Several house plans show up in America with the obvious influence of European architecture, and seem to fit right into the landscape. Homes with a double “L” protrusion encompassing the garage and a dining/family room are commonplace today as are houses featuring a garage, which appears as a smaller duplicate of the house, set away from the main structure.
Also, house plans with extended garages placed in front of other rooms of the house can be useful on building lots that are narrow, but have the depth to build back from the frontage. This can also be helpful for a two-car garage where the cars fit in front to back instead of side-to-side.
The city ranch house, which are house plans for a ranch home built on a skinny lot with a garage in front, shows signs of European flair with the front-facing garage. The home is built with the ranch house design, but the floor plan is stretched from the front instead of from the side. Some may incorporate the entrance at the side of the house, but most will have entry through a door in front, beside the garage.
Combining multiple gable roofs with gambrel roof lines is also popular in Europe and the adaptation of this style is becoming more popular. Many with a hip roof have been offset with the addition of protruding gables and may appear as though they belong in France or eastern England, but they fit into the American neighborhoods as well.
Brick and stonework are often inserted into house plans with European influence, both inside and outside. Often times the exterior stone work on a fireplace is repeated on the inside of the fireplace, appearing as though the fireplace is the actual thickness from outside, although there will be a firewall built between the two sides.
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Christine Cooney
Christine has over a decade of experience as a house plan and floor plan expert. Outside of providing her expertise to customers to help them find and build their dream homes, her passion and knowledge of the home building industry allows Christine to guide families and builders through all of the important steps from finding plans to building custom homes that meet the expectations of today’s new home owner. Christine’s years of knowledge of the diverse trends and needs of the modern homeowner has made her into an authoritative and trusted voice in the online house plan community..