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About
This House
The
ideas that shaped this column came from many sources:
The This Old House letters column, Chuck Dicken's update
notices (the President's Weekly Update), and a strong
interest in my own home – an American four square.
I
grew up in a neighborhood of 1950's suburban homes where
everyone's house looked pretty much like the place next
door. So moving to Baltimore and discovering the different
neighborhoods, and the unique look each of the neighborhoods
had was a revelation to me. None of this really had
much relavence though, until I bought my own home in
Arcadia:
built
in 1926
It's
a great house, but apparently the folks who owned it
before we did, had an overwhelming supply of coral paint,
causing them to paint pratically the entire house, both
inside & out, in this pinkish-orange color.
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The
American Foursquare
1895-1930s
Copyright © Joe Desy,
courtesty of Phylameana lila Desy
American
Foursquare houses usually have these features:
*
Simple box shape
* Two-and-a-half stories high
* Four-room floor plan
* Low-hipped roof with deep overhang
* Large central dormer
* Full-width porch with wide stairs
* Brick, stone or wood siding
The
American Foursquare or the Prairie Box was a post-Victorian
style which shared many features with the Prairie architecture
pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright. Its boxy shape provided
roomy interiors for homes on small city lots. Many Foursquares
are trimmed with tiled roofs, cornice-line brackets,
or other details drawn from Craftsman, Italian Renaissance,
or Mission architecture. Later Foursquares often had
the same type of interiors as Bungalows with open floor
plans, lots of built-ins, and fireplaces.
Popularized
by pattern books and Sears Roebuck & Company mail
order kits, the American Foursquare spread to residential
neighborhoods throughout the United States. Sears also
offered a machine that could manufacture cement blocks
on site.
Next
month I hope that you'll be able to see the comments
and opinions of our neighbors and the idea of creating
a forum for discussing home improvements. So write
me and let me know your thoughts, ideas, comments
. . .
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