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People will tell you that “country French” dominates residential architecture in the Capital Region. But Robert Zwirn, an architect with Metrostudio New Orleans and a professor with the LSU School of Architecture, begs to differ.

“You’re not going to find a house in France that looks like [the typical Baton Rouge house], unless it was built by Toll Brothers,” he says, referring to the mass-market luxury homebuilder.

Zwirn is a fan of the late A. Hays Town, who built romantic Acadian houses in the South for decades. But Zwirn argues that current Baton Rouge architecture lost the Town influence at least 10 years ago, and he says much of what’s built here could just as easily be found in suburban New England as south Louisiana.

“Some of them are so bad, they’re comical,” he says, citing Perkins Rowe and the new condos near LSU as particularly egregious examples. But historically accurate or not and whether you like it or not, the look is apparently here to stay, although a bit more variety could be on the way.

Some of the common components of what many call the country French look include steeply pitched roofs with shallow overhangs, arched dormers [vertical windows that project out from a sloping roof], casement windows, segmented arches and a center mass of stucco often flanked by smaller wings made of another material, often brick. Porches tend to be small and tucked into the back of the house and often feature wrought iron detailing. The custom homes often include recycled building materials.

“It will always be popular here,” architect Kevin Harris says. “It’s a part of our culture and our architectural heritage.” He doesn’t find country French limiting; rather, he embraces its traditions while finding ways to be creative with certain aspects or unexpected features, like windows that look out across a courtyard toward another part of the house, rather than out into the distance.

The look can get a bit boring when a developer builds essentially the same house 20 times or so in a neighborhood, but Harris says he understands why developers like the French style, since it’s so broadly accepted by this market. He believes Tuscan architecture, which often features ceramic tile roofs, courtyards, small fountains tucked away in unexpected places, clean, simple roofs and very little ornamentation, is the next trend.

Realtor Jerry del Rio, while not critical of the French look, says developers have overbuilt the French homes to the point where it’s hard for some potential buyers to find other options.

“It’s like every house looks the same to them,” she says. Del Rio says she expects to see more houses in the near future with a West Indies or Mediterranean look, both of which are inspired by the mild climate of their origin and feature stucco, big patios and spaces that are open to the outdoors.

“The builders took it by the horns and ran with it,” says Sandy Daly, real estate broker with C.J. Brown, of the French look. The style meshes well with south Louisiana’s culture, makes good use of available space and provides a “stately presence” regardless of price range, she says.

But Daly says even many agents are getting tired of seeing it everywhere. And while other styles may be gaining popularity, if you drive along Highland Road, the houses you see being built are still mostly French, she says.

Real estate agents say they haven’t noticed a backlash against the French style yet, but add all trends must come to an end eventually. For a buyer in the market for a new house, most of the choices will have the French look. If the buyer is looking at older homes, she says the French style isn’t really an option. Newcomers tend to ask for the “southern architecture,” and they usually like the French stuff, she says.

Chris Remson of Remson-Haley-Herpin Architects says part of the appeal of the durable style is its practicality, as the houses tend to be boxy and efficient to build, and says it’s been prevalent here for 15 years. He also sees more of a West Indies style creeping into our market.

What he doesn’t see is much of a trend towards more modern, progressive houses. Commercial buildings, which have to accommodate large numbers of people, almost have an obligation to be of their time. But homes are more often reflective of a single person’s taste and preferences, and many people will be most comfortable with what is most familiar. Remson finds that people who have the means to build a custom-designed home tend to be older and less experimental. Still, some clients are open to progressive ideas, which is fine with him.

“We’re always trying to nudge the market away from the same old same old,” he says. “We want to be able to be as creative as we can be.”

“It’s not our favorite,” says Dwayne Carruth with Front Door Design Studio of the French look. He says its popularity draws on the natural connection we have to French culture living in south Louisiana. If one builder does it and makes money, the next one will follow suit. In a softening real estate market, why take a chance?

Many newer neighborhoods insist on consistency of style, which makes it harder to build something that actually stands out, he says.

But in places like Goodwood, the Garden District and Southdowns, older neighborhoods where variety is the norm, more modern homes are starting to pop up, Carruth says, and that’s what Front Door likes to focus on. People who come to Front Door are usually already looking for something different, because that’s what the firm is known for. At the same time, Carruth likes to encourage the client in that direction.

“We know, in the end, they will end up happier,” he says. “You don’t get great by shooting for mediocre.”

His customers are getting away from the typical Baton Rouge layout that he describes as “foyer, dining room, living room, kitchen around the corner,” and toward more open floor plans. Double bathrooms, his and hers home offices and common areas for the kids are becoming popular features, while fewer people are putting in special media rooms for the stereo and the 72-inch TV.

“There are more people in Baton Rouge who are not from Baton Rouge,” Carruth says, “and they don’t want their home to look like every house in Baton Rouge.”