There is no definitive "European" style for house plans any more than there is an "American" style. Just as home designs in the US vary from region to region to reflect climate, tradition and availability of building materials, so do European homes vary from country to country: a Swiss chalet, a Russian dacha, an Italian villa or a timber frame home in the UK. However, there are a variety of basic characteristics that distinguish between homes built in the US and homes built in Europe. Does this Spark an idea?
Categories
A European-style home plan will most likely fall within one of two descriptive categories: "historical" (Old World traditions that tend to be formal and ornate, and represent stereotypical styles of an individual country or region) and "eclectic" (contemporary, modern and practical, common throughout any country in Europe).
Historical-style homes may include courtyards, spiral columns, wrought-iron balconies, clay tile roofs, arched windows and interior arched doorways. The houses are often asymmetrical with gables and wings, and roofs vary from flat to hipped and may sometimes be compared to the Mission style architecture of Southern California and the American Southwest (often called European Colonial Revival).
Eclectic style is the ultimate in modernity, including "pods" and of pre-fab modular construction, often with eco-sustainable "green" features based on lifestyle, high construction costs and strict building codes.
Specific Characteristics
Typical US dimensions are often different in Europe, where the metric system is used. While a standard bathtub in the US is approximately 14 inches deep, for instance, European tubs are 18 inches deep and Greek tubs 22 inches deep. Thus, a soaking tub is more of a standard than a special treat. And no family bathroom in a European home is complete without a bidet, a prominent fixture.
Natural light is highly desirable in European homes, where windows are almost always larger than the windows of American homes. They also can open two ways: partially from the top for ventilation or hinged to swing fully open toward the inside, eliminating the need to have someone come to clean the outside of the windows. European-style skylight windows are becoming more popular in the US and are now sometimes more than fixed glass or acrylic domes that provides natural light. These skylights are windows that open to provide both light and ventilation and are especially desirable in peaked roofs and upper floors where heat gathers in summer.
Kitchen layouts in Eclectic European homes are often as versatile as they are functional. Most of the time a kitchen is constructed so that the only permanent fixture is the sin. Everything else, the range, refrigerator, cupboards and counters, are as movable as the pieces of furniture they actually are. This kind of kitchen furnishing can be found in the US at stores such as Ikea.
Homes in Europe may have a variety of built-in shelves and small storage nooks but will rarely have closets. Clothes cupboards, not unlike antique armoires in this country, are common for the simple reason that in some countries, property taxes are based on the number of rooms in a house, and a closet is classified as a room. Therefore, a closet is most practical as a piece of furniture.
Building Materials
Unlike the US, where wood continues to be readily available and widely used in home construction, the forests of most of Europe were largely cleared centuries ago, making wood a rare and expensive building material. Therefore, the primary materials used in contemporary European houses are brick, stone and concrete with stucco exteriors. It is not unusual to find that the only wood in a middle-class home in Germany, for instance, is confined to trim work and doors, door and window frames, stair steps and ceiling beams.
Due to the disparities in cost of wood between the US and European markets, the most common European substitutions feel luxurious to the US market: an abundance of ceramic tile and marble for interior floors, window sills and even the finished surfaces of porches and patios. It is not unusual for the spacious family bathroom to be ceramic tiled from floor to ceiling.
The brick used in most modern European home construction is more akin to concrete blocks than the decorative surface brick common in the USA. The result is that once exterior surfaces are faced and stuccoed and interior finishes have been applied, European walls are considerably thicker than those found in the States. These thick walls retain interior heat in the winter and insulate from the warmth of summer in Europe, where central air conditioning is far from common.
Learn More
European Luxury Home Plans is a particularly detailed website that provides a major amount of detailed information appropriate for both builders and anyone wanting to build a new home in a European style. Most every option, from architecture styles and floor plans to basic construction materials and finishing touches are outlined, including typical costs in the US. Additional sites included in the Resource section are helpful in gathering more information about building your new home or modifying your current home to a European style.
Tags: European homes, European style, inches deep, vary from, Europe where, European home
