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Modern Architecture
Great Compositions: The Dogtrot House
Historic breeze-capturing design inspires smart house plans for today
The dogtrot house is one of the most iconic forms of domestic vernacular architecture in the Southern U.S. Its lineage can be traced to the one-room square log cabins along the hills of Appalachia. As family life and functional needs expanded, the farmer simply added another cabin and connected the two with a common sheltering roof. And, when the old dog was too hot to trot, as they say, the covered breezeway was the perfect escape from the region's engulfing heat and humidity. Thus, the name "dogtrot" was born to describe a new form of domestic architecture forever linked to the South.
I grew up in the rural Piedmont of the Carolinas, so scenes of abandoned tenant houses, sharecropper's shacks, and dog trots were the everyday architecture of my childhood. They were humble, poetic, and simply beautiful, without pretense. A very functional need was provided for with the simplest of means, and that is the essential lesson.
Architects so rarely succeed in making buildings as well placed and beautiful as the vernacular structures left behind by frontiersmen and farmers. Today, a few architects have found ways to reinterpret these forms for modern living by opening up the central room to the landscape and breezes.
I grew up in the rural Piedmont of the Carolinas, so scenes of abandoned tenant houses, sharecropper's shacks, and dog trots were the everyday architecture of my childhood. They were humble, poetic, and simply beautiful, without pretense. A very functional need was provided for with the simplest of means, and that is the essential lesson.
Architects so rarely succeed in making buildings as well placed and beautiful as the vernacular structures left behind by frontiersmen and farmers. Today, a few architects have found ways to reinterpret these forms for modern living by opening up the central room to the landscape and breezes.
Here is a precedent. The historic John Looney House in Asheville, Alabama is a rare surviving example of a two-story dogtrot. This is the iconic form with a view straight through the center of the house. Clearly evident are two cubic cabin forms on each side of the breezeway.
Fireplaces were almost always placed at the gable ends. One side was for sleeping, and other for dining and cooking. The open center was the sitting and living space and was naturally cooled as breezes were pulled into each side through open doorways.
Fireplaces were almost always placed at the gable ends. One side was for sleeping, and other for dining and cooking. The open center was the sitting and living space and was naturally cooled as breezes were pulled into each side through open doorways.
San Antonio-based Lake | Flato Architects also has designed a modular system of small structures that can be flexibly arranged on a site according to the needs of the owner. Here at the Miller Ranch, a dogtrot structure contains an open living space and kitchen separated from the master suite across the breezeway. A detached guest pavilion is placed to create an inner courtyard.
The Texas climate is well suited to an arrangment of small individual one-room-deep pavilions with cross ventilation, much like the historic vernacular precedent.
The Texas climate is well suited to an arrangment of small individual one-room-deep pavilions with cross ventilation, much like the historic vernacular precedent.
The dogtrot can be seen here at the far end of this open family space with the master suite beyond that. The one-room deep space is almost entirely made up of doors and windows that open along each side. This is the right response to a hot and humid climate.
A strong line of sight is established by well-considered placement of each pavilion set on an axis just off center from a beautiful old tree.
I strongly believe that the landscape is the architect's most trusted and loyal companion!
I strongly believe that the landscape is the architect's most trusted and loyal companion!
Operable sliding louvered panels allow privacy and the ability to modulate the sun and air when needed.
I could imagine these being equipped with insect screens, creating a sleeping porch for cool fall nights.
I could imagine these being equipped with insect screens, creating a sleeping porch for cool fall nights.
This South Carolina home is large and extensive, but the open center pulls the eye and the breeze right through it . The pool sets up a nice axis and reflects the classic formality of the home.
The space transitions to a seating area where furniture is used to reinforce the lines of the architecture. The eye carries on through porch, pool and beyond to into the coastal marsh.
This contemporary home also places the dining room in the open space and sets up an axial relationship of furniture and architecture. Good designers look for ways to make the two complement each other.
Here, the elements of a classic dogtrot house are achieved by returning the exterior walls of each self-contained space into the breezeway. A pair of twin buildings are connected only by a roof, and appears to stay completely open during all seasons.
While not a true dogtrot, this home follows the concept with a large, open, cross-ventilated central living space.
Brett Zamore Studio in Houston developed the "Shot Trot" house as a hybrid between the shotgun and the dogtrot. Like a shotgun house, the narrow end faces the street, but the open breezeway is oriented towards the side yard and an extended deck.
Here's a peek inside the Shot Trot house.
This single-story board-and-batten ranch house appears very typical at first glance, but the breezeway frames the view of a mountain canyon.
My favorite variations of the dogtrot house have always been those with fireplaces added to the center. I also just happen to love a good fireplace — it stokes my heart! It allows use of the open space during cooler weather, allowing you to feel both the cool breeze and the warmth of an open fire. There is just something so satisfying about that.
This chimney stands in one opening of a dogtrot, rather than being part of the interior wall. It becomes a two-sided fireplace, and the central space is a place to gather friends and family for a weekend retreat in Mississippi.
Design by Waggonner and Ball Architects
Design by Waggonner and Ball Architects
The two-story dogtrot precedent has inspired this concept for a coastal modern retreat. A large common roof is designed to shelter two wooden louvered sleeping cabanas on each side of a central breezeway, on axis with the fireplace. Even on the coast, the fireplace will be a gathering spot on cool spring or fall evenings. The second floor deck connects the cabanas, and a rear kitchen and dining area will open to the lawn and pool.
The serenity of an all-white interior, exposed roof structure, and side walls that open make this living area cool and calming.
When designing a home, vernacular precedent like the dogtrot house can offer time-tested lessons of introducing light and air into the center of the home.
More: The L-Shaped House Plan
Living La Vida Local
When designing a home, vernacular precedent like the dogtrot house can offer time-tested lessons of introducing light and air into the center of the home.
More: The L-Shaped House Plan
Living La Vida Local