Housing Styles Blog #5

            Housing Styles

 This week in Interior Design we learned about housing styles. It is important to know about housing styles because each style has  pros and cons. There are many different housing styles but here's just a few.


Saltbox House- A saltbox house is a house with one side of the roof is longer than the other because a small family moved in originally and as they grew and saved more money they could afford a bigger house so  they just added on to the original house. A saltbox house also has a central door showing a symmetrical interior plan. The side with the most windows is faced south to catch the heat of the sun and the north side barely had any windows, protecting from the cold. The house on the right is an original saltbox house built around 1687.

Garrison House- A garrison house is known for it's overhanging second floor with wooden clapboard siding. It's a style from New England in the colonial times but is still popular today. The house in the picture to the right was built in 1707 in York, Maine. I think this type of house is still popular because it's simple, easy, and can be modern, I like this style of house for the same reason. The only thing I dislike about the house to the right is how old it is.

Georgian House- Georgian houses are known by their classic columns, pilasters, and/or round arches around the door. Their pitched roofs help with multiple chimneys inside because these houses were built for King Georges before the American Revolution. I don't think Monticello is old enough to have any of these houses.

Federal Style House- Federal style houses came right after the American Revolution, distinguished mainly by their low pitched roofs covered by a balustrade and how the windows progressively get smaller towards the top of the house. Otherwise many features are similar to the Georgian style house like the details and the central door.

Greek Style House- Greek style houses were inspired by Roman temples. They were popular in the 1900's-1930's and are commonly mistaken for colonial houses but it's important that they are not because they were built later.

Cape Cod House- Cape Cod styled houses were first built in- you guessed it- Cape Cod. It has a steeply pitched roof and the siding was made with natural wood shingles. Still being a popular style of house it is now normally sided with wooden clapboard siding.

Farmhouse- Farmhouses were built to accommodate large families because most farmers had many children to help on the farm. It holds sleeping quarters on the second and third floor with a porch that wraps around the house. This style of house still exists in small towns and farms.

Gothic-Revival Style- Gothic-Revival style houses are very rare and hard to come by. They were popular in the 19th century, probably because their design was based off of medieval Gothic cathedrals. The giveaway details are high pointed arches, high pitched roofs, elaborate decorative trim, and sometimes even towers

Row Houses and Town Houses-These are more commonly known as townhouses today but started popping up when cities started to grow more rapidly in the last century. Their defining characteristics are that they are built on long narrow properties so rather than being built widely they are stacked many stories high, and the walls are set against the wall of another row house or townhouse.

Italian Villa- Italian Villa style houses got their name by resembling Italian villas themselves. The requirements were that classic columns or pilasters were used and also round arches, pediments over doors and windows, and stones that stack up to make corners.

Victorian Style- Victorian style houses are unique because they do not have a set requirement of characteristics. They are commonly found with a mansard roof, showy decoration, and sometimes a tower. They were popular for the last half of the nineteenth century but today it is extremely rare to see a Victorian style house built.

Stick Style- Stick style houses became popular during the Industrial Revolution thanks to the invention of the jigsaw. The jigsaw gave woodworkers the opportunity to make more intricate and unique designs. They took these designs and started to decorate houses with them in the end of the last century and the beginning of this century.The major woodwork designs are generally found around porches, doors, brackets, and windows.

Art Nouveau- Art Nouveau houses are the type of houses you find in horror movies- they do not have a specific house shape but they are recognized by their decorative style which is normally human faces wearing fanciful headdresses, plants, and flowers. These houses were popular at the turn of the century, having color infused in their stained-glass windows, they were hard to miss.

Queen Anne Cottage- Queen Anne cottages were established in England, no surprise looking at the name. It is a very large house on the outside but the exterior features were built larger to make the inside a cozier, warm feeling.The house normally has low arches, a deep porch, and dark siding like shingles, stone, or brick.

Tudor Style- Tudor style houses are traditional houses that have consistently been popular, even so today. Tudor houses are known by their decorative half timbering, steeply pitched roof, tall, narrow windows, and massive chimneys.

Dutch Style- Dutch style houses originated from Holland and other countries in Europe. It is an all around steep house complete with steep roofs and a steep gable style which appeals to some people more than others.

Dutch-Colonial (Gambrel) House- This house is similar with the Dutch style house because it was built similar to it by immigrants from Holland who came to North America in the 1500's yet it is still popular today. The houses only recognizable different trait is that the roof has switched to a gambrel roof.

Spanish-Colonial (Mediterranean) House- This is a house you could probably pick out without much effort. It doesn't need set characteristics, it instead makes its statement just by resembling Spanish houses. Spanish-Colonial houses are built with either stucco or cement and the exterior is decorated with Spanish cultured decorations. Today these houses are most commonly found in the west where Spanish culture is extremely prevalent.

