Ugly House Photos

Design Through the Decades - Part 26

There was still a mad rush to build homes in Phoenix in the 2000s.  That is, until the real estate market slammed on its brakes in mid-2005.  New housing developments in Phoenix were either in north Phoenix (Norterra master community) or in south Phoenix.

Since design features in the 1980s and 1990s focused on function (e.g., pantry, kitchen island, walk-in closets), homes in the 2000s incorporated those features and then added new features based on lifestyle.

The great room concept (combining kitchen, eating, and family rooms) became a standard design in the 2000s.  It allowed the perception that busy moms (and dads) could pretend to cook in their big fancy kitchens while still interacting with the family.

Family rooms were so big, you had to call them great rooms.  Recessed lighting was in high demand too.  Room height in the 2000s sometimes moved beyond 9 feet to 10 feet and even 12 feet tall.

Homes in the 2000s became larger.  Lofts or bonus rooms or 2nd floor family rooms became popular.  Furniture stores loved it.

Remember the entertainment niches from the 1990s that only fit smaller box TVs?  Gone.  Flat-screen TVs in the 2000s meant large wide open wall niches were required.

With low mortgage interest rates and rising home values and creative financing, many homebuyers splurged on upgrades and larger homes in the 2000s.  Having a TV in a family room was normal, but to really impress people you had to get a media room.

Other fancy upgrades to homes in the 2000s were wine cellars and Venetian plaster walls.

Staircases in the 2000s oftentimes featured metal risers.

Entry-level homes in the early 2000s continued to offer breakfast rooms with bay windows (popular in the 1990s), as seen in this 2001 Phoenix home.

In the 1990s, patios were not important features, but this reversed in the 2000s.  Outdoor living was now an important lifestyle.  To entertain outside with all the bells & whistles was a status symbol in the 2000s.  Built-in BBQs were very chic, especially if it had a refrigerator and sink too.

How about an outdoor fireplace to really wow your friends?

Even the front entrance to Phoenix homes in the 2000s received upgrades.  Front courtyards became very popular.  Add a courtyard fireplace to show you’ve really made it.

The 2000s were all about lifestyle and impressing others.  Bragging rights for those who had the most upgrades.

Technology features of the 2000s:  wi-fi and surround sound wiring.

Predictions for the 2010s?  Mortgage interest rates will be slightly higher.  Creative financing is gone.  100% financing is gone forever.  That means homebuyers of new homes will not be able to afford many upgrades.  New homes will have to be basic and affordable, and thus smaller in order to keep prices down.  However, home builders will be hungry for business and sales, so they just might throw in upgrades for free.

Design features in the early 2010s will likely continue to focus on lifestyle due to current economic conditions.  Lifestyle will not be about showing off; it will be about nesting.  Families who can’t afford to go out and spend, spend, spend, will instead spend more time at home.  Loft areas will become game rooms.  Dens will become offices for two people as telecommuting becomes more common.  Back patios will become extensions of living spaces, so expect rounded extended patios and rounded half walls to define the space (which were popular in the 1950s).

What do you think will be design features in the 2010s?

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Design Through the Decades - Part 25

The homes in Phoenix during the 1990s had several new design features available to homebuyers.  Some features were good, some were okay, and some were too trendy for their own good.  Homes were usually two stories, so homebuilders added half baths under the stairs, lofts at the top of the stairs, and a den or office below near the front door.  Great rooms (open space floor plan design combining the family room with the kitchen) gained vast popularity in the mid- to late-1990s.

The decade-defining design feature of the 1990s in Phoenix was the vaulted ceiling.  Most homes were two-story (build as much house as you can on the smallest lot that you can) with vaulted ceilings to make the homes appear more spacious.

Here’s another 1990s Phoenix home with vaulted ceilings.

Pot shelves became a standard in new homes in the 1990s.

Bay windows at the breakfast room or dining room were very popular in the 1990s and usually placed at the front of the house.

