Can I put victorian style casing i.e. fluted casing and rosettes, in a hip-roof Colonial? Wifey likes the look but I want to be sure it's an appropriate style for the house (which happens to be more traditional). Thanks.
"Can", sure...is it appropriate? Well, since Victorian didn't come until roughly mid-19th century you're about a 100 years late if it's really "Colonial". Depends on whether it's really an historic-vintage house or just a recent stylized version as to how truly desecrating it might be... :)
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General rule 1 - marital harmony trumps appropriateness of details unless your house is or should be on the National Register.
General rule 2 - changing details that don't materially impact or ruin an edifice is acceptable.
You pass on both counts.
R
Sarah said to God: "How can I bear a child when my husband is so old?" (later) God said to Abraham: "Sarah asked how could she bear a child since she is so old...?"
The rabbis hold that God lied to Abraham so that maritial discord should not occur.
Go with the rosettes. Maybe gargoyles.
You can put in anything you like, of course. A big part of the decision, if it was mine to make, would be what kind of woodwork is there now and what value to the whole house does it have. If you have an old home with solid oak woodwork, you could slash the value by putting in lower quality/style of wood. But, then, you live in it so make it the way you like it. The older the home, the more serious consideration I would give it. And I might keep all the trim that I replace. Just don't hang blue chickens all over the place :o)
And God said to Oren: "Don't suggest things to the Bride." :-))
Oren
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First of all, I am assuming that your house is "Colonial Revival" and not "Colonial" (built before 1820's).
My second assumption is that you are talking about interior casing, not exterior details.
Our local historic preservation guru says "be true to your style". Our last house was Victorian, the one before that was Arts & Crafts, and our current is Colonial Revival. They all have their charms, and we try to be consistent with the architecture between the outside and inside. You might want to consider the potential impact on resale value before simply letting your wife "have her way".
JK
If you're considering the skinny casings and under 3" rosettes at the box stores, they look really tacky next to real Victorian wood work. My neighbor is rehabbing a real Victorian and is getting a lot of wood work from our local historic salvage operation. I think he learned his lesson from first using the box store material. You may have a builders salvage operation in your area, so check out the possibilities. HTH
Joe
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