Chapter 6 The Evolution of Exteriors
169
Early English
An architectural style built by
English settlers in North America begin-
ning in the early 1600s is
Early
English.
Several distinct housing types evolved
from this traditional folk architecture.
These types include Tidewater South
and the New England styles known as
Cape Cod, Saltbox, and Garrison.
The fi rst successful English settle- fi
ment in North America was established
in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia. Archae-
ologists think these early English
settlers used the mud-and-stud method
of building. Early records trace this
technique back to Lincolnshire County
along the east coast of England. In this
building technique, the frame of the
house was constructed from upright
forked logs with cross beams. The walls
were fi lled with mud and clay and the fi
roof was thatched with leaves, tree
bark, or bundles of reeds and straw.
This technique was later refined and fi
referred to as half-timbered construc-
tion. In
half-timbered
houses, the wood
frame of the house actually formed part
of the outside wall, 6-2. Brick or plaster
was used to fill the spaces between the fi
beams.
Tidewater South. Settlements contin-
ued to grow in the low-lying coastal
lands called Tidewater areas. An archi-
tectural style built by early English
settlers in the southern coastal regions
of what is now the United States is
Tidewater
South, 6-3. The construction
style of these homes was simple: a one-
room wooden building with a wood or
stone chimney at one end. As families
grew, house additions were built. The
fi rst addition was another room, often fi
built as large as the fi rst. It was added
next to the wall with the chimney. Many
rural farmhouses throughout the South
had similar plans. Covered porches
were also added to these simple plans to
increase the amount of living area and
to provide shelter from the hot sun.
New England. Plymouth, Massa-
chusetts was the second successful
English settlement in 1620. By 1640, a
number of small English settlements
were established along the eastern area
of North America. This region of North
America is known as New England
and
now includes the states of Maine, New
Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
Early seventeenth century English
settlers in northern New England
commonly built two-story houses. They
were constructed of heavy timber
frames. In timber framing—or post-
and-beam construction—large pieces of
wood are joined together with wood-
working joints (mortise-and-tenon joints),
or with wooden pegs, braces, or trusses.
6-1
The Pueblo live
in these adobe
dwellings.
6-2
This thatch-roof
house in the re-
created 1610–1614
colonial fort
at Jamestown
Settlement
History Museum
in Williamsburg,
VA, is an example
of half-timbered
construction.
Photo Courtesy of the
Jamestown-Yorktown
Foundation