Center-Hall Colonial-Style Homes

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Colonial-style homes have been built in the USA since before the Boston Tea Party back in the early days of the 1600s and 1700s as the name implies. The style has never really gone out of favor. One of its nicest variations is the center-hall colonial which has a roomy area inside the front door for receiving guests. The hallway cutting through the center of the house provides wonderful traffic flow through the house. Your children’s friends can go straight back to the kitchen while formal visitors can be escorted to the living room or library in the front of the house. It’s a formal style of house but it’s also generally quite comfortable. However, traditional colonial-style homes may not have the large windows that you will typically find in more contemporary homes.

Exteriors can tend to look a bit cookie-cutter with this very traditional style. You will find a big variety in exterior building materials used on these homes. More expensive homes may have exteriors of brick or fiber-cement siding which looks like wood clapboard but is much more resistant to damage from water or insects and needs painting less frequently than wood. More affordable homes may have aluminum or vinyl siding. An attached garage can negate some of the traffic-flow benefits of that center hall so pay close attention to the spot where you enter the house from the garage. That will actually be your route in and out of the house, more so than the front door. Will traffic still flow so nicely in the morning if the garage opens directly into the kitchen or family room? Many colonials do not have much of an eave or roof extending over the front door. You may regret that when the rain trickles down the back of your neck as you fumble for the front-door key.

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