However, these traditional elements were applied in unconventional ways. Firstly, the gable has a vertical opening in its centre, and is located on the long rather than the short side of the building, completely distorting its scale. There is also no matching gable at the back – the element is purely decorative.
A square opening creates a sheltered doorway in the centre of the facade, yet the door itself stands to one side. There is also an arch that serves no purpose.
"If there is one single picture associated with Robert Venturi's work and Postmodern architecture, it is the front of his mother's house," wrote architect and author Frederic Schwartz in 1992.
Schwartz described the house as "both straightforward and idiosyncratic". "The simplicity of its front elevation masks its intellectual complexity," he wrote. "The dichotomies are the essence of its power and make it one of the most celebrated images of architecture in the second half of [the 20th] century."