Description of a Dutch-Style House

Materials

• The earliest Dutch settlers built their homes primarily out of stone or wood. They departed from the typical home construction of their native land as most houses in the Netherlands were made from brick. Many Dutch immigrants settled in New Jersey where stone was easily obtained. The Dutch who built homes on Long Island, where stone was not prevalent, often used wood construction. The houses made from stone were held together by mortar, with clay used to fill in any chinks.

Roof

• Perhaps the most well known aspect of the Dutch Colonial style, the gambrel roof, was not common in Europe. European immigrants, the Dutch among them, adopted the roof style to create more room in their homes. Gambrel roofs have two different pitches on a single side of a roof, which allows more interior space to a second story than a single-pitched roof. To gain the same amount of space as a gambrel roof would require building a single-pitched roof that was much higher.

Porch

• As the Dutch style of home building matured in early North America, the roof was often extended over to the front of the house to cover a space for a narrow porch. This projection, called flaring eaves, became a signature of the style. Columns running the entire length of the porch -- or sometimes just on either side of the doorway -- were a typical feature of this development.

Dutch

• The early part of the 20th century saw a surge of interest in the home building style of the Dutch settlers, which led to the Dutch colonial revival, a homebuilding staple of the first decades of the 1900s. Homes built in this style typically featured gambrel roofs, 1 1/2- or 2-story floor plans, chimneys on the gable ends and a decorative covering over the entrance. The second stories often had dormers.