Timeline of American House Styles
Inspired by the Super Bowl commercials, a visual narrative of American home design
Houzz Contributor. My name is Bud Dietrich and I am an architect located in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. I am licensed to practice architecture in Illinois, Florida, New Jersey & Wisconsin and I am a certificate holder from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). Since 1996 I have worked from my home office and provide full architectural services exclusively to the single family residential market. My passion is to transform my clients' houses into their homes. I strive to have the "new" home accommodate my clients' lives without fighting them at every junction. I look to add curb appeal to encourage a beautiful streetscape. And I design any addition to look and feel like it has always been there.
Our projects have won numerous design awards as well as having...
Houzz Contributor. My name is Bud Dietrich and I am an architect located... More »
Like more than 100 million people, we watched this year's Superbowl to see the New York Giants prevail over the New England Patriots. But let's face it. We watch the Superbowl for not only the game but for the half-time show and commercials as well. In fact, there have been Superbowl games when the half time show (who can forget the infamous "wardrobe malfunction") or the commercials are a whole lot better than the game.
Interestingly, there were several commercials by the likes of Chrysler, Budweiser and the NFL that featured a timeline narrative. I have to say that I've always been fascinated by timeline narratives. The NFL spot, showing a running back racing down the field. His equipment, blockers, setting, style and more all changing as he hits the next yard marker. It's a wonderfully visual way of showing change and history.
It got me thinking about how the American house has changed over a few centuries and how wonderful home photos depict this.
Interestingly, there were several commercials by the likes of Chrysler, Budweiser and the NFL that featured a timeline narrative. I have to say that I've always been fascinated by timeline narratives. The NFL spot, showing a running back racing down the field. His equipment, blockers, setting, style and more all changing as he hits the next yard marker. It's a wonderfully visual way of showing change and history.
It got me thinking about how the American house has changed over a few centuries and how wonderful home photos depict this.
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| From the arrival of the first settlers to our own day, the American house has been heavily influenced by European models. Whether British and French in New England or Spanish in the South and Southwest, the initial settlers built what they knew and were familiar with. But, of course, they adapted the styles to their new locations and the materials at hand. For example, a house in New England would have had smaller and fewer windows as a response to the harsh winters and the unavailability of glass. |
| As America grew and became more prosperous, the homes became larger and built of more expensive materials. And more pronounced regional differences became evident as well. While in the Northeast the houses continued to be massive and fortresses against the harsh winter ... |
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| ... houses in the South developed wraparound verandas to shade the interiors and tall windows to let in breezes: a tradition that continues today. |
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| Various stylistic revivals came in and out of fashion from the late 18th century throughout most of the 19th century. Greek Revival earlier, then Gothic Revival a few years later dominated house design. While the Greek Revival had a connection to the new American democracy, the Gothic Revival came about when a more picturesque and bucolic America was envisioned. |
And what would the 19th century be without the Italianate, Second Empire, Moorish and all of the other foreign inspired movements? By first looking outward, it seems to me that as America was rapidly growing it was searching for an architectural identity that fit.
This search led, in the last quarter of the 19th century, to the Shingle Style. These were expressive houses of swelling volumes and banded, horizontal elements. The desire for open floor plans and strong inside-outside relationships led to large openings connecting interior rooms to other rooms and inside rooms to outside rooms.
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| It's not surprising that Frank Lloyd Wright's first works, such as his Oak Park home, were in the Shingle Style because that was the first step in the creation of the Prairie Style. Low, long and all horizontal, the house is no longer a collection of box-like rooms. It's a totally new way of creating domestic spaces that celebrated the open and connected rather than the closed and cave-like. |
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| But the Prairie Style didn't last but a few decades. Whether it was the nouveau riche of the Roaring '20s or the despair of the Great Depression, America turned to the safe and secure, the tried and true. It was time for the Colonial to take center stage. But these aren't the colonial houses of 200 years earlier. Though the outward appearance is one of Colonial America, the interiors are the open plans and comfortable spaces that Americans demanded of their houses. |
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by Gary Hutton
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| Of course, not everyone was building the Colonial. Some places, most notably California and Florida, witnessed a continuation of that desire to build the quintessential American house. A house that would be forward looking, accommodate a relaxed lifestyle and dissolve the barriers between inside and outside. These Mid-Century Modern houses are now cherished. |
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| Where we are: ready for the next act in house design. Though it's impossible (and probably unnecessary) to predict the style, we know that the next generation of American houses will:
Browse more photos of home exteriors |
Ideabook updated on Feb. 7, 2012.
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Anyway, as for the future? Definitely smaller spaces. And unfortunately it seems to hold a lot of erasing/tearing down. Whether it's to put up a badly built "chafaux" like here in my neighborhood in Atlanta, or because it's a part of the city that may never recover (as seen in Detroit and Cleveland). I hope in the future when these do-overs happen that they will happen with smarter designs and planning.
The floor plans for many of the Case Study homes, indicate that they could be constructed offsite in a modular format and reassembled on job site. The same concept could be applied to some of F.L. Wright's "Usonian" design. What I do not expect to see many more of are the "McMansions" of the prior decade.
Nice article. I very much enjoyed it.