Even if you do not understand architecture, anyone is capable of noticing and appreciating a good-looking house or building. When it comes to historic housing that too does not take a historian to find these architectures appealing. Today there are plenty of modern homes and facades that are popping up, grabbing the attention of bypassers, but when it comes to the 18th-century houses and buildings in America, there is something magical about them makes one stop to admire.
In the United States, there are a variety of architectural styles that were brought along during the colonial years of America. Most building styles in the 13 colonies came from England and some were influenced by settlers from other parts of Europe.
Here are some examples of housing styles in the USA during the 18th century
- Poteaux-en-Terre style
The Bequette-Ribault House is an example of this housing style and can be found in Ste, Geneviève, Missouri where it was built in 1778 during the French colonial times. Many houses in the Mississippi River Valley region took on this French building style. These homes were built from cedar logs set straight into the ground and the roofs are double-pitched and around porches. Homes evolved into the Briquette-Entre-Poteaux style which is well known in the New Orleans area. They have double louvered doors, shutters, dormers and flared hip roofs.
- Dutch Style homes
Bronck House Image courtesy of Wikimedia
In 1663 it was the Dutch Colonial that brought their inspiration to homes like the Bronck House in Coxsackie, NY. These Dutch Colonial style homes can be recognized by their gambrel roof. They were built as a one room cottage usually made of brick or stone with steep roofs to allow a second-floor loft. These homes can be seen in New York and in the countryside of the Hudson Valley where the Dutch farmhouse turned into a linear-plan home with straight-edged gables.
- German Colonial homes
Beyers-Muma House image courtesy of Wikimedia
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Maryland became the homes of the Germans in the 1600s to the mid-1800s and they implemented their own home construction styles that helped them settled in. Homes were built sturdy with thick walls, sometimes into a hillside to protect it from cold winters and warm summers which were called "bank houses". The Beyers-Muma House in Pennsylvania, built in ca. 1740 and the De Turck House in Oley, Pennsylvania, built in 1767 are examples of the German-inspired homes during that time.
- Georgian Architecture or Great Britain
Hope Lodge image courtesy of Wikimedia
During the 1690s to the 1830s, family homes got more refined during the reigns of King George II and King George III. Georgian architecture can mostly be found in Hope Lodge, Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery Country, Pennsylvania, and example of such a home is the Josiah Dennis House, Dennis, Massachusetts that was built in 1735. They were mainly brick homes with wood trim, columns of wood and white or pale yellow. These box-shaped homes have roofs that are Side-gabled, Gambrel or hipped with more than one large chimneys and overall they looked different from other structures that were usually left unpainted. Besides from their unique exterior look, they can be recognized by their specific living room, room for dining and in some cases family room. Furthermore, the bedrooms are mainly on the second floor.
- Spanish Colonial style houses
Gonzalez-Alvarez House image courtesy of Wikimedia
These houses started their development in St. Augustine, Florida where the "board house" started an early dwelling. This is one room, small cottage made of pit-sawn softwood boards with a thatched roof. The Gonzalez-Alvarez House in St Augustine, Florida is an example of these homes built during the Spanish Colonial in 1723. Today, Spanish Colonial is used to describe refined stucco homes with courtyards, fountains and detailed carvings which are actually Spanish Colonial revivals as only a few original Spanish Colonial homes remain today.
There are thousands of great houses in the USA. Many modern houses got their inspiration from the historical houses, built with the European techniques. There are many historic style homes built throughout the years, some very simple and others built with extreme detail. Whether these homes with a historical origin are old homes that have been restored and renovated or newly built homes, they all are proof of the great cultural history that can be seen throughout the USA.