Early New England Home Styles

The dwellings built by the Puritans during the 1620s could best be described as huts or hovels.  A visit to Plimoth Plantation will provide you with a village which has been built to a 1627 date.  (Spelling was not fixed for the English language with words spelled differently, all being correct.)  The construction of permanent homes did not begin until 1630.

The Styles:

• The Colonial
  The Colonial Style home is a symmetrical four room design with the entry, stairs and fireplace block one behind the other.  A full depth room from front to back on each side of the entry.  The plan for the second floor was the same as the first. Most Colonials experienced an evolution with wings and ells being added as required.
  
  
• The Cape Cod
  The origin of the Cape Cod is unknown but it appears to be an iteration of the Colonial, as a one or one floor and loft version.  It was built as an inexpensive home that may well have been the first 'manufactured home:.  The roof slope was less than the Colonial; as was the overhang of the eves and gables.  The word trim was never used when talking about the Cape Cod as there was none.  Cape Cod homes received there share of additions with some dwarfing the original structure.
   
  
• The Georgian and Federalist  The Grand Homes.
  In plan there is no difference between the Georgian and the early Federalist; it was a political statement.  The war was over and the Federalist name was applied as an additional sign of the break with England.  The outward difference between the the two styles was the delicate trim of the Federalist.
  
  
• Period Homes
• The Farm House
• Traditional Homes
• The Contemporary Home