What are those stars and what are they for? (house decorations)

Factual Questions
1

I’ve seen these stars on houses in New England. I don’t recall ever seeing them anywhere else. They usually look like bronze or silver but I’ve never been close enough to one to tell for sure. There’s only ever one star and it’s always placed right over the front door. I’ve seen them on those triangle-overhang thingies or actually mounted on the siding, but always right above the door.

So, what the hell are they for? Do they signify something in particular? Or are there just a lot of people who like stars? I’ve also never seen them in any store, and I’ve been in the kind of stores which would sell something like this. Is it something you are given for some kind of reward?

I’ve wondered this for a few years, but I’m only asking now because my mom is also wondering.

2

Hm… is the star on any kind of background? There are these things called “Service Flags”, which are basically rectangular banners with a red border and white field, with stars representing immediate family members (usually children of the family) who are serving in the armed forces of the United States. Blue stars represent family members serving in active duty, while Gold stars represent family members who died while on active duty.

If it’s just the stars by themselves, I don’t know.

3

Is it something like this? The items at the link are earthquake bolts and are commonly seen in Charleston, SC. I don’t know about New England.

4

I live in New England and I know what stars you are talking about. They are fairly large, anywhere from 2-4 feet across, and are usually placed on the side of a house, below the roof gable.

They have no particular significance, as far as I know, other than the person likes the look of them. They are made of weathered steel or copper.

A couple of houses in my neighborhood have them.

You can buy them at places like this:

5

Here’s some online, apparently made of tin with different finishes:

6

Thank you robby . My mom will be very happy with that last link. It says they used to have an actual purpose but now are for decorating or to bring luck. Now I don’t have to wonder every time I see one.

7

Huh. My ladyfriend, who used to live near Alexandria, VA, told me once that they signified an authentic colonial era building.

Of course, she’s also repeated the “number of feet the horse statue has on the ground” urban legend as well.

8

There is an old indian mission in my area (Great Plains) that has been converted into a museum. We all had to go there on field trips during elementray school. The two-story building had a series of metal stars running around the exterior, at the top of the ground floor (bottom of the 2nd floor).
Inside, they’d pulled up the floorboards to show the mechanism. Metal rods were attached to these stars and ran underneath the 2nd story floorboards. Every few years, to counteract the building sagging and bulging, the inhabitants would turn a winch a quarter-turn to pull these rods together, which would “cinch” the exterior walls in just a hair.
It’s been years since I saw that building (probably elementary school), but it seems to be a similar situation to your description.

9

Sure, if by an “authentic colonial era building” you mean a house with vinyl siding that was built two years ago, like the one on my street. :wink:

10

The stars that I see around New England are just hung on the exterior of the building. A given house usually only has one or two on the sides of the house. With the ones that I’ve seen, they are only decorative in nature.

11

Hehehe… to be fair, the ones we saw were old stone/brick structures in Georgetown & Alexandria that probably were “authentic” or close to it. No vinyl sided ranch homes or anything. Nevertheless, knowing that the stars are sold retail takes something away from the mystique.