Functional obsolescence is when a home feature was useful and popular its beginning but became useless and outdated over time.  Just like homes began adding two-car carports and garages in the 1960s when households moved up to two cars per family.

What better example of functional obsolescence in the 1990s than the entertainment niche.  It was great to have a place to put your TV, your stereo equipment, your CD player, and to hide the cords.

Another one.

Sometimes entertainment niches were hidden in a half wall or “pony” wall.

What makes these entertainment niches of the 1990s so obsolete today is that flat-screen TVs became bigger and more affordable in the 2000s.  And with digital TV taking over in February 2009, older analog TVs will become dinosaurs.

So what do you do with these customized, outdated, huge structures?  Tear them out?

People in the 1990s spent less time outdoors, supposedly, because patios diminished in size and stature.

Plus, patios took up a lot of space on the smaller lots.  There’s not much room for a yard or pool if a patio is too big.

It was mentioned in the 1990s Kitchen post, but Corian counters were a popular upgrade in new homes in the 1990s.

Technology features of the 1990s:  CAT-5 computer wiring and small satellite dishes.

Coming Up:  What new design features were popular in the 2000s in Phoenix?

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Design Through the Decades - part 24

Phoenix homes in the 1980s did not have many new or innovative design features.  Do mirrored closet doors get anyone excited?  All the attention was spent on building homes quickly and easily (for the construction crew).  And any exciting design changes occurred in the kitchen and bathroom.

Let out a yawn or two and let’s look at some design features of the 1980s.

The number 1 design element of the 1980s…the defining moment of Phoenix homes in the 1980s…ignoring any of this popping up in the late 1970s…the one thing people remember and moan and groan about…is…
POPCORN CEILINGS!!!
They are so practical in dusty Phoenix, especially when ceiling fans stir the dust around so that it sticks to the popcorn forever.  Hooray for popcorn ceilings!

Indoor planter boxes (seen in the 1960s) came back briefly in the 1980s.

Those darn step-down living rooms have been across three decades now.  Here’s a Phoenix home built in 1984.

Wet bars gained more prominence in 1980s homes.

By the late 1980s, architectural design finally made some new strides.  Vaulted ceilings from the 1970s were usually a slanted ceiling going 12 feet tall.  In the late 1980s, vaulted ceilings stretched two stories tall.  Big square columns and horizontal cross beams were incorporated.

Columns and beams, columns and beams.  Very 1980s.

If you’re going to have two-story tall living room walls, you have to do something with it.  So giant wall niches were created high above the floor, as seen in this 1987 Phoenix home.

Technology feature of the 1980s:  cable TV wiring

Coming Up:  1990s design features in Phoenix homes

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Design Through the Decades - part 23

Phoenix homes in the 1970s had many new design features available to homebuyers.  Households were getting bigger, so homes got bigger.  Two bathrooms became standard.  Central air conditioning was standard.

What defines a typical Phoenix home in the 1970s?  How about wood paneling?  The 1970s saw a rise in real wood paneling instead of the laminate paneling of the 1960s.

Here’s a Phoenix home built in 1970.

Wood paneling remained popular throughout the 1970s as seen in this 1979 home.

This home went all out with wood paneling.  Groovy.  Note the beamed ceiling.

Yes, beamed ceilings were a very popular design feature of Phoenix homes in the 1970s as they were in the late 1960s.

The beams were made of wood and stained dark.  Fake wood beams made of painted styrofoam can be found in some 1970s condominiums.

Vaulted ceilings with beams was featured in many 1970s homes.

Step-down living rooms were popular in the 1960s and the 1970s.  Note the slump block fireplace wall, the vaulted ceiling, and the metal railing.

This home is from Glendale, Arizona.  Metal railings with a thick wood top railing (dark stain) was very chic in the 1970s.

Formal dining rooms were a common design feature.  Oftentimes, they had the step-down into the living room.

