- Architecture:
- Definition:
- The science and art of structural design.
- The style which a building is designed and built.
- Architect = chief builder, master builder ethimologically
- A little bit of history on US architecture
- Influence on architecture
- Greek and Roman principles
- Geographical importance
- Pattern Books: Builders Handbooks/Architectural Design Books had a strong influence on residential construction and design
- Nail Machines: 1850 machines were able to mass-produce nails for one eighth of what they had been in 1800.
- Professional organization in the US ”American Institute of Architects”, created in 1857
- First Architectural program in the US established in 1865 at MIT
- Notable architects
- Robert Adams
- Charles Bullfinch
- Samuel McIntire
- Thomas Jefferson
- Charles Locke Eastlake
- Henry Hobson Richardson
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Ellsworth Storey
- Walter Gropius
- Frank Gehry
- Robert Adams
- Influence on architecture
- Definition:
- The house structure and exterior styles
- Forms of Foundations:
- Basements
- Crawl spaces
- Slab-on-ground
- Framing: Wood frame construction (9 out of 10 homes)
- Platform Frame
- Balloon Frame
- Plank and Beam Frame
- Manufactured
- Mobile
- Modular
- Panelized
- Pre-cut
- Forms of Foundations:
- Window Styles
- Palladian
- Gothic
- Fan
- Circle Head
- Bay
- Oriel
- Double-hung
- Casement
- Sliding (traverse)
- Awning
- Center Pivot
- Hopper
- Jalousie
- Triple-track
- Skylights
- Roof Styles
- Flat
- Shed
- Gable
- Saltbox
- Gambrel
- Hip
- Mansard
- Shed Dormer
- Single Dormer
- House Types and style
- One Story
- Ranch
- Shotgun – long, narrow, 1 story, gable roof, faces street, full front porch
- Bungalow – small, 1 story, open or enclosed front porch
- California Bungalow – small, 1 story, compact, usually wood
- One and ½ Story – cape and bungalows
- Cape Cod – 1 ½ story, central entrance, steep gable roof with shingles
- Cape Ann - 1 ½ story, central entrance, gambrel roof
- Two Story - Colonial
- Garrison Colonial – 2 ½ story, second story overhang in front
- Dutch Colonial – moderate sized 2 story to 2 ½ story, central entrance, gambrel roof, dutch entrance door
- Pennsylvania Dutch Colonial or Pennsylvania German Farmhouse – massive 2 ½ story gray ledge stone house, steep gable roof
- Southern Colonial – 2 or 3 story colonnade extending across front
- One Story
- Palladian
- Split Level
- Side to Side
- Back to Front
- Front to Back
- Split Entry or Bi-level
- Back to Front
- Side to Side
- Architectural Styles
- Colonial American – First period homes
- New England Farm House – box shaped, exterior siding, white clapboard, steep roof
- New England Colonial – 2 ½ story, square or rectangular boxlike house, side or rear wings
- Saltbox Colonial or Catslide (in South) – 2 story or 2 ½ story square of rectangular, steep gable roof
- Front Gable New England Colonial, Charleston Colonial, or English Colonial – 2 ½ story symmetrical square or rectangular boxlike house with a protruding front wing
- Log Cabin – rectangular shape built of unfinished logs
- Georgian – large formal 2 or 3 story rectangular house, brick, gable or hip roof
- Classic Revival – First part of 19th Century American (1830s-1850s)
- Classic Colonial – 2 story or 3 story with columnal exterior
- Federal – multi- story, box shaped, flat roof
- Adams – multi-story, rectangular shaped, bay window, flat roof
- Greek Revival – 2 or 3 story symmetrical house, copy of a Greek Temple
- Victorian Period - Second part of 19th Century American (1840s- 1900s)
- Early Gothic Revival – pointed arch churchlike appearance, asymmetrical, one color
- Egyptian Revival – boxlike, Egyptian columns in front
- Roman Tuscan Mode – boxlike, no yard area, flat roof
- Octagonal House – octagon shape, flat roof
- High Victorian Gothic – pointed arch, many colors
- High Victorian Italianate – 3 different kinds of window arches (straight sided, flat-topped, and rectangular), hip roof
- American Mansard or Second Empire Style – mansard roof, multiple dormers
- Stick Style or Carpenter Gothic – high steep roofs, complex silhouettes, diagonal braces, gingerbread trim
