Tarboro and Lane st.
We walked into the second house last week, it also isn’t meant to keep people from viewing inside, it’s the staircase that turns on that corner.
Even if it’s the style, or they wanted a stair there, it’s miserable for the neighbors - you’re forcing them to look at blank walls and it’s the complete opposite of “eyes on the street” or welcoming to others. You drive in and never look at your block from the ground floor living areas
The inside being nice but the outside being a barren wall with that silly bunker window next to the staircase is precisely the “screw you, got mine” mentality.
That one on Tarboro is actually a solid example of having lots of ground floor windows that face the street. It’s not walled-off at all.
For $1.6m you’d think they could get a staircase/window situation that looks better both inside and out. Custom windows are a thing, especially at that price point.
To me, the whole thing looks like a big ole WTF. Almost like the architect gave in to the customer’s demands instead of convincing them it’s an assault on the eyes.
…I’m not really understanding this sentiment. Like, you don’t generally expect nor even want your neighbors to be looking into your windows all the time… and it’s your property, you do what you want with it, not what you think your neighbors would want to look at lmao
I guess the way I’d think about it is, think about a nice residential street, one you’d want to live on.
Is it a row of blank walls and garage doors at ground level?
Or is there some permeability between the houses and the street - maybe with fences and landscaping for privacy. Porches are also a good way to put some distance between the street and the front windows without sacrificing the neighborhood feel.*
Obviously, people can build what they want within zoning codes, that’s their right, but it’s my right to say they’ve built a selfish house.
*EDIT: Obviously this changes if you live on a really busy road, but this is a quiet kids-in-the-street sort of block.
I don’t know why several of you guys are assuming some nefarious plot to not see your neighbors or make people look at something ugly. Is that usually a motivation for people moving into a new neighborhood? I think it’s just the architecture style for these modernist houses, and one that overall I really love. Just a personal preference for me. Of course there’s better and worse looking ones.
Hm, I guess a lot of it personally is that I grew up in the California suburbs, which are full of the blank-wall-and-garage facade neighborhoods. When you compare it to an Oakwood and Mordecai (and I’m including a lot of the new contemporary stuff with more welcoming ground floors), it felt really closed off an unwelcoming.
Neighborhoods like this always felt pretty blank and dead compared to ones that weren’t 99% garage. There’s nothing to look at at ground level. And a neighborhood composed of ones like the Penn Street houses would be similarly just wall and garage.
I don’t get the negative sentiment either. No one is going to build a tiny house on these downtown lots. Trying to maximize value you have to build up. It is not a F.U. statement to anyone. Tinge of socialism on this forum.
I hate both houses, but especially the first one. To tear down near downtown to not really add any density is a shame. Not only did they replace it with a grey box, but they tore down the next door house as well to expand their yard. I live a few blocks over on Monroe and would hate to live next to these people. Luckily, there are some duplexes coming to this part of the neighborhood, so it’s nice to see some added density around here.
I think this is a somewhat fair critique of this house from an urban perspective, but I actually think that as a composition that this is still very engaging, even more so than most of the houses on the street. There’s just enough to provoke the question of what’s hiding behind there with the deep entrance and green roof. It also does a good job of stepping back the bulk of the house in a nod to neighboring houses, unlike the hulking masses across the street
It’s an incredible design that so far has won the AIA Triangle’s highest honor, and I’m sure will go on to win state and regional awards as well. It’s really worth taking a look at other images.
That said, the architect’s concept statement absolutely reinforces the goal of views/transparency pointing away from the street. Hard to say whether that was client or site-driven, because of the unique opportunity of bordering the cemetery and unimpeded skyline views. You can’t put glass everywhere – and in this case, important views took priority.
House BC is in a post-war suburb on a tight lot by Raleigh’s Hebrew Cemetery. The house is solid from the street, with only a deep entry and hint of green roof suggesting what is within. The entry void leads to a front door in the middle of the house, by a courtyard. Every space in the house opens to the courtyard. Inside, the wonder of the site becomes clear – an unimpeded view across the cemetery to the skyline. Contrasting the heavy front, primary spaces at the rear of the house open to the lush yard and distant view.
I particularly dislike garage-forward massing, so the 2nd one gets better marks in that regard. 25 yrs ago I told my then new bride that I would never live in a house, that had the garage further out than the front door.
The blank first floor on #2. - connecting those two stair-hall windows would greatly improve the looks, giving that mass better balance, imho.
Both certainly reflect an inward/closed/private life-style. Nothing wrong with that, but it is often at odds with older neighborhoods, particularly those built pre-A/C where the weather forced a much more communal lifestyle on city-folk.
I really love that side porch on the first one, and the description sounds wonderful - if I was in the southwest. In this photo it looks misplaced.
The tiny house that used to be at this site was the house I spent most of my youth in. It was the first house my parents bought after we moved from Oakwood Avenue.
I wouldn’t care at all if someone built this next to my house. What they are looking for is privacy, not street engagement - they have plenty of windows that look out on their fenced backyard and they don’t want looky-loos peering in at them. I don’t see why this is so offensive. They can engage with the neighborhood when they go for walks, push kids around, walk dogs, etc.
I think the pictures inside are beautiful but this is my style. This architect does smaller modern houses as well - some as small as 1600 sq ft. They are also responsible for some condos around Raleigh as well (The Ten at South Person for example).
