Colonial Home Architecture

Colonial Home Architecture is a style from the mother country applied to buildings in distant settlements. A colonial house sets the basic guidelines for a standard house that caters to the functional space requirements to all family members. The structure consists of a formally defined living room, dining room and at times a family room. Like a Cape Cod home, they also sport large chimneys. The location of bedrooms is typically on the second floor.

Traditionally, builders framed many of these houses with timber and filled the gaps with sticks. A sticky ‘daub’ was used to fill the holes, which was technically a paste of clay, mud and grass. Dried local grass formed the thatching, and a thatched roof covered the structure. Because of their build, they were often termed as “wattle and daub” homes.

Key elements:

The shape is predominantly square and the structure generally symmetric.
Proportion is an important principle during construction.
Georgian Colonial style is formal in nature.
The entrance, hallway and staircase are located centrally.
Double-hung and multi-paned windows are common.
Windows consist of nine or twelve panes per sash.
Windows are positioned evenly across the building facade.
Rectangular windows are preferred.