Best Architectural and Home Design Ideas for Family Homes in Los Angeles

The idea of a new home for your family is both exciting and overwhelming. There are many moving parts to consider for a family home in Los Angeles. Thisincludes picking the best home layout design that meets your everyday needs. In addition, you will need tofamiliarize yourself with some of the city’s popular architectural works and decideona classic build or a modern style home.

An article for Your Amazing Places titled “How to Choose a Home That Suits your Lifestyle” suggest that a home should be many things—it should cater to family togetherness, raising children,allow for individual space, and provide comfort throughout twilight years.The best architectural and home design ideas can help you decide on a home that perfectly matchesyour family’s needs.

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Different Architectural Styles for Your Family Home in Los Angeles

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The beautiful and diverse city of Los Angeles is home to some of the finest and most unique architectural worksthat boost its visual appeal. When deciding which style is best, it depends onpersonal taste. The most frequently seen architecture house design scattered throughout the city include American Colonial, Contemporary, Cape Cod, Cottage, and Mid-Century Modern.

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American Colonial

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Perhaps the city’s most recognized architectural style, American colonial house design evokes a sense of history, tradition, and homeyness. Usually symmetrical and two or three stories tall, this style presents aspiring homeowners with an abode adorned with a brick or wood façade.It spotlights minimal details or embellishments, a steeply pitched gabled roof,a large central fireplace, and a paneled entrance door withan even number ofwindows on the left side as the right.

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The main level of an American colonial home is the kitchen, living room, and dining room. A centered staircase to the second floor leads to the bedrooms and a bathroom. Most recently constructed homes in Los Angeles have takenthe American colonial blueprint and modified it to serve as functional spaces that complement modern living.

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The house plan maintains a basic symmetrical exterior but interiors tend to be more spacious and brighter. And giventhe colonial architectural style homes’ straightforward and extremely versatile layout, it makes it possible to adopt distinct characteristics and aesthetic variation.

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Cape Cod

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Initially in vogue in the 1600s, the cape cod architectural style is considered by many as one of the quintessential American house styles. Typically no more than one and a half stories, its classic designendures due to its simplicity, practicality, and picture-perfect symmetry. All of these align to create one of the most aesthetically charming and characterful house styles around.

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Like many historic architectural house plans, the cape cod practical and sturdy structure is distinguished byflat-front facades free of any superfluous ornamentation, steeply pitched side-gabled roof, wood siding, and large central chimney and front door with multi-pane windows on each side of it. Traditionally, cape cod homeswere fairly small—yet, no matter the size, its dormer windows added ample light and ventilation.

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Today, these beautiful homes found across Los Angeles have evolved and are perfect for a variety of homeowners. In her article for Homes & Garden titled “Cape Cod House Style,” KelseyMulvey writes that the cape cod style “now falls into one of three categories: a full Cape, three-quarter Cape, and half Cape.” Depending on the site, an extension to the current cape cod house design can be added on the side or back to accommodate the desire for more space and give the simple structure unpretentious charm.

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Contemporary

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A standout design where various features blend, contemporary is a very prevalent style across Los Angeles. While it’s challenging to formally describe what constitutes “contemporary” architecture, the term has come to describe a wide range of present-day house styles that concentrate on simple forms, geometric lines, and a harmonious fuse of structure and nature.

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Common in this style isa love for asymmetry, natural lighting that comes in through large, abundant windows, and an openconcept that emphasizes a sense of flow.Thanks to myriad innovations in building technics, it embraces a dynamic mix of materials and texturesthat keep nature in mind. It also focuses on the use of geometrical shapes like curves and rectangles to create expressive and unconventional buildings.

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Cottage

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The thatched-roof cottages throughout many eras of English architecture inspired American architects to design the simple yet charming cottage-style houses we celebrate today. This quaint house style popularized in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s and has since weathered the passage of time.

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Often a summer or vacation home, this mostly single-story house stylepresentswhimsicalcraftsmanship that is not necessarily confined to the countryside. Cottage-style home plans in tree-lined streets across the city remarkably serve the same modest residential function. Homes of this nature embrace asymmetry and featuresteep gable rooflines, welcoming arched doors, casement windows with small panes, large central chimneys, and natural stone, brick, or stucco siding.

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Almost 100 years later, cottage home architecture still dots the Los Angeles landscape, only now much more evolved to cater to the need for open floor plans. However, newly designed cottages still deliver timeless charm and inviting comfort that speaks to many homeowners looking for a more honest and efficient footprint.

