Charm that's Bigger Than It Really Is in Lake Claire

On Tuesday morning the low winter sun lit the south side of McLendon and this little house caught my eye. Tax records say it's about 1,200 square feet, built in 1940. It's so good.


There are 1000's of great ways to detail this wall but a billion bad ways.


The gable's peak is half hipped, clipped or jerkinhead: "a hipped part of a roof which is hipped only for a part of its height leaving a truncated gable."


The bell-shaped window just touches the fascia.


The returns are prominent but not too beefy. The white trim moves my eye all around. The tall chimney has a little hat. Neatly spaced  little boxwoods don't crowd the view or diminish the height. A leggy bush softens the corner but doesn't hide the foundation. the hydrangeas aren't yet overgrown. It would look so different without the window box. Smooth trim and glass, shingles on roof and walls, brick and screen, horizontals, verticals and diagonals, one complex curve.

Designers get these details right and can imagine successful variations.


Guests know where to knock and sense the sheltering porch.


The garbage cans are just a sign of life.


Bravo. Let's come back in the spring.