The American Foursquare or American Four Square ( American 4 Square) is an American house style popular from the mid-1890s to the late 1930s. The American Foursquare house is a residential architectural type popular during the late 1800s and early 1900s in the United States and Canada. This post will dive into the What, When, Who and Why of the Foursquare House and show how its modest design, charm and affordability made it such a popular home.
38 American Foursquare Home Photos PLUS Architectural Details
With the simplicity that epitomized the architectural styles of the Post-Victorian period, the American Foursquare, or "Prairie Box," was designed as a comfortable, unadorned house - free of turrets, gingerbread-detailed porches, and dramatic ornamentation. published June 21, 2022 Designed as homes for working and middle class families, American Foursquare houses are found right across the US. Although there are regional variations, they generally feature wide porches and well-proportioned rooms with several bedrooms, and are often located in the suburbs. Key features of the American Foursquare House include: 1. Hipped Roof: A hipped roof is one that angles inward on all 4 sides. We explain the 15 common styles of roofs here including the hipped roof here. 2. Box shape: The name gives this away. It's a foursquare which means it's a four-sided home in a square shape resulting in a boxy design. 3. Sears 'Modern Homes' Catalog, No. C227. American Foursquare Honor Bilt From Sears Modern Homes, Number 227, The Castleton, 1921.Public domain/Arttoday.com (cropped) Another "Honor Bilt" home in the Sears Modern Homes mail-order catalog was the Castleton, offered for $1,989.
38 American Foursquare Home Photos PLUS Architectural Details
Also known as a Prairie Box, American Foursquare houses were homes that could be built using mail-order kits (something that would be hugely beneficial in today's ultra-hot real estate market ). They arrived via boxcar and each kit contained detailed directions and numbered, pre-cut pieces. Roof dormer centered in roof slope Full-width, single-story porch Style Variations The Foursquare has served as the canvas for many revival styles of the 20th century: Late Victorian, Colonial, Spanish, Greek, to name a few. That's why you will often see Foursquares described by their styling. Whether done plain or embellished with Prairie School, Arts and Crafts, or Colonial Revival details, the Foursquare (1895-1929) was an economical house to build—and suited to small lots, prefab parts, and the housing boom. Foursquares seemed to spring up almost overnight. There were none in 1890. By 1910, thousands had been built. The American foursquare was constructed from 1890 until 1935, just before World War II ended. These houses were one of the most popular styles in both small cities and rural areas. The inspiration behind the foursquare was the Prairie-style architecture that was introduced by Frank Lloyd Wright.
38 American Foursquare Home Photos PLUS Architectural Details
British who settled in the New England colonies built rustic, square homes with details drawn from medieval Europe. The Stanley-Whitman House in Farmington, Connecticut, is a remarkably well-preserved example of New England Colonial residential architecture. Dating from about 1720, the house has many late-medieval features common during the 1600s. The American Foursquare is known by a variety of terms including box house, a cube, a double cube or a square type American house. It first appeared on the housing scene around 1890 and remained popular well into the 1930s. A classic foursquare in Alton, Illinois: Wood sided with a beltcourse and a bay window.
The American Foursquare was built between 1890 and about 1935. After 1900, it was one of the most popular house styles in both rural settings and on small city lots. They were sensible two- to two-and-a-half-story homes that were economical to build, comfortable to live in, and aesthetically pleasing in their simplicity. 1. You can recognize a Foursquare house from the sidewalk by its symmetrical appearance. It's easy to tell if you're in a Foursquare house, if you can count to four! Four is often the.
38 American Foursquare Home Photos PLUS Architectural Details
Rebuilt Front Porch Photo by Helen Norman Built in 1915, the symmetrical house had the classic configuration of four rooms downstairs and four up, plus a dormered attic under a hipped roof and an ample front porch. But it was in pretty shabby shape. "There was green shag carpet everywhere," says Terry. 6792. 1580. 1595. The American Foursquare, sometimes called the "Prairie Box" was a hugely popular architectural style in almost every part of the country. It is one of the consumate American house styles. Though not technically an architectural style on its own (it's a subtype of The Prairie Style), the American Foursquare is so.
