Originally founded and inspired by The Walt Disney Company, Celebration was built to be a “New Community of the Year.” This well-planned community is located in Kissimmee, Florida and offers many amenities including public golf courses, a town center and neighborhood parks.
It’s easy to feel like you’ve stepped back in time with the simplistic architectural format and cleanly lined streetscapes. However, this unique community also embraces modern progress and innovation in many other ways.
Colonial
Colonial homes are recognizable by their central front door framed with two multi-paned windows symmetrically placed on either side. Columns are often used to enhance the symmetry of the facade. These homes are also known for their clean lines and conservative aesthetics.
They may not be for everyone, though. Many homeowners dislike the isolating effect of colonial-style homes, which feature a number of walls acting as room dividers instead of the more open floor plans common in other styles.
Boston, Massachusetts is another colonial-style town. The only difference is that it’s a much larger city with a more diverse economy than Celebration. Its biggest industries are education, healthcare, and finance. The town is also a popular vacation destination with a heavy focus on tourism.
Coastal
Unlike the slickly coordinated new towns that grew up around a central business district, Celebration is more parklike and less dependent on the automobile. Its planners, working with the Disney design firm, drew on the best of neotraditional thinking to create streets with narrower sidewalks and wider lots that allow for more trees.
Chiaramonte and his family like their new house in Celebration, though Bidwell’s inspection did reveal some minor problems. There was a chair molding cut at the wrong angle, scratches on the bathroom sink and the absence of a frosted glass window beside the Jacuzzi. Also, the town’s public school is a source of controversy, following a progressive curriculum that eliminates honors classes and grades. It has been criticized by parents who wish for their children to have the competitive advantages that come with more traditional educational experiences.
Victorian
Celebration is a small town of homes and shops that has been built from the inside out. Its neotraditional design is intended to evoke the idealism of prewar America, but its reality is more like the fantasy of a well-engineered utopia.
At the Preview Center, visitors are greeted by full-size enlargements of watercolor renderings of typical house styles in a parklike setting. Then they enter the Map Room, where a three-dimensional map of the town is displayed.
The map has doors on it that open to reveal actual front porches, driveways and garages. It also shows that houses of different architectural styles are indistinguishable from each other because strict zoning laws keep any distinctive features out of front yards. That is a big part of the reason that many residents find the place bland.
Craftsman
Craftsman door styles bring a hint of nostalgia and a simple beauty to your home. They are best known as a key element in Craftsman style homes, but they blend well with a wide range of other home styles. This versatile door style looks inviting as a single door or stately as a double door.
One unique feature of craftsman doors is the dentil shelf, which sits on top of the glass opening. These shelves serve little functional purpose, but they are a lovely design touch that helps accentuate your windows and surface details.
For this home, the natural wood garage door complements the siding and trim colors of the house, creating a clean appearance. Its black handles keep with the door’s simplicity, and they tie in with the light fixtures on either side of the door and the front porch railings.
French
French doors are popular for their ability to let a lot of light into rooms and for their timeless appeal. They feature multiple “lites,” or panes of glass, that are cut and fit to the full width of the door. They come in a variety of wood finishes, including pine, mahogany and Douglas fir, to match traditional homes in Longwood or Naples. They can open into a room or out to maximize patio space and are available in one-, two- or three-panel configurations. French doors require more maintenance and care than other types of doors. They also don’t always suit every design style, so carefully consider your options before choosing this door style.