The American Foursquare

Our new/old house is an American Foursquare. The Foursquare was a popular architectural style in American communities in the early 1900s. It marked a return to functional and simplistic architecture following the elaborate and asymmetrical styles of the Victorian Era.  This more practical movement in domestic architecture was inspired by the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Foursquare was particularly popular in communities that were near railroads, including the predecessors to today's Norfolk and Southern Railway. This was largely due to the pattern books and mail-order catalog companies which delivered kits by railroad directly to homeowners. Here is a page from the Sears Catalog of a home similar to ours:

The Foursquare popularized the basic 2x2 construction--2 rooms wide by 2 rooms deep. It was box-shaped in order to maximize the space on a small urban lot. These homes typically had a craftsman or colonial revival influence. Ours has more craftsman features including the shape of the columns on the front porch and the exposed rafter tails under the eaves. (Translation: Rafter tails are the exposed portion of the rafter or roof structure, that overhangs the exterior wall. They look like decorative brackets but aren't simply decorative.) 

The 3rd floor dormer shows the original rafter tails with beaded board between them.  We are hoping to find the same details on the 2nd floor too which is currently covered with vinyl soffits. (Translation:  Soffits are the underside of the overhanging roof.)  

Mission: Solve the mystery of the rafter tails 

Tapered columns are one of the most distinctive characteristics of Craftsman homes and we have them  too on our new/old Foursquare. Craftsman columns support the porch roof and are typically short and sit on big brick or stone piers. We have three big brick piers but, oops! only two tapered columns! 

Mission: Investigate the existence of the third column

Image Source: City of Roanoke website, our new/old home
Information Sources: City of Roanoke website, Houzz.com Elements of Craftsman Style

Searshomes.org has interesting information and examples of different Sears homes.