- Eastlake – rectangular shape, open front porch, ornamentation is 3 dimensional
- Shingle Style – big, boxlike, roof shingles, gable roof
- Romanesque or Richardsonian – massive, stone with round semicircular arched openings, pyramidal roof
- Queen Anne – multistory, irregular shape, bay windows, big chimneys
- Brownstone, Brick Row House, or Eastern Town House – 4 or 5 stories, common walls, flat roof, stoop leading to first floor
- Western Row House or Western Townhouse – 2 or 3 stories, common walls, bay windows, pitched roof
- Monterey – 2 story, asymmetrical shape, balcony across front a 2nd floor level
- Western Stick – large rectangular house, exposed structural framing, multistory
- Mission – looks like old mission church, doors and windows are arch shaped
- Colonial and Tudor Revival (1880s-1950s)
- Colonial Revival
- Copies of early colonials, inspired by 150th anniversary of the singing of the Declaration of Independence
- Very popular style between 1910-1930 (about 40% of new homes built)
- Decorative entrances, columns, doors with fan/ sidelights
- Tudor Revival – 1920s, steeply pitched roofs, tall narrow windows, decorative timbering
- Colonial Revival
- Modern Houses - Early Twentieth Century American (1900s – 1940s)
- Prairie House – low roof line, continuous row of windows, unornamented exterior
- Craftsman/ bungalow – low pitched gable roofs, large porches, square columns
- International – very simple, no ornamentation, flat roof
- Foursquare – multi-story, box shaped, hip roof, hipped dormer, 1 story front veranda
- Art Deco or Art Modern – rectangular shaped, art deco or art modern ornamentation, metal window frames
- Post Modern Houses - Post World War II American
- California Ranch – Ranch 1 story, ground hugging, low pitched roof
- North Western or Puget Sound – low ranch-type house, overhangs at the eaves and gables, exterior walls often redwood
- Mid-century Modern: Minimalism, clean lines, flat roof or butterfly
- Functional Modern or Contemporary – modern building materials, extensive use of glass, lack of ornamentation
- Passive Solar House – large overhanging eaves, large glass windows and doors
- ‘A’ Frame – frame is the shape of ‘A’, steep gable roof, large glass windows
- Mobile Home – relocatable house, averages 12’ wide and 60’ long, siding and roof are often metal
- Plastic House – exterior siding fiberglass or other plastic material, little or no ornamentation
- Contemporary Rustic or California Contemporary – unpainted or stained diagonal siding, 2 or more shed roofs, nonrectangular window tops that follow the roof slope
- Postmodern – large triangular or gable includes circular oculus window
- Colonial American – First period homes
- International and regional architectural styles
- English
- Cotswald Cottage – ground hugging, asymmetrical, prominent brick or stone chimney
- Tudor – multi-story fortress like, oriel windows, Tudor arches
- French
- French Provincial – formal 1 ½ to 2 ½ story, high steep hip roof
- Creole, Louisiana, or New Orleans – 2 or 3 stories, balcony with fancy iron work entire front at second story level
- Swiss
- Swiss Chalet – 1 ½ to 2 ½ story, gable roof, natural decorative woodwork or exterior, open porches at second story level
- Southwest
- Spanish Villa – asymmetrical, 1 to 3 stories, painted stucco exterior walls, red tile roof
- Pueblo or Adobe – real or simulated adobe brick, flat roof, massive
- Oriental
- Japanese – 1 story, exterior wall panels, tile, thatch or wood shingle roof
- Cotswald Cottage – ground hugging, asymmetrical, prominent brick or stone chimney
- English
References:
- Houses by Henry S. Harrison,
- Your Home Inspection Guide by William L. Ventolo
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Additional references:
- American House Styles - A Concise Guide by John Milnes Baker, AIA, 1994: History with sketches and floor plans:
- The Abrams Guide to American House Styles by William Morgan, 2004: Lots of pictures
- A Field Guide to American Houses by Virginia and Lee McAlester, 1984: especially interesting for the architectural details of a house.
- Great information on the history of the split level house.