Climate
Now we can control the temperature of our houses through heating and air conditioning. However, before air conditioning and central heating, American houses were designed to keep the interior warm in winter and cool in summer, to shed the weight of snow, and to offer shelter from rain. It makes sense that in different climates house shapes will vary either to protect from the weather or to take advantage of it. Adobe block houses, first built in the 1500s, were well-suited to the hot, dry climate of New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas.

A-Frames are popular now in mountain areas because the steep gable roof doubles as walls and sloughs off snow easily. A glass wall on the south lets in warmth and sunlight.

Building Supplies
One reason houses look different is that they are built from different materials. Different building materials are available in different places. The American Indians depended on the land to provide them with the raw materials necessary for shelter and food. Their homes varied from region to region, as did the building materials they used to construct them. Some tribes lived in communal housing much like a modern apartment complex, while others stayed with just their own family in a small hut or tepee.

Plains and Northwest Indians built Earth Lodges that they dug out of the ground and covered over with branches and mud. The Pueblo of the Anasazi Indians in Mesa Verde, Colorado carved adobe and stone villages from the sandstone cliffs. Plains Indians made use of the abundance of buffalo as a source of hide. They stretched tanned and sewn buffalo hides over cone shapes made from saplings. Early pioneers made use of the soil to build sod Dugouts.

Of all of these building materials, wood is the most popular. Many styles of houses are made out of wood including Victorian houses, wigwams, and New England style colonial houses.

Brick and stone are also popular building materials. Dutch and English brick masons used bricks to create designs on the houses they built. The early German stone houses in Pennsylvania made clever use of their building material to provide a comfortable and safe retreat.

Shape
Shape affects the character of a house. Houses can be square, rectangular, diamond shaped, or rounded. They can also be a combination of these. Lines can be straight, zigzag, or curved. Roofs can be conical, sloping, or flat. Thomas Jefferson’s house, Monticello, has a complex and varied profile because he used so many different shapes and lines.

Color
Color is also important to architectural design. It has always been used to highlight interior and exterior spaces. In San Francisco, there are 28,000 Victorian row houses that were built between the mid-1800s and 1915. The facades of these houses were painted with all manner of colors. Sometimes as many as 11 colors appeared on one house! When architects are trying to give a house a stark appearance, they might paint it white. Southern builders use light colors that reflect the sun away from the house.

Mail-Order Catalogues
The manufacturer’s mail order catalogue was introduced in the early 20th century. Catalogues offered house plans and all of the materials to make them. This was an affordable and fashionable way for more people to realize the American Dream of owning their own home.

Personal Taste
Homes usually reflect their owners’ personal tastes. The Vanderbilts, for example, had their Biltmore estate and gardens designed and built to look like the castles of France.

Economics
Americans have pursued the American Dream of owning a house since the turn of the 20th century. This dream has spurred the creation of many styles of simple, affordable, attractive houses. They include the bungalow, the ranch house, the split level, and the townhouse.

Style
The style of a house is the way it looks. When all of the architectural elements work together to create a particular look it can be called a style. History has seen many different styles come and go. Some styles, however, are so popular that they are built year after year. There are many different styles of houses that fall under the categories of Revival Styles and Romantic Ideas (1820-1920), Victorian (1860-1890), 20th Century (1890-1945), Modernistic (1925-45), and current styles (1945-present). The style that we are most concerned with in Aspen, is the Victorian style. Within Victorian architecture, there are the Second Empire style, the Eastern Stick style, the Richardsonian Romanesque style, the Queen Anne style, and the shingle Style. Historic Preservatio

A building that is important because it is old, because of the person who lives there, because an important event happened there, or because of its architecture can be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register plaque on a building communicates that the building is important to Americans and should be preserved for future generations. If a building is listed in a local register, its historical importance is only recognized in the particular town or city where it is located.

Style Guide >

Personal History Timelines

Historic Preservation
A building that is important because it is old, because of the person who lives there, because an important event happened there, or because of its architecture can be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register plaque on a building communicates that the building is important to Americans and should be preserved for future generations. If a building is listed in a local register, its historical importance is only recognized in the particular town or city where it is located. Paul Revere’s house, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s family homestead, Charles Lindbergh’s boyhood farm, and Queen Lili’uokalani’s palace are all listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There are many houses in Aspen that are important because of who lived there or the style.