182 EXTERIOR HOUSE DESIGN

Balance in relation to exteriors of houses may be formal or in-
formal. Formal or symmetrical houses are alike on both sides of
a central vertical axis. Usually a formal front fagade has a central
doorway with identical windows on the two sides of it and second-
floor windows located directly above first-floor openings. How-
ever, side or rear walls are not necessarily symmetrical. Sym-
metrical houses are expressive of dignity and restraint. Formal
balance should not be secured at the expense of a functional floor
plan, as, unfortunately, it often is. Houses with formal balance are
less difficult to design than the informal, and desirable models that
may be copied are numerous.

Informal or asymmetric balance is usually found in Modern, Non-
period, ranch, or hillside houses. The front view of an asymmet-
rical house often shows the kind of balance that is demonstrated
when a big boy and a little boy sit on a seesaw. A large part, the
entrance, near the center on one side is balanced by a smaller part,
windows, farther away on the other side. It is not easy to create
or to judge informal balance, as there are no definite guides, but
a house that does ndt appear one-sided is likely to balance. In-
formal balance is highly desirable. It is active, not passive; it is
subtle and friendly and often has charm and beauty. Most im-
portant of all it is consistent with functional floor plans of any
shape. An architect is more capable of judging balance than
others are. On page 194 the two houses above have informal bal-
ance and the two houses below have formal.

Emphasis applies in several ways to the exterior of a house.
There should be one large block or mass of the house that domi-
nates the entire composition; wings should be considerably smaller
and possibly lower than the main body. One surface material
should dominate but should not be conspicuous.

The entrance on the front facade should have dignity and style.
The entrance door should be definitely the center of interest. It
may be emphasized by purely decorative architectural embellish-
ment or by a useful element such as a small hood or roof, possibly
with columns. See page 73. It may also be accented by a pair
of tall distinctive shrubs or other features in the landscaping. Re-
straint in emphasis is as important as emphasis. The sensitive ob-
server rejoices at evidence that a designer has not employed em-
phasis to its fullest extent but has held his power in reserve,