Haddonfield Authentic

Home
United States
Haddonfield, NJ
Haddonfield Authentic

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Haddonfield Authentic, Real Estate, Haddonfield, NJ.

12/07/2021

The story the front of this house tells is authentic and rich?

Symmetry is such a strong compositional element. It suggests a real sense of balance, order, control, and safety. It's simple to understand and therefore comfortable. But this home has much more than just a formal organization going for it.

I love the play between the formal (stiff, serious, rigid) ordering of the homes front elevation and the (casual, inviting, approachable) human scale that is developed through the main floor's proximity to the ground plane and the use of the bluestone patio and landscape.

So, what story do you think the front of this home and yard tell?

My story:
- I see a scene of a casual gathering of friends and family on a beautiful day, filtered sunlight coming through the tree branches, the front door open with young and old people going in and out, others sitting at small white clothed tables on the patio eating and chatting, children playing in the yard, more guests arriving and being welcomed.
- I smell the scent of pine, flowers, and food cooking on the grilI.
-I hear laughter, chatter, music, car doors closing, and yes, children being told to be careful near the street.

Why can I see, smell, and hear this joyfull moment in the families life? Because the property was designed to promote activity in the front yard of the home, making the community a player in that activity.

Now imagine this home three feet higher out of the ground with a stoop, landing, iron rail, and shrubbery on both sides of the door under the windows. It certainly would be a beautiful house, but the stories that a home with less indoor/outdoor connection could promote would be very different.

09/16/2021

What an honest way for a building to say, "I'm a home".

The American Four-Square, may be my favorite style of all time.

When you see a block of foursquare's, your looking at a block that was developed between the 1890's and the 1930's.

It is well known and understood the American Foursquare's design was influenced by the popular Craftsman Movement coming out of the British Isles.

But, when I look at the homes scale, proportions, wide eve's, hipped roof, horizontal emphasis, and rigorous simplicity, I see Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Style influence.

The Prairie and Craftsman styles were developed using a philosophy that believed a home should be honest, simple and well crafted.

This thinking was in contrast to the popularity of the Victorian Era styles that took advantage of industrialization and how it was changing the face of small towns across America.

09/08/2021

Two Faced? Kind of; but in a good way!

This is the 2nd front of the monumental home I posted yesterday. It's primary front is on Kings Highway and this 2nd front faces West End Blvd.

A homes on a corner property is faced with the challenge of having two fronts.

One of the lessons I've taken is how this design seamlessly transitions from the monumental scale of the primary front to the appropriate human scale of the 2nd front.

Transitioning the feel of the home as you round the corner was expertly handled by locating a small attached pavillion, the Sun Porch, in the 2nd front yard.

In this case the Architect didn't just design the Sun Porch as another space, it is also used as a design element to:
- reduce the building scale by dropping to one story along the road,
- provide relatable detail as seen in the windows, muntins, panels and columns,
- add intrigue by providing some transparency into an otherwise impenetrable brick mass,
- lighten the heaviness of the main building by edging it with architectural lace,
- create a beautiful transition between the house and garden.

There is no question the Owner, Architect, and Builder were all well versed in the "Haddonfield Story' when they planned out this home, in this location.

NOW for my connection to this property, and more specifically, to the Sun Porch.

As some of you may know, my interest and skill in carpentry, construction, and boat building was heavily influenced and guided by my grandfather.

Well, I've always remembered the story he told me while we sat at the traffic light at Kings and West End. This corner historically has been difficult for some drivers to navigate, requiring the Sun Porch to provide a buffer between cars and the brick house.

I remember how proud he was, telling me about the challenges they had restoring, repairing, and reconstructing the structure and windows after a car ran into the porch.

The boulders are an excellent idea!

09/07/2021

Symmetry and Scale used to create Grandeur!

Here is another fabulous Kings Highway Estate that has helped develop the Haddonfield brand of simplicity, beauty, class, and quality.

The property was carefully and skillfully designed in a classical style, using:
- symmetry for it's order,
- brick for it's texture,
- ornate entry as the focal point,
- windows and shutters to reinforce the symmetry and texture,
- one story wings to blend the composition with the landscape,
- brick walk and landscape features and furniture to reinforce the designs formality,
- landscape material to soften the design and blend the architecture with the landscape.

There is no question, this home and property reinforce the image that successful, educated, and classy family's live in Haddonfield!

I love this property, and my family actually has a very minor connection to this house. I'll explain in my next post. (No, none of my family has ever lived there).

09/03/2021

Another Kings Highway Gem!

