A Brief Recap of Historical American Home Design
Two contradictory desires have fueled American architecture since its birth. See how the tension has played out in home design
Houzz Contributor. My name is Bud Dietrich and I am an architect located in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. I am licensed to practice architecture in Illinois, Florida, New Jersey & Wisconsin and I am a certificate holder from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). Since 1996 I have worked from my home office and provide full architectural services exclusively to the single family residential market. My passion is to transform my clients' houses into their homes. I strive to have the "new" home accommodate my clients' lives without fighting them at every junction. I look to add curb appeal to encourage a beautiful streetscape. And I design any addition to look and feel like it has always been there.
Our projects have won numerous design awards as well as having...
Houzz Contributor. My name is Bud Dietrich and I am an architect located... More »
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As described by Vincent Scully, Jr., in his book American Architecture and Urbanism, a defining characteristic of the American built landscape has been the tension between two competing forces. While the seemingly limitless natural landscape created a desire to keep moving, to find out what was beyond that forest and over that hill, a countervailing longing to stay rooted in one spot also took hold. Our built environment has been an outward expression of our anxiety about leaving the safety, security and familiarity of home when we can't help but follow the dictum "Go West, young man."
This duality has been expressed in many ways in the design of our homes. From an emphasis on horizontal continuity anchored by a vertical totem to our fascination with the RV (even if it's tethered to a parking space), we want the illusion that we can get up and move at any time while having the security of being connected and fixed to a home. It's not surprising that our national pastime is baseball, the one sport where scoring is achieved solely by leaving and then returning home.
So let's take a look at how American home design has expressed and attempted to resolve this tension — and what might happen when the realization hits that the trend of expansion is changing.
This duality has been expressed in many ways in the design of our homes. From an emphasis on horizontal continuity anchored by a vertical totem to our fascination with the RV (even if it's tethered to a parking space), we want the illusion that we can get up and move at any time while having the security of being connected and fixed to a home. It's not surprising that our national pastime is baseball, the one sport where scoring is achieved solely by leaving and then returning home.
So let's take a look at how American home design has expressed and attempted to resolve this tension — and what might happen when the realization hits that the trend of expansion is changing.
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| Even in the colonial era, a stress on the horizontal line was a defining feature of home design. Design features such as placing horizontally proportioned upper-story windows tight to the eave with continuous sill trim below reinforced this nascent horizontal expression. While many homes of this era, especially those in New England, placed the mass of the chimney at the center of the house, there was also a tendency, especially in the mid-Atlantic and South, to place the chimneys at the sides. In the latter case, all of the horizontal movement is contained and stopped, especially with vertical elements such as pilasters at the corners. The tension between wanting to stretch out and break free while being held in place is clearly evident. |
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Even the homes of 19th-century America had a linear aesthetic, despite the era's predilection for revivals. Home designers couldn't help but weave all of those horizontal motifs and trim into the design when confronted with inherently vertical styles such as that of the second empire. So the towers, mansards and vertical elements are held in check with a ribbon of trim that weaves in and out to deny this vertical.
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| Of course, it was the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright and the other Prairie School architects to resolve — or exploit — the tension caused by the duality between horizontal and vertical. While creating homes that seem to float on the land and in which every design decision serves to accentuate the horizontal, even Wright couldn't help but create that massive central vertical anchor that firmly roots the home to its place. |
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| Yet the homegrown Prairie School fell from grace, as transplanted Europeans such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius introduced International style to America. But we Americans altered that style to suit our character. So it was not the idealized modernism of Le Corbusier but versions that were more linear and stretched, more expressions of expansion and less of Europe's urbanism. |
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| Home design took on a new form as a result of a car-dominated culture that celebrated the freedom of the open road. Relaxed, casual, spread out across the landscape, the new ranch-style home gave expression to the expansiveness of our spirit. And as the desire to be rooted in a place gave way to increasing mobility, the vertical totem no longer appeared. |
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| As a result, variations of the ranch home fill the U.S. landscape from east to west and Canada to Mexico. This ranch home, sitting on its flat lot with the ocean in front and the mountains behind, is a full expression of the American dream and the California lifestyle. |
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| At times a house can take on the characteristics of the Conestoga wagon and Airstream trailer, ready to pick up and move whenever the owner tires of the place. But what happens when ever-increasing development means less space to build and explore? |
| Maybe then we take a serious look at taming the auto. And while we are at it, we can build communities rather than developments. Places where we still have the single-family house, but this time it's built for sustainability and efficiency. These places could be, after all, more in tune with the agrarian ideal that has been at the heart of our built environment for centuries. More: Back to the Future of the House |
Ideabook published on Oct. 11, 2012.
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On the bright side, the folks that are now in their 20's seem to have much less fascination with the car and the suburban house. Trends that aren't lost on the auto manufacturers and home builders.
When commodities were cheap, families could afford gas-guzzlers and live large in the countryside. Older, smaller homes close to or in the city were abandoned, they were just sooo dated.
Some decades later: many of us move back to these pedestrian friendly neighborhoods, we happily live smaller without all the chores that come with a large property, we open the windows for cooling, we have a clothesline (gasp!), we sell the car and walk or use public transportation - the once 'outdated' lifestyle becomes attractive again.
Now imagine what will happen when power and gas prices continue to rise faster than the average income. We will pilgrimage (by bus, probably) to places like the Cliff May ranch house and marvel at its sheer size and the number of garages. lol
Still today, the desire to consider the car as an important part of our world can be the deciding factor for many who love the earlier built homes and the ranch equally. It comes down to wanting an attached two car garage or in most cases, parking in the driveway. I really liked your article and especially this part...
"Home design took on a new form as a result of a car-dominated culture that celebrated the freedom of the open road. Relaxed, casual, spread out across the landscape, the new ranch-style home gave expression to the expansiveness of our spirit. "
Celebration of the auto. Luckily, ours is now around the side.
As for sidewalks, it seems to be such a battle! We live in a beautiful picturesque village with bits of sidewalk. Many just end. Sometimes into a ditch! This is a battle in many communities while everyone fights over who pays for installation, who maintains them and many people hate the look of them. How I wish we had more walkable spaces like Europe