French Country Homes Introduction to French County style      The interpretation of French architectural styles in America goes back to the last half of the 19th Century when the French Second Empire style became popular.  Just after the turn of the 20th Century the Chateauesque style and then the French Eclectic style were popluar.  In the last decade the French Country style has become very popular.  All these styles relied on the very steep pitched roofs typically found on homes of the nobility and landed gentry as exemplified in their Chateau and Manor architecture.  While we have found some exciting, beautiful smaller homes with steep roofs in the French countryside, we feel that not to consider the lower pitched roof styles ignores a large and wonderful part of the traditional vernacular French County architecture especially as found in the South of France.  As designers we feel that the Cottage tradition offers much to inspire fresh new and original home design for both larger and smaller homes.      We offer full design and planning for remodeling of existing houses in adaptive manner to these styles as well as the French Provincial and Normandy styles from Massachusetts to California, Oregon to Virginia.  We offer restoration designs and plans for old homes in these styles from New York to Arizona.   Read more about Architectural styles on our Comments page. As the lead designer for this project, I chose to go back and begin with  a more modest southern French country home for this design.  This  house was modeled after an old country farmhouse near Toulouse in southwestern France.  Pictured here is our original new home design.   It is unique in that it incorporates three sections with the low pitched gable roof of the farm cottage with three sections in which the cylindrical towers often found in large old farm complexes are used.  Of course we took some artistic license with putting these elements together and in creating the architectural detailing. This is one of those designs that is specially suited for a couple whose children are grown and who love to entertain.  A circular portico wraps around the front entry tower.  Guests arrive then in a large open Great Room with lofty ceiling.  To one side is a large open kitchen designed for guests to gather in.  A circular island at its center contains the double cooktops. Counters wrap around the curved walls and lead into the ample working section of the kitchen.  This area is accessed directly from the garage and wine cellar below via a lift giving great convenience.  The circular Dining Room connects to the outer part of the kitchen as well as the Great Room.  The sweeping curved Verandah wraps around the rear beyond the Dining Tower.  In the tallest tower is a large open circular stair hall with open stairways wraping around. One flight up  is the Library and one flight down is a lounge and bar.  Also on the lower level are a large gym with pool and steam room, a large home theater, and stone walled wine tasting room and cellar.   A  French Eclectic in Arizona The design of this French Eclectic style home, recently completed, contains about 4,800 sq ft living space plus a large veranda at the rear. Custom designed as a family home and built in the Pheonix area. It is covered by a roof with a relatively moderate pitch for this Eclectic French style.  Its plan contains a large family room with open kitchen and breakfast nook overlooking the back yard.  Beside the Dining Room and Living Room are a home office, 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms.  A three car garage enters from the end of the building. Authentic French Country Homes A Little Something to spark your Immagination Shown here is a selection of county homes in Southern France, our preferred source for the New French Country Style home in America. Note the variation of roof styles.  The first three are wonderful cottages, two with very low pitched roofs and the other with some noble pretention toward the Chateau, with its little square tower. The right-middle image shows a large farm/manor house compound with a fine round tower and complex massing of roof forms.   The typical French manor farm compound, comprising numerous build­ings, was almost invariably built around a court, very wide, walled about and planted with fruit-trees. The two images at the bottom show exceptional smaller homes with the steep roofs.  The informality of the grouping of the vari­ous buildings, the roof masses, walls, and entrance-gateways have many sug­gestions to offer.  For designing new country houses for our clients, the smaller, more informal châteaux, the manors, and the larger farm buildings & cottages are valuable for ideas of massing, materials, and details.        Authentic Country French Kitchens Just a couple of our favorites are shown here. photo courtesy of Country Kitchen & Recipes, by Barbara and Rene Stoeltie photo courtesy of Country Kitchens,  Jocasta Innes  James Merrell Here is a great site for authentic French architectural and landscape features:  http://authenticprovence.com/about_us.cfm