Prairie House- Prairie houses were designed for the Midwestern United States because of their vast prairie lands. These houses have long, low lines, with open balconies, and spreads of windows. This is house was a unique way to squeeze modern housing into a traditional location.

Ranch House- Ranch houses were inspired by prairie houses, long, low, and normally only one floor. The traits of ranch houses leave much room for creativity so houses that meet those 2 or 3 requirements vary outside of those. Some ranch houses are small but others may spread themselves out with many rooms and different styles than other ranch houses.

International (Modern) Style- The international style of house is a distinct outcome of the twentieth century as one could see in the picture to the right. These types of houses often look like cubes or boxes stuck together in a way that defines the different shapes. They sometimes sit on raised ground with a garage underneath but the house is normally not made with any type of traditional material but with it's own unique material.

Split-Level House- A split-level house is a house which can be built on uneven land where the ground under one part of the house is lower than another part of the house. On the exterior it doesn't look all that different but on the interior there are steps passing from one room to another, making the first floor lie on more than one level. Many times these houses have a cellar beneath a section of the house.

Rustic Style- Rustic style houses are not really styles at all but more of a distinct feeling. Many common theme feelings of a rustic style house are woods, lakes, outdoors, and cozy comfort. This style is normally found in rural areas or wooded suburbs and many times used as a vacation home or cabin.

Chalet or Alpine Style- An alpine home is a term that could be used to describe traditional style buildings of the Swiss and Australian Alps. The alpine style house is built for houses in the mountains or like reasons, typically made with a lot of wood. The house itself is more commonly made with steeply pitched roofs and a taller build.

A-Frame House- A-Frame houses are unique because their roof extends almost all the way to the ground on 2 sides of the home. These houses are mostly used for vacation homes but not always, I have a neighbor who lives in an a-frame house year round but the look of the house does make it look like a cabin. The house looks like it was made to be set in the woods or on a lake because of all of the wood and large windows on the front or back of the house for a scenic view.

Dome House- Dome houses are unique and eye catching because of their odd shape; an igloo. Dome shaped building were first used my the military and for other industrial reasons but since the 1950's they have started popping up as homes. Dome houses are made of triangle pieces of polystyrene which makes the house hold up better than other materials in the event of an earthquake.

Solar House- Solar houses are houses that are especially designed to be enviromentally friendly. They are built with energy saving techniques like using solar panels to let in light and heat or purposely building windows on the south facing side of the house to welcome a warm sunrise. This house would be perfect for a nature loving, enviromentally safe people.

Earth Sheltered House- Earth shelter houses are houses which are surrounded by nature like soil which acts as an insulator when banked against the wall of the house. The roof of the house is also normally also made out of natural environmental material. This house is similar to the solar house and draws in the same type of customers; Eco-friendly ones.

Manufactured Housing- Manufactured housing is built in a factory or at least somewhat in a factory and then moved by truck in whole or in parts which are put together onsite. These houses are produced in mass numbers which is unappealing to some but the lower price might bring some interest back to others.  These houses don't have any specific building requirements except that they are mass produced in factories.

Mobile Home- Mobile homes used to be called trailers because they were hauled to their sites but today they are called mobile homes because instead of being towed they are delivered to a private lot. These mobile homes are normally situated in a mobile home park where the people living in these houses own lots and buy the trailer to put on the lot. A trait that many people don't consider is these houses are actually mobile so you could live in a mobile park while you saved up and bought a larger, more private property without having to worry about the cost of a new house to go with it.

No-Style Housing- No style housing is exactly what it sounds like- houses that have no specific type of style and are just thrown together for economical reasons that will keep the price of the house cheaper. They are made quickly and are normally public housing. These houses and apartment buildings are like the housing version of generic food.

Duplex House- Duplexes are houses that are made to fit 2 families. They have 2 housing units put in to 1 house to fit 2 families. The units can be side by side or one on the top the other on the bottom, these houses are unique because they fit 2 families so they can be built in almost any style. These houses are economical because they are just like a house only they hold double the people in the same amount of space.

High-Rise Apartments- High-rise apartments were built for the purpose of conserving space in crowded cities. In order to fit the bill for a high-rise apartment, the building must be at least 6 stories or higher. This is ideal for some people because it can eliminate problems like reduced traffic noise, fresher air, and the view is much prettier from higher up.

International (Modern)-Style Apartments- International style apartments are just the average apartment you see that is not a high-rise apartment. They were built to save space and the design of the apartment much depends on the architect who is building the piece so the way these apartments look can vary dramatically.