17th Century Colonial House Designs

First Colonies

• Shelter was a primary concern for the first settlers, or colonists, who came to the New World (the Americas). In the beginning, early attempts at housing were rushed and made with whatever materials could be found close at hand. Early shelters consisted of dug-out caves, tents and lean-tos made with mud, branches and cloth. Early dwellings were called cellars because of their similar to outdoor storage structures. After colonies became more established, people began building more permanent homes along rivers and sources of water.

New England

• New England became home to many Puritans who left England to find new lives in the New World. Because wood was so abundant in the region, colonists used it to make many early colonial homes in the area. Lime, a necessary mortar ingredient, was not available, and making homes with brick was not feasible. In all of New England, only one dozen homes were built with brick or stone in the 17th century; all others were constructed of wood. Early New Englanders began to cover homes with clapboard to guard against the harsh weather of the region, an architectural feature still mimicked in modern colonial architecture. Clapboard became its own industry for colonists, who began exporting it to England.

  Colonial homes of the time had a parlor used only for special occasions and guests. Kitchens were added as attached lean-tos or annexes. Known as "saltboxes," these distinctive lean-tos are still a main feature of the Cape Cod house design that stems from early colonial homes. The building's framework, such as beams and posts, was not covered.

Southern Colonies

• Jamestown, Virginia, was established in 1607 by a joint stock company, called the Virginia Company, which sought to find profit by creating an English colony in the New World. The first building at the colony was James Fort, a triangular building. Smaller buildings were enclosed within the walls, including a storehouse, guardhouse and church. Homes and other buildings were built with split logs, the cracks between which were stuffed with clay. Thatch, in the form of rushes and reeds, was used to create the roofs. Instead of glass, windows were covered with oiled linen or wooden shutters. The cottage-like homes consisted of a single room with roofs pitched at sharp angles. Upper lofts were used for sleeping platforms. Chimneys were placed at the end of buildings to direct heat away from the interior.

Characteristics

• Colonial architecture has several distinct features: side gables, created by the way the roof stops at the sides of the house; a flat-faced front; wooden building materials; and clapboard. The 17th century and other early colonial homes in particular are distinctive because they rarely have eaves, porches, window trim or shutters. Colonial homes in the 17th century also commonly faced south. Doors were covered with vertical planks, and the windows were made with diamond-shaped panes. Early colonial homes were built with only one or two rooms in a boxy shape.

  Cape Cod houses, made of wood with high roofs, strongly mimic 17th century colonial architecture. The traditional colonial design, one of the most popular styles of architecture in the United States, is characterized by a symmetrical face bisected by a door flanked by a pair of windows. Five windows are equally spaced across the second story of the classic colonial design. New England colonial homes were built with a central chimney in the middle of the structure, while in the south, it was more common to find two chimneys on each end of the home.