How to Identify Vernacular American Architecture

Before World War II, most buildings were built by local tradesmen. They studied builders books--collections of plans for everything from private homes to churches and schools. Along with other tradesmen, these skilled "master builders" filled the frontiers with little settlements that became towns, cities and metropolitan areas. Today, many of these "vernacular" buildings have been lost to development and "modernization" but most small towns still have a good stock of these charming, sometimes eccentric homes and buildings. As we realize their value to our communities, many cities have added vernacular architecture to their landmarks commissions' definition of buildings worthy of historic preservation. They are charming, yes, but their enduring value is in what they tell us about our history and culture as a people.

Instructions

1. Look for locally-available or common materials. American Vernacular architecture was built by local craftsmen rather than professional architects. They built with materials at hand. Where timber was plentiful, they built clapboard houses and log cabins. Homes for the wealthy were built of materials that had to be imported or brought great distances but were rather common for the era. Today, when we see a great number of modest wooden homes in an area where there are no stands of forest, we know that forests were cleared in that area by builders.

2. 

   Look for buildings that have similar style or are similar to buildings in the same region. Local builders built to local tastes. In the cities where there was, relatively, plenty of land, European-style row houses were built, imitating the style of cosmopolitan England and Europe. Later, as the new nation grew, these homes were sold to less well-to-do factory workers and laborers as the wealthier classes built fashionable mansions or moved to the country. Today, they are becoming fashionable once more for affluent professionals who are moving back to the cities. Vernacular row houses generally followed the style of the day by a few years and, unlike professionally designed developments, contained occasional, quirky differences between windows, stoops and other details.

3. 

   Look for out-of-date or inconsistent style. Vernacular builders were not limited by current fashion or rules like professional architects and designers. Their reputation was made by how popular their designs were. They were free to use eccentric or whimsical details if their patron liked them. And, since communication was slower in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, their designs were usually 10-20 years behind the newest fashion on the east coast (which tended to be behind those of Europe until Americans began setting their own styles after World War I).

4. 

   Look for unique features. American builders adapted details and included them for practical reasons. Turrets provided look-outs for ships and Indians. Porches wrapped around for sleeping on humid Southern nights. Midwestern windows were made smaller to allow less heat loss in cold winters. Vernacular builders helped define regional style by their free-wheeling choices and adaptations.

5. 

   Don't be fooled. Vernacular builders were untrained but they were not amateurs. They had to be more skilled and more resourceful than their professional fellows and they had to be able to improvise when necessary because help was seldom at hand. The foursquare and shotgun house are solutions to local needs, first fabricated by vernacular builders. They have created some of the most charming, quirky, puzzling and uniquely American buildings in our landscape.

Tips & Warnings

• The last great era of the vernacular builder in Europe was during the Middle Ages. Vernacular building was common in succeeding centuries but in America it was not limited to small villages and the housing of the lower classes. The idea of a democratic society and belief in self-reliance allowed American builders to attempt every type of building, not just humble dwellings.

• Read more on American architecture at your library. There are a number of good pocketbook guides available to carry with you as you travel, too. Search on line for "architecture, vernacular".

Resources

• American Institute of Architects