Modern Domestic

ArchitectureIn the cultural landscape of North

America many relics of folk architecture can be found.

• The New England “Large” house is a modern adaptation of a Yankee folk house that added a wing as the style migrated westward. It is a 2 ½ story house built around a central chimney.

• This “dogtrot” house is a good example of Upland Southern Folk architecture. Built of notched logs it has a breeze way between the two rooms. These southern log homes were generally smaller than their Yankee counterparts.

This “shotgun” house is an example of African-American folk dwellings once common in the rural south. The narrow-width house was sometimes 2-4 rooms in depth.

The “Ontario farmhouse” is a common variety of Canadian folk architecture with its distinctive gabled front dormer windows.

The “Cape Cod” style dwelling from New England features a steep roof with side gables and a symmetrical layout with the door in the center.

• The original style was made of wood and covered by wood clapboards. This modified version has dormer windows and bay windows instead of the typical multi-paned, double-hung windows.

This “Neo-Dutch colonial” style home has the typical steeply-pitched gable roof. The original “Dutch colonial” style came from the Netherlands and was popular from 1624-1820.

The Victorian or Queen Anne style of architecture was dominant in the United States from 1880 -1900.

This picturesque and romantic style featured steeply-pitched irregular roof shapes with a dominant gable in the front.

• A full-width porch, bay windows, multiple gables, dormers and occasionally towers and turrets decorate the Victorian style home.

The Tudor Revival (1910-1940) became popular in suburban areas in the 1920s. The style is loosely based on Medieval construction.

The “Tudor style” typically has a steeply-pitched roof and half-timbering often with stucco or masonry veneered walls.

The “bungalow” (1900-1920) was supposedly a modified version of an Indian rural vernacular form. The bungalow typically has a low-pitched roof with wide overhang eaves.

This narrow home fits easily on small city lots. In the Midwest this version of the “bungalow” is known as the “Chicago bungalow” style.

Often the bungalow had hand-crafted stone or woodwork and Frank Lloyd Wright design motifs. Note the incised porch and the 3 over 1 sash windows.

• The “Craftsman” style was inspired by the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright. Note the horizontal elements in this “prairie” style home.

• Some homes in the suburbs of Chicago reflect the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright’s “prairie” style architecture.

This “California Ranch” with all rooms on one level takes up a larger lot and has encouraged sprawl.

• Commonly built in the 1950s and 1960s, this style of home is an good example of maladaptive diffusion since it was intended for the year round living of southern California.

• The “Split-level” was a popular variation on the ranch built from the 1950s to the 1970s. The lower level had the garage and family room. The mid-level area contained the dining room and living room and the upper level provided the bedrooms.

• The Georgian Style (1700-1800) used Renaissance inspired classical symmetry. Typically it was 2 rooms deep/2 rooms high with end chimneys and pilasters around the door.

Named after King George III of England, it is the most long-lived style of architecture in the U.S. This Georgian revival is still popular in suburbs of the Northeast and Midwest.

• The French Provincial style typically displays steep-pitched roofs, dormers and a diversity of roof levels, window openings and a chimney.

The Italianate style features 2 or 3 stories, a low-pitched roof, and wide overhanging eaves. Narrow windows, “Roman columns” and archways are common features of this style.

Arched-windows, an asymmetrical façade and stucco-wall surfaces are typical of this style. It is rare to find it outside of Texas, Florida or the Southwest.

Spanish Revival or eclectic is inspired by the architecture of Spain and Latin America. The low-pitched roof with little eave overhang features red tiles.

The Neo-Mansard resembles the French style architecture of the age of Louis XIV or the Second French Empire. Note the dual-pitched, hipped roof with dormer windows on a steep slope.

This modern “Shed” style was commonly built in the 1960s. Typical of this style is the high-pitched roof with multiple roof levels and a variety of window sizes that emphasize geometric shapes.

The End• Most photos were taken in the Homewood and

Flossmoor area (suburbs 25 miles south of Chicago) with the homeowners permission.

• Sources cited:– Rubenstein, James M. An Introduction to Human

Geography. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. 2002.

– Jordan-Bychkov, Terry G. The Human Mosaic. New York. W. H. Freeman and Company. 2003.

– Paradis, Tom. Architectural Styles of America. http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/ntwp/architecture/index.html.