by Ellen M. Barnes
We’ve been getting more requests recently to build horizontal fences and trellises for Nashville homeowners. And we’ve even been seeing more doors that incorporate horizontal lines. (I put a couple in my photo collage below.) Horizontal fencing in particular contributes a West Coast vibe that’s casual but still polished, and a lot of Nashville folks are looking for that to set them apart from the more traditional and historical-style homes. Horizontal fences cost a little bit more to build because they require more lumber but also because they require more design considerations. Nonetheless their owners typically love them for the artistic, architectural statement they make. They go especially well, I think, with new construction homes since they have a modern look.
In a blog post on the subject, architect Bob Borson writes, “Because more and more of our designs are about extending the inside into the yard, we want to design our fences to read more like walls. This allows us to create a visually pleasant and viably usable exterior area while trying to capture that random 10′ of side yard space. One of the ways we avoid our fences actually looking like fences is to use alternate materials and/or different scaled components to build the fence. Another method for having fences read like walls is to turn the boards horizontal. Sounds like a simple little trick … and it is, but it works really well.”
