Davis Homes & Architectural Styles

Over the years the best trends in modern American architecture have found expression in modest Davis houses. From a trendy Streng Bros subdivision built at the height of atomic age, to a sustainable suburb of green powered Village Homes built by flower children, Davis homes tell a unique California story. You'll find romantic turn of the century Craftsman homes in Woodlands, pre and post war California bungalows and curvy adobe, pueblo and spanish revival homes throughout this part of the Sacramento Valley.

Davis Mid-Century Modern

In the 60s, Davis really started to boom and the town saw huge growth in the University and in the real estate market at that time. The end result is a wealth of mid-century modernist homes with clean lines, airy rooms, high ceilings and plenty of flow from one room to the next. Modernist homes are distinguished by interesting roof lines, open floor plans and walls of glass.

Streng Brothers Homes Davis

The Streng Brothers are perhaps the best known mid-century builders in Davis. In all, the brothers built an estimated 3000 modernist homes in the Sacramento valley between 1959 and 1989, including entire neighborhoods in North Davis inspired by the work of Eichler in and around Davis in the 60s and 70s. Streng Brothers homes in Davis were designed by architect Carter Sparks for the hot Sacramento Valley climate and the neighborhoods are loved for their shady, tree-lined streets.

Rancher

In and around Davis California, you'll find plenty of these unpretentious comfortable homes. No surprise, considering that some estimates say that between 1945 and 1970 approximately 70 percent of all homes built in America were Ranchers. During the baby boom, the American landscape began to fill up with Western Ranchers, California Ramblers and split level ranch homes. By embracing the modernist aesthetic developed in Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie and Usonian Houses and melding them with ideas of the wild west, American architects gave birth to the most uniquely American-style home in history.

Low to the ground and unrepentant about taking up space, Ranchers are usually one story homes with long roof lines, vaulted ceilings, big sunny windows and open floor plans. With a tip of the hat to the ever-present American family car, the rancher was also the first house design to make the inclusion of a garage or carport standard.

Despite falling out of favor in the 70s, the merits of the Rancher are quickly being rediscovered by new home buyers. A refreshing alternative to Victorian homes with small rooms and corridors, Ranchers will always appeal to those home buyers who are looking for a house with plenty of space and light. Of course, status as an American Icon doesn't hurt either.

Green Homes

In general, green homes have high standards for energy efficiency, indoor air quality, community health, water efficiency and land use. There's no doubt that green homes are gaining in popularity, especially in California where abundant sunshine makes options like solar energy a viable alternative to fossil fuels and hydro.

Any home can be a green home, whether it's new construction that incorporates environmental sustainability into the design from the start, or an older home that makes solar panels and recyclable materials part of a renovation. But there's no question that some homes are greener than others.

Village Homes in Davis

In Davis California, the community of Village Homes has been a model of this type of building for over 25 years. Designed as an environmentally sustainable subdivision in West Davis, the Village's 225 homes and 20 apartments incorporate passive solar and natural drainage to conserve energy and natural resources. The street design and system of trails throughout the neighborhood encourage bike use and pedestrian traffic. Nearly 30 varieties of fruit trees provide a gorgeous and edible landscape all year round and common areas between homes encourage community while providing an abundance of greenspace.

California Bungalow

Of course you'll find this darling of American Architecture in Yolo County, though historic Woodlands has many more examples of this early 20th century style home than the more modern Davis. Initially designed for the dry hot climate of India, the open and airy atmosphere of a California Bungalow is a perfect match for the sunshine of the Sacramento Valley.

Many of the California Bungalows in this area predate WWI, though they continued to be popular right into the baby boom. They are modest family homes, usually one or one-and-a-half stories high, that make great use of space while offering lots of charm. Features include stucco exteriors, a single gabled attic window centered at the front of the house, cozy living rooms with high ceilings, and a generous front porch that often spans the entire width of the house.

Spanish Revival

Yolo County is full of homes inspired by Mexican adobe and Spanish mission architecture. Typical features include signature red tile roofs, arched doors and windows, wide eaves, courtyards with stone fountains, and heavy stone walls. The materials and design of these buildings romantically evoke a time when handmade adobe bricks were the premier building materials throughout California.