Architecture, much like every human endeavor has fads, fashions and trends.  Although human beings have always lived in “homes”, the way we live most commonly today, especially in North America is a relatively new phenomenon. Today there is getting to be a backlash against our sprawling suburban lifestyle, but the popularity of it suggests that there is something deeper beneath the surface and this is how people actually want to live, or at least think they do.

 

All these subjects; sprawl, sustainability, land use, and many other current issues are each a whole narrative in their own right. There are countless books, discussions, arguments for and against, but that is not the subject of this essay.

 

This is about the specific styles of primarily single family detached houses that have become popular over roughly the past 300 years, which is roughly the timeframe of the existence of the United States of America.

 

The combination of open land (at least once the original inhabitants were pushed out the way, to put it simplistically), independent spirit, massive opportunities (at least compared to the old world where many of the original settlers of North America came from), and in latter years the industrial revolution and the discovery of the staggering amounts of energy available in fossil fuels led to a revolution in how people expected to live. Of course today we are learning that perhaps this way of life is at best unsustainable and at worst may be irreparably harming the biosphere of the planet, but as they say, it’s been a fun ride. Personally I believe that we have the power to reduce the impact we are having on the planet beginning with how we build and more specifically insulate our buildings, but that is the subject of another essay.

 

I will be covering the more popular architectural styles in this section such as Craftsman, Prairie, French Country, Victorian and Modern. Each one of these styles, and many more, reflect the mindset of people who popularized them during the time periods they were built.

 

Please check back often as I will be updating this continually.