Here is a site to browse:
Swedes and other Europeans brought various styles of log cabins to America. However, there are distinctive American styles that emerged. The common ‘Lincoln Log’ perception of log cabins was an American style because most log houses here were intended to be temporary while conventional structures were erected over time. This style used notched corners to connect the logs, leaving space between each layer of logs to be filled with chinking and mud. Simple round logs and squared logs were both used.
I will emphasize that most of thousands of log cabins built in the country prior to the 20th century were intended for temporary or utility purposes and mainly survive today only because of preservation efforts. Whatever unique style arose here for log cabins they weren’t meant to be compared to most other home construction methods.
Another New England feature of homes was the “Widow’s Walk”, a platform erected over the peak of roof, accessible from the interior, usually with a ladder. The legend formed in the whaling days that wives would climb up to this platform and watch waters for returning ships, often that did not return or carry their husbands with them.
Nice story but this platform originally had a more utile purpose, it was a way to douse chimney fires. Hard woods in New England were rapidly logged out leaving a lot of pine and other dirty burning material to be used for heating homes. This may have started on Nantucket Island where there was virtually no hardwood to be found, and possibly where the “Widow’s Walk” story originated also, but I’ve found no confirmation for either yet.
One uniquely American variation of the log cabin is a Dogtrot House. According to the wiki article it has its origins in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Cool! I’ve always liked it and never knew the name.
As someone who traveled much of the globe before 50, in my mind “most American” are styles that are not commonly seen in other countries, even if the style maybe was not wholly American in provenance.
The mid-century modern suburban @Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor posted is a really good example of this. This was an iconic architectural style, and even in other countries that have suburban or suburban-like development, it isn’t a style that is very much used outside the United States.
The farmhouse style seen throughout the Midwest (@mixdenny ) is also very distinctly American (note that there is a modern architectural movement to create homes in what is called the “Farmhouse Style”, this is basically a bougie McMansion style where they make a fairly expensive home sort of look like an homage to a traditional farmhouse, this is not the style I am talking about–even though that regrettable modern style is also distinctly American.)
However, I disagree with @Gatopescado on the mobile homes, while I do think America is the biggest producer and user of such homes, such are quite common in Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom as well. In the UK they are often used as campground housing, but there are also parks where people live in them year-round, they are often called “static caravans” there. They are common enough I’ve seen several such homes in lower income areas of Britain outside of major urban centers.
The “shotgun” house of the American South is also a fairly distinct lower income style mostly only seen in the United States.
Shopping mall design? (Might be an idea for a separate thread…). What was it about them forty or fifty years ago, where they needed a big indoor fountain, full of coins and wrappers? What is wrong with just meeting at the big clock?
For what it’s worth, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is regarded by many as one of the first enclosed shopping malls, if not the first. It’s in Milan and was designed around 1860. (It’s also breathtaking. Makes the Mall of America look like a dump.)
The first thing that popped into my head when I saw this thread a few days ago was the craftsman bungalow some others mentioned early in the thread, but after further through I have to agree that Googie is indeed the most American. And here’s why: Fast food restaurants, gas stations, and motels adopted this style of architecture in the mid 20th century because they wanted to have eye catching buildings that people would notice as they drove past them in their cars. Googie grew out of America’s car culture! What’s more American than that?
They’re also all over western New York State.
Which was “the West”, once upon a time.
I’m living in one of those; they’re also pretty common around here (Finger Lakes New York, if you didn’t think to check my location.)
It’s quite common in South Africa for recent (70s onwards until the 2000s) upper/middle-class development.
Re: farmhouses:
Fermilab, west of Chicago, was built on farmland. As they aggregated the property, they moved 20 or so of the farmhouses to one location, where they serve as offices and housing. I tried but couldn’t find any good photos. Usually, you see these stately white frame houses of by themselves. It is kinda weird to drive along and see a whole little “village” of them!
That is incredibly weird.
I know. On Halloween you expect the kids to dress like lab assistants or cell phone store staff, since the houses are already Disney princesses
How about a Shotgun House?
Ow ow ow, a web site from 2002. Someone who makes fun of trashy houses should be careful that someone doesn’t make fun of their trashy website!
Living in the upper Midwest I’d like to think the farm house I grew up in is pretty typical of American architecture.
I wouldn’t call a Shotgun House an American style. Yes they are American, but it’s a distinctly Southern style. I’ve seen them as far north as West Virginia, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen one in the Northeast or out West. I’m sure some exist, but I don’ think they are that common outside of the South.
During that time period, Foursquares were much more common overall.
Plantation homes (aka Antebellum homes) are also American and distinctive, but again are restricted to the South.
I would say that distinctively American homes would be the Foursquare for the early 20th century, then the Ranch for the mid 20th century, and finally the McMansion for the end of the 20th century.
Yep, Levittown was the first thing I thought of
Peterborough, Ontario, is notable for its outcroppings of Mid-Century Modern (MCM) style, especially churches. In the suburb where I was born, there are quite a few MCM-style houses scattered among the regular suburban houses.
In Toronto, a distinctive style is the bay-and-gable house.
In Montreal, it’s the walk-up apartments with exterior steel stairs.
The Montreal townhouses typically have three levels connected by stairs. It is a charming solution to increasing density without building tall monstrosities. Each level typically has enough room for 4 to 6 apartments or people.