American Architectural Styles


to 1725
Early cavemen had no problem with architectural style. They didn't have any Joneses to keep up with. With time boredom crept in, and they started to decorate their caves. When the first settlers came to America, they brought ideas from their home countries. However, their immediate need for housing to survive was limited by the raw materials found in the neighborhood. They used caves or dug cellars or did whatever they could to brave the elements. After they finally finished building and burning forts, the poor folks started working around the village or the farm and really needed residential housing.
Colonial
End-chimney Structure The first dwellings were often split log cabins serving as both eating and sleeping quarters. Roofs were generally thatched with bundles of reeds and rushes about a foot thick. When their longest logs were 20 feet tall, that's how long the room was. Cracks were filled with clay. Read more about log cabins here. Dog Trot Cabin After they grew out of one-room living, it was more practical to build a second cabin and add a breezeway in the middle. In the South, the open area was built so the wind could cool folks off. With no home improvement stores around, they might have used oiled linen for windows or just openings in a wall. See a larger picture and interior shots on the Buildings 1 page. Sleeping and storage lofts accessed by ladders were built as the need arose.
Garrison Colonial		Some of the first New England homes were influenced by the houses of medieval England. These houses had steep gabled roofs, small diamond paned windows, and a second story overhang across the front facade. They were sided in unpainted clapboard or wood shingles.
New England Colonial		There were lots of trees to make timber-framed structures with clapboard siding that added further protection. Thanks to winter snow, their roofs needed to be steeply pitched. They used massive central chimneys for heating both sides of the house and evening lighting. Small leaded windows were used because imported glass was expensive and fragile to transport.
Southern Colonial		There were lots of trees there, too, but to cool things off, they put massive chimneys at each end of a house. The structures were either brick (often with patterned masonry) or framed with timber. Generally they were narrow and only one room deep.
Saltbox Both New England and the South used the saltbox style, particularly after they began to need lean-to areas. In New England the steeper side of the saltbox shielded them from the wind, in the South from the hot sun. At first windows weren't symmetrical because they were used for light and/or ventilation instead of decoration. Many of them were just openings in a wall. In most saltbox houses, they tended to put off installing windows in the lean-to section altogether. Originally left to weather, wood houses were later painted white or sometimes pale yellow. In the South, they were called "cat slides".
After they added second storeys, they sometimes gave them a cantilevered overhang to add space to the original attic space. There were two rooms on each floor, one on either side of the fireplace. Windows were often leaded diagonals. Board and Batten Doors didn't have frames and were easily made from vertical boards nailed together with other boards. Drafty.
French Colonial		Since French settlers in Louisiana and parts of Mississippi built no interior halls, their stucco-sided homes had expansive two-story porches and narrow wooden pillars tucked under the roofline.
Spanish Colonial		In the Southwestern United States, Florida, and California, settlers used adobe or stucco with flat or slightly pitched roofs finished with red clay tiles. Some Spanish Colonial homes, which drew on Spanish and Moorish influences, featured a Monterey-style, second-story porch.
Cape Cod
While all this was happening, people in New England were building cottages low to the ground to protect them from the winter wind. Half House The family ate and gathered in the kitchen or "keeping" room. There was a buttery used for food preparation. There was a "borning" room (the lean-to in the saltbox style) near the kitchen and also used as a nursery or infirmary. The parlor was used only for weddings and fancy gatherings. Three-quarter House This cottage had a larger kitchen and an additional small bedroom. Full Cape Cod This version had pairs of windows flanking a central door.
The Cape Cod continues to be built because it's an excellent starter home for those of us not born with a silver spoon in our mouth. Thanks to central heating, the floor plans may be different, but throughout history we've had more poor people to house than rich ones so this style may be around for a long time to come.
Time Line to 1725 Colonial 1600s Dutch Colonial 1730-1825 Georgian 1790-1830 Federal, Adam, Adamesque, Classical Revival, Jeffersonian Classicism, Roman Classicism	1850-1885 Italianate 1860-1890 Second Empire 1860-1890 Stick 1870-1890 Eastlake 1870-1900 Richardsonian Romanesque 1870-1920 Colonial Revival		1900-1920 Neoclassicism (Classical Revival) 1900-1920 Prairie (Arts & Crafts) 1900-1940 Neoclassicism/Classical Revival (American) 1900-1940 Georgian Revival
1820-1860 Greek Revival 1830-1860 Gothic Revival 1830-1900 Victorian 1840-1890 Renaissance Revival 1840-1900 Romanesque Revival 1850-1870 Octagon	1876-1930 Beaux Arts 1880-1900 Shingle 1880-1910 Queen Anne End of 19th Century-Early 20th Art Nouveau 1890-1920 Sullivanesque 1880-1940 Bungalow (type of Arts & Crafts) Late 1800s-mid-1900s Dutch Colonial Revival		1905-1930 Arts & Crafts Early 20th Century Tudor Revival 1925-present International 1925-1940 Art Deco 1930-1945 Art Moderne

[Colonial] [Dutch] [Georgian] [Federal]