It has finally warmed up a bit so I took the camera out for a spin today. I was surprised to see that an old house I had noticed on a previous journey had changed, umm… dramatically. Unfortunately, I had not photographed the house earlier. However, Google did in 2007 when their cameras were not as sophisticated as they are now. Below are two “Before” images followed by the “After”.
In 2007 the house retained much of its original appearance. A Queen Anne transom sash graces the front window. Image courtesy Google Street View.
This view shows the house from an angle similar to the one below. Image courtesy Google Street View.
And this is how the house appeared this afternoon!
imposing but I think they delivered it to the wrong house
Definitely – this stuff looks best on suburban McMansions; not so much on modest early 20th century houses in small towns.
The white plastic windows really stick out. Aside from the general hideousness, of course.
Indeed! Pretty sure they could have gotten similar plastic windows in taupe or some other color not so visually abrasive…
Since beige sand-colored vinyl windows are somewhat common (even stocked in some stores), I’m surprised they didn’t make the effort. Of course with cheap vinyl, you’re stuck with the same color inside and out, and perhaps they were trying to stick with the currently-trendy bright-white interior trim everywhere.
if that corner entry is original, it’s a pretty neat touch until now that is.
It was an original feature, but now it is on synthetic steroids.
I would guess it had some basic, but attractive turned columns and capitals, perhaps with a small fretwork architrave. The metal columns are clearly 40s/50s/60s replacements.
Here’s an example of the details even an otherwise-modest home may have had at the entry:
http://oldhouseporches.com/162-summit/