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  #1  
Old Posted Jan 26, 2021, 1:26 AM
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SE Oakville Custom Home Architecture

SE Oakville is a neighbourhood in the Toronto suburb of Oakville.

During the neighbourhood's early European settlement history in the 19th century, it was primarily farm land, with several orchards, remnants of which can still be found n the few remaining pockets of agriculture along Winston Churchill Boulevard, and several of the old farmhouses were preserved during the period of suburbanization. During the early 20th century, most of the waterfront land was bought up for multi-acre estates.

Large scale suburbanization mainly began in the early 50s, and most of the neighbourhood was developed by the late 60s. The most common style of home built during this period was probably suburban ranch homes, although you also had some Cape Cod style homes, Colonial style homes, split levels, a bit of late Tudor Revival and other styles typical of the 50s-60s, as well as a small number of homes with unique modern designs. The last hold-outs of farmland were developed in the 1970s in the style typical of that decade.

Over the next few decades, little change occurred but this did allow mature trees to grow on the large lots.

Approximately 20 years ago however, as the Toronto real estate boom began to heat up, it began to be a highly desirable location for the construction of custom homes, thanks to its large lots that were (by Toronto standards) rather "underbuilt", proximity to Lake Ontario, high quality commuter rail service, mature tree canopy, charming historic downtown and good public schools.

As a result, approximately half (if not more) of the original housing stock has been torn down and rebuilt into custom homes for affluent suburbanites. Over the course of those 20 years, the architecture of the homes built spanned several architectural trends, so there's a decent bit of variety, between the remaining original homes and the new ones.
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Old Posted Jan 26, 2021, 1:29 AM
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The most significant new architectural trends in SE Oakville is modern architecture. There's been some of that in the initial 50s-60s suburban development, and a few custom homes here and there, but it really took off in the last 5 years to the point where I'd say about half of the homes being built right now are in that style.






Last edited by memph; Jan 26, 2021 at 1:36 AM. Reason: edit - let me resize those...
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  #3  
Old Posted Jan 26, 2021, 4:42 AM
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(not sure if the last one would count as modern or something else)
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Old Posted Jan 26, 2021, 4:49 AM
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Old Posted Jan 30, 2021, 11:42 PM
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Old Posted Feb 1, 2021, 3:38 PM
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Custom and yet cookie cutter at the same time.

Meh
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Old Posted Feb 1, 2021, 7:28 PM
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bit of a prairie style thing going on for some, not bad.
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Old Posted Feb 10, 2021, 9:06 PM
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Oakville is one of the better-planned suburbs, incorporating many New Urbanist principles, thinking a lot ahead, a strong and cohesive top-down approach, but it's nice to see some individualism and bottom-up approach to design as well, which is also lacking in suburbs.
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Old Posted Feb 10, 2021, 10:39 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doady View Post
Oakville is one of the better-planned suburbs, incorporating many New Urbanist principles, thinking a lot ahead, a strong and cohesive top-down approach, but it's nice to see some individualism and bottom-up approach to design as well, which is also lacking in suburbs.
I think that having larger lots to work with does give more flexibility in designs/lay-outs. When all you had to work with is a 30-45 ft wide lot like with a lot of North Toronto/Willowdale, you're more likely to just build the house to the minimum setback lines and max height and end up with a bunch of boxes that try to look like they're not boxes. Having the zoning allow different ways to achieve the maximum square footage on a standard lot size could lead to more varied designs. Toronto would probably also benefit from combining lots to allow side-loaded parking so that the street frontage isn't as garage dominated.
Side-loaded parking in Montreal:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.50029...7i16384!8i8192
Or you could have stuff like in Seattle:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@47.67164...7i16384!8i8192
Vs Fully front-loaded parking in Toronto:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.72454...7i16384!8i8192
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  #10  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2021, 10:57 PM
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A few more





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  #11  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2021, 5:36 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by memph View Post
I think that having larger lots to work with does give more flexibility in designs/lay-outs. When all you had to work with is a 30-45 ft wide lot like with a lot of North Toronto/Willowdale, you're more likely to just build the house to the minimum setback lines and max height and end up with a bunch of boxes that try to look like they're not boxes. Having the zoning allow different ways to achieve the maximum square footage on a standard lot size could lead to more varied designs. Toronto would probably also benefit from combining lots to allow side-loaded parking so that the street frontage isn't as garage dominated.
Side-loaded parking in Montreal:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.50029...7i16384!8i8192
Or you could have stuff like in Seattle:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@47.67164...7i16384!8i8192
Vs Fully front-loaded parking in Toronto:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.72454...7i16384!8i8192
LOL, yeah, wow, Toronto is just terrible compared to Seattle and Montreal. I never even noticed the variety and differences in terms of parking arrangements shown in these pictures, it is definitely something we need to consider more.

Btw, I like the houses in your latest post the most, from a pure aesthetic standpoint, especially that third house. These houses are bit more traditional or old-fashioned or something. Maybe I'm not as big a fan more modern style in the earlier pics.
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Old Posted Feb 12, 2021, 2:40 AM
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Originally Posted by Doady View Post
LOL, yeah, wow, Toronto is just terrible compared to Seattle and Montreal. I never even noticed the variety and differences in terms of parking arrangements shown in these pictures, it is definitely something we need to consider more.

Btw, I like the houses in your latest post the most, from a pure aesthetic standpoint, especially that third house. These houses are bit more traditional or old-fashioned or something. Maybe I'm not as big a fan more modern style in the earlier pics.
Yeah, that's the architectural style that was most popular in the late 00s to mid 10s before the modern style really took off. They feel like a mix of Pacific NW and New England styles, although they are often partially clad in limestone/dolostone which I think is mostly a Toronto thing (since we have a lot of quarries around the Niagara Escarpment). Even though modern style homes are a bit more popular, this "coastal influenced" style is still quite popular in new homes. I think it's mostly just in Southern parts of Oakville, Burlington, and maybe Mississauga though. I haven't seen them much in Toronto or York Region.
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  #13  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2021, 6:14 AM
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A few more taken earlier this month.






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Old Posted Feb 28, 2021, 9:45 PM
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A few more. Some of these are trying a little too hard... but I do like how the first one integrates the garages into the design of the house by matching the garage doors with the house windows.





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  #15  
Old Posted Feb 28, 2021, 10:03 PM
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In the last two posts, I like that last house the most, the way the 2nd floor portrudes and overhangs the front door and without diverting attention away from the door, the way they achieve balance without symmetry, the least flashiest design but still the most inviting.
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Old Posted Mar 1, 2021, 6:27 AM
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Originally Posted by Doady View Post
In the last two posts, I like that last house the most, the way the 2nd floor portrudes and overhangs the front door and without diverting attention away from the door, the way they achieve balance without symmetry, the least flashiest design but still the most inviting.
Yeah, it's like a slightly better built and designed version of the typical tract house from an upper-middle class 90s-00s US suburb. Nothing too complicated but it works better than some of the more pretentious but tacky looking efforts (particularly the 3rd picture on yesterday's post).
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