CHOOSE YOUR EXTERIOR STYLE

Homes became much more of a mass-market commodity after World War II. There was an explosion of homebuilding in the new suburbs, and it became commonplace for a single builder to build an entire subdivision in just a year or two. A builder would offer a few alternative floorplans, but each floorplan would be offered with two or three different exterior treatments in order to keep the appearance of the streets from becoming too monotonous.

Doesn't this sound familiar? Haven't you seen this scheme repeated in humdreds of suburban subdivisions built since World War II?

Here's an example of three different exteriors offered on a modest little two-bedroom cottage in a planbook published in 1950.