Housing Styles and Structures
brownstone
A building, especially a row house, fronted with this stone. Often many were constructed as the simple design allowed easy replication.
Solar House
A house designed to absorb and store solar heat in order to supplement or replace conventional heating methods
Tudor Style
A house with the half-timbered style look (probably its most dominant characteristic). These style homes feature steeply pitched gables at the front and sides; tall, narrow windows, usually placed in groups, with many small panes; and massive chimneys. Stucco, brick, and stone are among the most commonly used exterior wall surfaces.
gable roof
A pitched roof with two sloped sides
International Style
Archetypal, post-World War II modernist architectural style, best known for its "curtain-wall" designs of steel-and-glass corporate high-rises.
Ranch Style
Attached garage side facing gables with low slopes and wide eaves. Popular mid-20th century.
Log Cabin Style
Brought to North America by Scandinavian settlers, features steep roof to shed snow
Dutch Colonial Style
Characterized by gambrel roofs having curved eaves along the length of the house, central doorways and small dormers. Popular in Northeast US in late 1800's.
French Style House
Features include a mansard roof and other french colonial inspired features.
Pediment
In classical architecture, the triangular space (gable) at the end of a building, formed by the ends of the sloping roof above the colonnade; also, an ornamental feature having this shape.
Spanish style
Inspired by the missions and churches in the American Southwest. Often featured adobe or stucco walls with tile roofs.
Victorian Style
Irregular floor plans, ornate detail. Common features include: bay windows, dentils, columns, dormers, clapboard siding, cornices, entablatures, gable, pediment, lintel, portico, mansard roofs, transoms, turrets,
bungalow
Offshoot of craftsman style. Small house with front porch, little ornamentation.
Cape Cod Style
Originated in New England in the 17th century. Low, broad frame building; 1.5 story; steep, pitched roof with end gables; large central chimney very little ornamentation.
Contemporary Style
The architecture being produced now in the present day. Architectural style with large windows, open floor plans, emphasis on comfort, and making use of "green" components.
Quoins
The large, sometimes rusticated, usually slightly projecting stones that often form the corners of the exterior walls of masonry buildings.
Gambrel Roof
Two slopes on each side, the upper one being flatter than the lower slope.
Garrison Style
Upper level extends past lower level. Heavy timbers support overhang.
Clapboard
a long, thin, flat piece of wood with edges horizontally overlapping in series, used to cover the outer walls of buildings.
Split Level
a modern style of architecture developed for sloping lots with multi-levels. Separates houses into multiple spaces divided by elevation.
Fanlight
a small semicircular or rectangular window over a door or another window.
Turret
a small tower extending above a building
Saltbox
a style of architecture which features a steep gable roof that extends down to the first floor in the rear
Prairie Style
a style of housing designed by Frank Lloyd Wright with strong horizontal design that uses wood, stone, and materials found in the natural environment.
Dormer
a window that projects vertically from a sloping roof
Half-Timbering
exposed wood framing with spaces between the wooden timbers are filled with plaster, brick, or stone
Gingerbread Trim
fancifully cut and pierced frieze boards, scrolled brackets, sawn balusters, and braced arches
Earth Sheltered
houses that are partially covered with soil to insulate the home
Palladian Window
large window unit with an arched window in the center and smaller windows on each side
Stucco
plaster made of cement, sand, and lime for covering exterior walls of buildings
Portico
roof supported by columns, forming a porch or a covered walk
Pent Roof
small roof ledges between the first and second floors