• Architecture: New
  • Reno/Add
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Podcast
    • About
    • Letter from the Architect
    • Architecture Design Process
    • Homework
    • Owner resume
    • Press
    • Upcoming Events
    • Contact
Menu

Katie Hutchison Studio

Street Address
Warren, RI
(978) 741-0932
Meaningful Architecture, Design and Photography

Your Custom Text Here

Katie Hutchison Studio

  • Architecture: New
  • Reno/Add
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Info
    • About
    • Letter from the Architect
    • Architecture Design Process
    • Homework
    • Owner resume
    • Press
    • Upcoming Events
    • Contact
FullSizeRender (16).jpg

House Enthusiast

Design snapshot: Mansard marvel

October 24, 2015 Katie Hutchison

I always look forward to spotting this mansard charmer as I weave my way home. At one and one-half stories, it satisfies a fundamental ingredient of my Recipe for Architectural Charm: grounding roof lines.

It also exhibits legible massing. Its simple rectangular plan is augmented by a side porch and tall symmetrical bays on the front that flank the entry and presumably serve living areas -- perhaps a dining area on one side and a parlor on the other. Similarly tall, gabled dormers containing pairs of skinny double-hung windows that relate to the greater width of the bays their centered above, and a single dormer, containing a less skinny double-hung centered on the entry, serve, what I imagine, are bedrooms.

The white on white exterior clapboards and trim capped with a contrasting charcoal-gray roof demonstrate another ingredient of architectural charm: a simple color palette. And the harmonious materials of wood clapboards and trim atop a simple brick foundation round-out its appeal.  

But it's the architectural-charm ingredient of thoughtful details that I'm focusing on today, while I consider the design of an exterior renovation that could benefit from their example. The mansard's deep projecting eave brackets, more vertical bay-window eave brackets, pronounced entry cornice brackets, and the quiet brackets receiving the dormer rake trim all communicate a hierarchical order while visually supporting interesting layered overhangs that cast nuanced shadows. Various trim depths, heights, and profiles further contribute to the thoughtful order that animates the facade. I'll keep these in mind and ponder how to translate them to the renovation project currently affixed to my drawing board.

I'm grateful to have this charmer as part of my daily visual lexicon, especially around Christmas. 

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

In Design snapshot
← Behind-the-scenes video for The New Small HouseThe book launched in Warren! →

Exploring house, garden, and related creative arts in New England

About House Enthusiast

Categories

  • Design snapshot 145
  • Special Events 98
  • Web tours 53
  • My small-houses book 30
  • Garden tours 26
  • House tours 22
  • Ask Katie 19
  • KHS work-in-progress 19
  • My cottage book 18
  • Opinion 18
  • Primer 18
  • Continuing education 17
  • Reading recommendations 15
  • Katie's idjit garden 11
  • 101 things KHS has learned 10
  • Readers write 9
  • Web neighbors 9
  • Get the KHS Look 7
  • what does the architect say? 6
  • DVD recommendations 5
  • Brick & Mortar shop tour 4
  • How to look at houses 4
  • Studio tours 3

Recommended Posts

Featured
101 things Katie Hutchison Studio (KHS) has learned designing homes, Part ten of ten
The happiness of place
Ask Katie: Thoughts on renovation priorities
Welcome Fellow House Enthusiasts
Primer: A Recipe for Architectural Charm
House Enthusiast RSS

Subscribe

Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates.

We respect your privacy.

Thank you!

ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, COPYRIGHT © 2007-2025 KATIE HUTCHISON STUDIO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. WARREN, RI 02885

Katie Hutchison in Warren, RI on Houzz
Katie Hutchison in Warren, RI on Houzz
Katie Hutchison in Warren, RI on Houzz
Katie Hutchison in Warren, RI on Houzz