Architectural Wonders: Unique Exterior Features for Your Home

Have you ever wondered what makes a home’s curb appeal unique? Take a look at the most exciting home you drive by often. Innovative homes typically feature asymmetry, distinctive landscaping, or intriguing architectural features unlike any other. These features are meant to draw in the eye and set the home apart from the rest of the neighborhood.

You can include bold, innovative features in homes of any style, size, or age. This guide will note some of the most interesting ways to draw attention and style to your home’s exterior.

Many homes are redefining where they can include plant life, landscaping, and gardens. While rooftop gardens aren’t new in concept, more homes are being renovated and designed with plants embedded directly into the roofs. These ‘living’ roofs have a water filtering membrane to provide water to plants without leaking to the home below or adding water damage. These types of roofs add charm and nature to a home’s design. Living roofs aren’t the only features incorporating plant life into the home’s design. Features like vine arch entryways, plant balconies, and living window trims are some fun examples.

When most people picture a home, they think of stereotypical, symmetrical box shapes with a triangular gable roof. Lately, modern homes are made of many different shapes and sizes, creating an asymmetrical look unlike any other home on the block. There are many ways to develop asymmetrical shapes and profiles, making it a fun way to personalize a home. Rectangular rooms with sharp, flat, metal roofs and rounded windows on one side meet traditional gabled roofs with rectangular windows for a totally new home design. There are infinite ways to create asymmetrical home designs.

More homes are taking advantage of the bold look of mixed materials on the exterior. Stone or brick siding can combine with rustic wood beams and metal roofs to form a lot of textures, colors, and themes into one homefront. The choice of material is up to the designer, allowing numerous tailored, colorful, beautiful choices. 

Neutral homes are evergreen in popularity, but contemporary homes aren’t shying away from color any longer. Bright, vividly painted entryway doors create a focal point for the home’s exterior. Colorful shutters against an otherwise neutral exterior can add charm without overwhelming a home with color. Adding simple touches of vivid accent colors can also present a cost-effective way to change a home’s look.

Both new constructions and older homes are switching to eco-friendly, sustainable materials for better efficiency. Roofing includes durable, recyclable, or natural materials that don’t break down in the environment; metal or rubber are prime examples of more sustainable materials. While vinyl was once a cost-effective, cheap option for siding, eco-friendly homes are shying away from plastic options as much as possible. Solar panels are quite common in newer, innovative homes, as is LED, solar-powered exterior lighting. Adding plant life or landscaping can style a home in infinite ways while giving flora a safe place to grow.

Windows are great for providing accessible, natural lighting during the daytime. They also add a sleek, modern look to any home style. Old-fashioned windows, like bay windows or shutters, can add a vintage look if desired. Windows can also come in many shapes and sizes according to taste. Some of the most intriguing home exteriors feature interesting window shapes or floor-to-ceiling windows. Windows can also be any width, allowing installation in tight corners or slender sides. Need help with a bland exterior wall? Add a window! Stained, textured, or frosted glass can also present a unique take on windows.

Recycling is popular in real estate, too. Many contemporary homes are repurposing materials and abandoned structures into homes to reduce material waste and create innovative looks. Shipping containers combined in a modular design are currently quite popular in modern homes, and they can be used in many different ways, adding varying designs to a home exterior. Some homes and apartment complexes are repurposing run-down historical buildings, such as factories and mills, to create new living spaces; these often combine old, industrial charm with new features for fans of loft-like homes.

These days, new constructions aren’t the only homes looking unique. Older, vintage homes are preserving their charm when undergoing exterior home renovations. Victorian houses preserve their castle-like silhouettes while incorporating new features such as expansive windows and eco-friendly materials. Turn-of-the-century Tudor-style homes feature metal roofs, sharp lines, and sustainable wood accents while keeping their mixed material, often asymmetrical antique beauty.

Flat roof corners and dramatic beam lines in a home’s exterior can form particularly sharp edges and corners, an unusual choice in traditional residential design. These sharper lines draw the eye and grab attention, ideal for fans of bold looks and well-defined shapes. These architectural edges can be formed in various ways, allowing for custom or tailored choices in location and style.

Conclusion

A home exterior can look bold, unique, or innovative in many ways. If you’re looking for drama, vivid accent colors, sharp edges, and asymmetrical designs are the perfect choice. If you’re looking for more sustainability and eco-friendliness in a home, living roofs, solar-powered lighting, repurposed structures, and reinventing a vintage home are decent ways to reduce resource waste and conserve energy. With so many options and choices, there is barely a limit to how your home’s exterior can look.

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