You know you’ve seen them and they seem familiar. There’s an unusual small balcony hanging over the front doorway with one or two French doors opening onto it from the second level. A few of these houses have conventional windows and doors while others possess Spanish tile and rustic timber shutters. It seems Spanish, English and French all at the same time. What is this type of abode?
It’s probably a Monterey style, also known as Monterey colonial. The most familiar assortment of these were constructed from the 1930s through the 1950s, but the roots of this design go back to Spanish colonial California when Monterey was the capital of the area throughout Spanish and Mexican rule.
Homes of the age were constructed with adobe bricks covered with stucco. In the influence of Anglo settlers, hipped or gabled roofs were added using a moderate slope and covered with wood shingles. The balcony could possibly have been inspired from Spanish townhouses but was affectionately adopted and modified by new settlers from the eastern U.S. bringing conventional details together.
By the 1920s, eclecticism dominated a fast-growing and style-conscious American civilization. Modern architecture hardly peaked through expanding suburbs filled with Tudor, colonial revival, Spanish, and French diverse architecture. Because of all these choices, with the exception of this touch balcony, versions on the Monterey design are wide. It was only at that point a subtype of this design called Creole French created, where wrought iron is used on the balcony.
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Average configuration
Frequent to this design is a rectangular strategy where one finish jobs past the balcony. Roofs can be hipped, like this example, and have a small but positive overhang and eave line. Note the article cap detail and mix of wrought iron railing with the home.
Different substances
This balcony typically overhangs the entry door supported by wood mounts and posts. Examples of this design use a combination of wall stuff. Stucco over brick veneer shows a rustic effect. Board and batten or clapboard siding are all found in a number of different cases of this design and stucco is commonly used in conjunction.
Stylistic mixtures
A colonial entry door is used alongside French doors on the upper level. Casement windows follow the proportion and detail of the French doors. Notice the bay window at the right of this elevation. This was a frequent window layout for several styles of homes constructed in precisely the same period. Note the clever detail of this second floor overhang where a beam crosses the boxed bay window and can be supported by 2 inset beams on each end. Note also the varying camera styles all painted a soft blue, as is the entry door.
Intimate scale
Similar in strategy to the former example but more modestly scaled, this home has a gable roof covering the entire structure such as the balcony. This is a common configuration, although the Spanish tile roof is less frequent.
The balcony detail is quite easy with square posts and cantilever beams. As would be Spanish colonial originals, the entire body of the house is wrapped in stucco, sans the adobe walls to get timber framing. Carefully proportioned French doors and casement windows are shuttered using a simple panel layout. Note the horizontal projected frame of the entry door and the small lower level window. This is probably used to imply thicker walls as adobe would be.
Adapted versions
A variant on the Monterey is always to have wrought iron set of timber details. This is some times known as Creole French and became popular as an update to homes in the 1940s and ’50s. This was probably influenced by the monitoring of likewise designed balconies in New Orleans. Three distinct cultures merge to create this layout.
True to form in plan, it has a combination of hip and gable roofs with Spanish tile. It’s likely that this home originally had timber railings and posts but currently displays an extravagant use of wrought iron to the railing, posts and shutters. It’s clad in stucco and the brick from the landscape can be probably a later alteration to the initial layout. Somewhat more unusual is the mix of window types, shapes and dimensions. French doors exist as well as a scalloped roof in the bay window on the lower left of this elevation. The entry door and surround is a traditional colonial detail.
Theme variant
In different variations of the fashion, the balcony has been abbreviated as in this example. The majority of the other components on this home can be found in similar Spanish diverse styles. However, the classically detailed entrance surround guarantees its Monterey individuality.
Other interpretations
In this twist on the theme the balcony has been turned to a personal courtyard area of the Spanish colonial style home. Additionally, the underside of the balcony has been full of a arcade.
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