In my first meeting with architects Eric and Andy (Carney Logan Burke Architects), they asked about my stylistic preferences, invoking the idea of a stylometer for gauging client style. Since I had picked them in part because I liked the houses they had designed for themselves, I was pretty confident the stylometer would give similar readings for us. Here is what I can articulate about my own stylistic preferences, to which I’ll add a few points which Eric and Andy brought to the table and to which I’ve come to subscribe.

My style elements (which were shared entirely by Eric and Andy):

• Relatively narrow forms with a largely East-West main axis.
• Simple building forms.
• Really simple roofs with deep eaves.
• Lots of glass to the South.
• Natural, low-maintenance materials.
• Open floor plans.

Additional style elements articulated by Eric and Andy, to which I’ve come to subscribe:

• Thin roof edges (a thin brim to the hat).
• Use of honest, western materials.
• Two or more connected basic forms.
• Open stairs adjacent to a vertical window wall.
• Windows extending to floor level.
• Bump outs with portal windows to define sub-areas within large open spaces.

A few houses with some or all of these elements (details can be seen on the CLB Architects site):