The Contemporary style actually included a number of different styles that were popular following the Second World War. The style extended from the 1940s into the 1990s. It included Cape Cod, Ranch and a number of 'Neo-' styles (e.g. Neo-Colonial Revival, Neo-Tudor, Neo-Classical, Neo-Victorian and Nouveau Traditional).
Many houses built in the Contemporary style incorporate certain elements of earlier styles. The Cape Cod, including the example shown above, tended to be one and one-half-storeys tall and incorporated the symmetrical door and window placement of the Georgian style, but tended to have only one wind/ow on either side of the door. The Cape Cod seldom sports a porch on the facade, but when it does, it is generally very small. The Cape Cod sported dormers, like those popular in the Victorian and American Foursquare styles.
Although rarely seen in other styles, the Contemporary house was often attached to an adjacent garage either directly or by a short 'breeze-way' or, as in the split-level, often incorporated in the basement level.
The Ranch style encompassed any single-storey or split-level structure often surmounted by a hip-roof. The facade tended to incorporate asymmetrical spacing and placement of the door and any number of windows.
The Contemporary style is exemplified by the Cape Cod house at 445 S. Richard Street and the Ranch house at 403 Richard Street in Bedford Borough.
