Choosing Your Colonial House

Choosing Your House

Think about your character– Are you wealthy?– Where do you live? – What materials are available for building?– How big is your family?

Keep these answers in mind when you learn about the different houses of the 18th century.

Hmmm…what house

should I buy?

New England Characteristics

• Wooden houses• Timber frames

covered with wooden boards and shingles

The “Saltbox” Style 1620-1740

Central chimney

Central wooden door

3-4 rooms onground floor

Equal numberof windows on either side of the door

2 1/2 rooms second floor

Moreton House

Hatfield, Massachusetts

Traditional Saltbox Floor Plan

The Georgian Design 1700-1780

Chimneys on the ends

Made of both brick and wood

Paneled central door with decorative crown

Symmetricalwindowdesign

This house was built in 1760by Captain RichardDerby of Salem, MA.Brick was rare inNew England; this shows how wealthy of a merchanthe was. It was a gift to his son.

This style was found in all 13 colonieswith various differences

A Wooden Georgian

Can you find the features from the previous page?

Georgian Floor Plan4 rooms upstairs

4 rooms downstairs

Central hallway - allows public and private space

Kitchen

3 rooms downstairs used as work rooms,entertaining rooms, or eating spaces.

Second story rooms were mainlyused for sleeping and storage

The Mid Atlantic States

• Mostly stone or brick• Look more like New

England houses rather than Southern houses

• A lot of Dutch and German influence

Dutch Colonial 1625-1840

Little or nooverhang

Usually 1 floor

Dutch door: the doorhas an upper and lower half.

Highpeaked

roof

Made of brick or field stone2 rooms

German Colonial 1680-1800Central chimney

Field stone withwooden framing

Similar to the Georgian Style

These houses would have been common in rural Pennsylvania

Philadelphia TownhouseLooks like a German Colonial

cut in half

2 room house1 room on each floor

This is Betsy Ross’s

house - the creator of

the American Flag

Southern States

• Large plantation houses– Farmers had main house,

smaller slave houses– Plantations could be miles

apart

• Usually made of wood, sometimes brick

• Wealthy houses had many designs

• Poorer houses were very small

Drayton Hall Plantation House

Large, open porch to stay cool in the

heat

4-5 large roomson each floor

Georgian - Palladian Style

Drawing of Drayton Hall

First Floor Plan

Large doorsat both ends

allow for crossventilation.

The Grand StaircaseThis room gives a

remarkable first impression for

anyone arriving from the Ashley River.

The Great Hall

This room was the primary

welcoming space.

Most southern homes did not have a kitchen in the living space in order to keep the heat down.

Second Floor PlanThe second floor

has four large bedrooms.

Upper Great Hall

This room was used for entertaining.

1

2

34

Outside Drayton Hall

Guests would have arrived

from the Ashley River.

Most work houses

would have been

separate from the

main house.

Slave Cabins

Very simple1 room houses

Inside a Slave Cabin

Charleston Courtyard House

Gable end of the house faces the street.By changing the

alignment of the house, builders were

able to fit more houses into the city.

Charleston Courtyard House Side View

Long piazzas (porches) on every floor

1-2 rooms on the second floor

1 room and a kitchen on the first floor.

Street Facing Charleston House

Simple Southern Home

2 Rooms

Central breezeway with a door on both sides of the house

Small attic space for sleeping or storage

Your Assignment

• Choose the style of your house

• Draw a picture of it or design a floor plan

• On the back of your picture, write a paragraph explaining the decisions you made in planning your house.

Remember, only buy a house

that you can “revere.”