You may be able to guess that this home is close to the center of town and intended to engage passersby.

The sturdy stone and ornate front porch is within conversation distance of the sidewalk and the house and yard relate really well to the pedestrian by offering human scale to the busy street.

I love the use of the three simple delicate columns on each stone pedestal; it is unexpected, reduces the porch scale, and introduces an interesting pattern and rhythm.

Compare this with my post from yesterday which was also a home on Kings Highway. They are different in just about every way, but both are exceptional and appropriate.

The large Italianate is further from the town center and intended to present a sense of wealth and status through a formal symmetrical grandeur that is best appreciated from a distance.

This stick/shingle style home is less formal and meant to be experienced more intimately.

Just imagine if these houses were build on the others lot! The boulevard into Haddonfield

Throughout the 19th century Architects, Planners, and Builders, were quite educated and knew exactly what they were doing when developing Haddonfield's identity.

09/01/2021

When I think of the families who called this beautiful Kings Highway Italianate "Home", I immediately think of wealth and success, class and style.

This home and the others along Kings Highway helped develop the brand Haddonfield has enjoyed for generations. A brand of well-to-do and in my mind, authenticity.

Status boulevards like Kings Highway and Chews Landing are an important town-planning branding element that the surrounding towns can't match.

If a home of this scale was constructed almost anywhere else in Haddonfield, it would be silly. Thankfully we have many appropriately scaled Italianate Style homes woven into many of the neighborhoods in town.

Oh, and the building on top of the building; that's called a belvedere. And this one is about the size of my house!

Absolutely beautiful building!

Authentic

08/31/2021

This informal stone wall reminds me of Ireland!

An appropriate post for today as my daughter, now a botanist, leaves Galway Ireland after five years of calling it home. She is coming "home" for a visit before heading off to Edinburgh Scotland to begin her doctorate research. I'm so proud of her!

Remember in a previous post, I said that stone wasn't a common building material in the early development of Haddonfield, well I should have said, pre-industrial Haddonfield.

This may be obvious but we don't have large deposits of stone in the soils of SJ so it had to be quarried in NY, Pa, or central NJ, and transported. In 1800 it took a person just over a day to travel from SJ to NYC. By 1830, that same trip was reduced to a day, and by 1900 it was just a short trip by train. You can imagine what it would have taken to transport even a small load of stone before the rail system was developed.

So with that in mind, it was certainly easier to mill timber into lumber, and fire clay into brick, both readily available here in south jersey.

This is why I am always surprised to see stone used as a building material in South Jersey.

So why stone? Because the owner liked stone and could afford to buy it.

But for this home, I'm going to create my own story. It was contructed by a successful Irish businessman who came to America after escaping the Great Famine. Leaving or losing many of his friends and family members in Ireland, he wanted a home that reminded him of his roots.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Anyone know the real story?

08/30/2021

Sticking with Victorian era homes.

On previous posts much has been mentioned about paint color selections.

I love the use of subtlety, changing color just enough to emphasize the graphic texture pattern in the shingles.

Also, notice the way the original 2-over-2 widows add to the authentic feel of the home.

In the near future, I'll mix in a series of posts that focus on windows specifically, to explore how their size, shape, trim, and details add to a buildings sense of authenticity.

08/27/2021

A vignette of a quintessential late 1800's Haddonfield neighborhood with it's small front yards, decorative porches, brick sidewalks, and tree lined narrow streets.

These elements all add up, like brush strokes on a canvas, to paint an authentic picture of a wonderful walkable community that Norman Rockwell would have truly appreciated.

Thats what I see and how I feel.

08/26/2021

Millionaire-Next-Door = Haddonfield?

It occurred to me yesterday while on my walk that I had listened to an audio book years ago that might help me understand Haddonfield Authentic. It's called, The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley.

One of the core Values of Old-Money Millionaire's, as laid out in the book "The Millionaire Next Door", is to buy the highest quality products and maintain them over long periods of time; they are known to resole shoes, drive older cars, and yes, properly prep and paint their wood siding and trim.

To take this principle one step further, the Millionaire-Next-Door Value system doesn't align with the currently popular "Maintenance Free" movement for what it cost and what it stands for.

Maintenance-Free = Not-Maintainable = Must-Be-Repalced < Good-Investment !

Address

Haddonfield, NJ
08033

Website

http://JRArchitecture.co/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Haddonfield Authentic posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Haddonfield Authentic:

Want your business to be the top-listed Realtor/realty Service in Haddonfield?