The American Foursquare Home

The American Foursquare design came on the home building scene between 1890 and 1915.  It is a specifically designed home that was truly American and was created to get as much house as possible on a small lot.  There are certain characteristics that mark this type of design, but there are several variations, as well.

Notable Features of the American Foursquare

Here are 4 of the most notable features of this type of home design:

1. Shape.  The American Foursquare is almost a perfect square, which is where it gets it name of “foursquare” from.  The square is a large square though, with all of these homes being two levels as well as an attic.
2. Roof.  The roof of these types of homes is a perfect pyramid.  Because these homes were first seen in areas that had snow, the roofs had to have a pitch to them for the snow to slide off.
3. Porches.  All American Foursquare homes have porches that take up the full front of the home.
4. Style. This style of home is most notably plain and quiet.  Very little, if anything, juts out from the square structure of the home.  Its simplicity is seen even with little children, as the American Foursquare is the exact type of home that little kids use when they are drawing a home.

Windows in the American Foursquare

The windows in the American Foursquare are different than other types of home architecture.  With the American Foursquare, the windows are grouped together.  This grouping allows in more light and actually adds to the aesthetics of the home.  It is also unique to this type of home as few other designs use the same type of grouping.

Different Variations of the American Foursquare Home

There are three variations of the American Foursquare: Classic, Prairie and Artistic.

The Artistic variation added craftsman details to the basic American Foursquare design.  Things like bay windows and exposed rafter tails.

The Prairie variation gets its name from the “Prairie” art glass that was used in it.  There are also changes to the basic American Foursquare design like a slab roof on the porch.

Classic variations of the American Foursquare had more to do with the windows.  These Classic variations added oval cameo windows as well as Palladian-style windows to replace the standard window grouping that is found in the basic American Foursquare design.

Source: http://www.oldhouseonline.com/american-foursquare/