There was this obsession with wood in the 1970s, which is interesting since Phoenix is in a desert.  Wood beams, wood paneling, and then wood spindles and accents in the late 1970s.  This home was built in 1979.  This lighter shade of wood stain in the late 1970s would spill over into the kitchens in the 1980s.

What 1970s home would be complete without a wet bar?  [Side note:  In the late 2000s, wet bars with small refrigerators in master bedrooms started to emerge]

Some Phoenix homes in the 1970s had archways inside as a design feature.

Colored glass inserts were popular in the 1960s and the early 1970s before fading away.  This home was built in 1970.

Front entryways sometimes had courtyards with arched gates.  1977 home seen here.  This style was rare in Phoenix, but very popular in Sun City and Sun City West, Arizona.

What other design features were popular in the 1970s?  Homes were heated by heat pumps on the roof in the 1970s, replacing wall furnaces from the 1950s and heating units stored inside the house in a hall closet from the 1960s.  Satellite TV emerged in the 1970s as seen by this gigantic satellite dish.

Intercom radios mounted on the wall debuted in the early 1970s and were quite common in the late 1970s & even into the early 1980s.  This is a 1972 Phoenix home with an intercom radio.

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Design Through the Decades - Part 22

Phoenix homes in the 1960s did not have many significant new design features.  If you had to pin down one feature that defined the 1960s, it might be the step-down living room.  Here’s a Phoenix home from 1967.  You entered from the front door and took a step down into the living room.

Sometimes you stepped down into the living room from the dining room.

Metal railings and posts were popular accessories in the 1960s.

As we saw in the 1950s, built-in cabinets and cupboards continued their presence in 1960s Phoenix homes.  This is a home built in 1960.

This built-in cabinet has glass doors.

Here’s a wall shelf in a 1960 Scottsdale home.

Varnished wood doors and closet doors were popular features in the 1960s.

Having a planter inside the house was very chic in the 1960s.

Beamed ceilings also became very popular in 1960s Phoenix homes.  Here’s one from 1960.

A 1966 Phoenix home with a beamed ceiling.

Colored glass inserts were very trendy in the 1960s.

Wall paneling was used in the 1960s too.

This is a floor plan for a home built in 1960 by architect Al Beadle.

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Design Through the Decades - Part 21

Our examination of Phoenix homes from the 1950s to the 2000s now focuses on design features that were new and specific to that decade.  We start with the 1950s.

The standard Phoenix home in the 1950s was a ranch style, single story, 3 bedroom, one bath home with a one-car carport.  The most significant new feature to 1950s homes was central air conditioning.

A precursor to the “great room” design of the 1990s & 2000s, most 1950s homes had large front rooms that combined the formal living room and dining room.  Here’s a home built in 1952.  The front door was on the right and the dining room was on the left.  Big picture windows were also common features.

In 1958, this design style of a combined living/dining front room continued.  Oftentimes, the dining wall (with the painting) had a window that looked out to the carport.

Sometimes dining areas were separated by half walls, like this 1952 home in Glendale, Arizona.

Eat-in kitchens were very popular features in the 1950s.  Here’s an eat-in kitchen from 1958.

Another eat-in kitchen from 1959.  The windows overlook the carport to the right with breezeway and patio to the left.

One of the most distinguishing trademarks of 1950s homes was built-in cabinets.  This home was built in 1952.

1953 Phoenix home with built-in cabinets.

1955 Phoenix home with built-in cabinets.

And a 1957 Phoenix home with built-in cabinets.

Built-in cabinets were a popular upgrade for dining rooms as seen in this 1959 home.

And corner china cabinets were in high demand too.  1959 Phoenix home.

Corner china cupboards from the 1950s.

Exposed cinder block walls on the interior were commonly featured in 1950s homes.

Covered patios became a necessity for hot sunny Phoenix days.  1951 home with half-wall patio.

Large back yards were common in the 1950s in Phoenix as seen at this 1950 home.

Another big back yard at a 1952 Phoenix home.

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