For some homeowners, Halloween isn’t a holiday – it’s an aesthetic and a lifestyle. You’re not satisfied with the ordinary layouts of modern houses, but long for something striking, like the Addams Family mansion.
The best part about a custom home is that you don’t need to conform to the tastes of everyone else. YOU get to decide how it looks. Maybe you can’t add a cemetery to the backyard or quicksand to a room (as it’s hard to get building permits for those), but you can give your dream home a tasteful Addams Family mansion vibe in your remodeling plans.
Dramatic Architecture
One of the key aspects of making your home Addams-esque is the architecture. The Addams Family house is based on the Second Empire style. It’s characterized by a big, dark, tower-like section on the front with a steeply sloped roof. Adding this tower room can provide function as well as fashion, as it could make a great study, in-law suite, or guest bedroom. It’s not strictly necessary for the exterior of your home to look like the mansion, as it’s what’s inside the counts, but it’s a nice touch.
For the interior, if your home doesn’t already have them, you’ll want to do some remodeling to add some high ceilings and a sweeping staircase.
Luxurious Interior Design
Statement Ceilings
Ceilings do a lot to give a room a sense of scale. Vaulted ceilings especially give a room a feeling of grandeur, as they’re elevated to meet the height and angle of the roof. Vaulted ceilings with exposed beams can also make the house feel older and more rustic, so it gives a sense that your family has lived there for generations. And, of course, hanging a large, dramatic chandelier from such a ceiling adds an extra touch of elegance.
If you’re not sold on high vaulted ceilings, tray ceilings are a great alternative. Tray ceilings feature two levels, with a center section that is several inches higher than the areas around the room’s perimeter. This gives visual depth which creates the illusion of the room being taller than it is. The center section can even look more glamorous with a patterned inlay or you can keep it simple with solid, contrasting colors.
Hidden Doorways
Hidden doorways that make you think of secret passages are a fantastic way to give your home that tasteful Addamscore aesthetic. It can be as subtle or as over the top as you like with some creative design and construction techniques. You can disguise a door by covering it with the same molding or wallpaper as the surrounding walls. There’s also the classic “door disguised as a bookshelf” that leads to your home library or study, which would fit the Addams Family vibe perfectly. Just make sure you don’t hide the door so well that you can’t remember where it is, either.
Large Windows
Making a home based on the Addams Family mansion doesn’t mean everything must be dark. Many of the rooms have large windows that add both a grand feeling of luxury and natural light. You can easily add curtains to darken a room when you like, then pull them open when you have guests.
Windows are essential if you’re a horticulturist like Morticia. You don’t need to build a full greenhouse or conservatory; just remodel an existing room by adding skylights and large windows. You’ll find yourself with a bright, beautifully airy room that’s perfect for your headless roses, African Stranglers or poison ivy.
Grand Fireplace
Any beautiful home, mansion or otherwise, should have a grand fireplace in the living room. Fireplaces have remained an iconic statement piece in homes for centuries, and with today’s technology and building techniques, they’re much more customizable than before. You can keep the design simple and decorate around it with a giant stuffed bear and curios, or you can make it gorgeously ornate. It really is up to you.
One of the major themes of the Addams Family throughout its various iterations is individuality. Nothing represents that better than their home, and you should reflect it in yours. Don’t force yourself to conform to the styles everyone else loves if they aren’t for you. For your custom home, you can count on the design build team of JM Construction to give you the tasteful Addams Family home you’ve been dreaming of.