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Mid-Century Modern

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Boasting clean-lined open floor plans, muted curves, beam architectural design,lack of ornamentation, and adherence to proportioned angles, mid-century modern family homesencapsulate a wide range of forms. Its design approachdictates a need forample floor-to-ceiling glass walls with the intention of opening up interior spaces and merging the natural surroundings with the indoors.

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For the sake of minimalism, the style's simple exterior is complemented by equally understated furnishings with clean lines, partial walls, and small steps between rooms, either up or down,to create different depths.

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The enduring appreciation for mid-century modern homes has made this style accessible to millions of new homeowners looking to create a place of comfort, that takes advantage of the city’s charming natural landscape beyond the clerestory windows.

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How to Pick the Best Layout for your Family Home

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Moving into a home is an exciting phase to be inas a family but the process of choosing the best home layout design for custom home can be a daunting one. A carefully thought-through layout, one that meets both aesthetic and practical must-haves, should cater to your family’s changing needs down the line. Below are features to consider when deciding on the best floor plan design for a family home:

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Should have enough bedrooms

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When deciding on the best house layout, the design must allow for enough bedrooms. Modern house plans often allow for four or five bedrooms, taking into consideration growing families from the onset. While this may seem like many for some families, it does offer plenty of flexibility to meet changing family preferences easily.

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Adequate storage space

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When designing the best house layout for family, it can be challenging to determine the proper amount of storage space. We all desire a well-designed and laid-out home, and the only way to achieve this is to stay clear of as much visual clutter as possible. For many homeowners, storage space continues to be an issue in home design. According to Self-Storage Association, one out of every 10 households in America currently rents a self-storage unit—that’s 10.85 million Americans. As you think about designing your dream home, having plenty of storage space should be among the top featuresto take into account when discussing with your architect or custom builder from the start.

Planned kitchen

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As the hub of the home, a planned kitchen, one that’s efficient for cooking, eating, socializing, and entertaining, needs to be just perfect. The best home layout design should include a kitchen that meets all your family’s needs and one that you’ll be sure to enjoy being in. A planned kitchen caters to the tasks you perform most frequently, considers the position of the main components, has enough room between fixed spaces, and stays clear of wasted corners.

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Designate a playroom

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When planning the layout of your family home, a designated playroom for both study and fun should be given much consideration just as you would the mudroom or guest bedroom.In essence, having a spot dedicated to your kids provides a sanctuary where you can keep all playful chaos confined andother spaces clear of clutter. Better still, a visually stimulating space reinforces the idea of play, creativity, and freedom—so making provision for a designated space that will transform and grow with the kids is essential.

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Landscaping

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Similar to how you plan your internal environment, the outdoor area requires an equal amount of thought when picking your house building plans. It's important to determine how much time your family spends outside, the kind of outdoor activities they enjoy, and how best to put the space to good use. Excellent landscape significantly contributes to the functionality of your floor plan, so consider a design that will enhance your home’s curb appeal.

Tips for Finding the Perfect Place for Family Home

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In an article by Investopedia “The Factors of a Good Location,” location is key to valuable real estate. To find the perfect place in Los Angeles, it'simportant to consider what your priorities are and factor in local amenities, commute time, and, of course, the house’s resale value.

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Local amenities

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The best possible location for a family home is one with amenities and resources located nearby. Having easy access to schools, libraries, grocery stores, restaurants, parks, and open spaces offering family-friendly activities provides several advantages, the obvious one being the convenience and a social and active life for your kids.

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Resale value

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When considering the best place to live, it's important to keep the future in mind. This includes whether your desired location will positively add to the resale value of your home if you decide to put it on the market. Note that safe neighborhoods with easy access to quality home amenities are desired by homeowners looking to purchase a house and can greatly influence the property’s resale value.

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Commute time

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How long will it take to access the main highways and interstates and are the routes you will take from your home to important destinations easy to navigate? These are just a few questions to keep in mind when considering all the best places to buy property. To find the right answers, research the routes you’ll have to take to work and school and recheck commute time during rush hour.

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Lifestyle

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Consider your family’s lifestyle so as not to make poor decisions when choosing the ideal place. Do you desire a quiet family-oriented atmosphere of the suburbs or does your family love the livelybuzz of the citycenter?A better way to gauge whether a certain neighborhood suits your lifestyle is to visit the area at different times of the day including the weekend. This way, you can figure out if the noise levels, traffic, and nightlife are ideal for the way you live your life.

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Taxes

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One of the key starting points when finding the perfect place for your family home is to find out how much the current tax rate is. Additionally, find out if it has increased in the last five yearsand whether there is another expected increase. The detailed amount of home taxes should help you determine what you can comfortably afford and if that’s the best place to buy property.

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