Table Of Content
Folklore and superstition held that the misaligned doorways deterred ghosts and spirits from passing through the house. Though designed to be compact and efficient, shotgun houses have distinct design features that allow for instant identification. Aside from the layout, there are specific facades well known to the shotgun house design. The shotgun house’s design originated In West Africa, which came to New Orleans by way of St. Domingue (later Haiti).
Straight and Narrow: 22 Shotgun Houses We Love
Inhabitants of shotgun houses also live in close contact with each other, since the lack of hallways requires residents to pass through each other’s rooms. Shotgun houses first appeared in the early 19th century and peaked in popularity at the beginning of the 20th century. They were built in both rural and urban areas and often became the most common type of dwelling in black neighbourhoods in American cities such as Charlotte, North Carolina, and New Orleans. Most shotgun houses were built on brick piers, were heated by a fireplace, and did not include indoor plumbing. The narrow width of shotgun houses cut costs by allowing many houses to be built on smaller plots of land.
History of Shotgun-Style Houses
Not all shotgun-style homes have the same layout, but they all have a few important components in common. We spoke to an architect and interior designer to learn more about the what makes a shotgun house so unique, including its characteristics and history. A traditional shotgun-style house is a narrow, linear single-story home with three to four rooms and no hallway connecting them. Within the home, you'll find a living room at entry, followed by a sequence of one or two bedrooms and a kitchen. Also known as “shotgun shacks,” they were once targeted for demolition in cities from New Orleans to Lexington and Covington, KY. Today, however, they are cherished as an integral part of our country’s architectural heritage and gaining popularity among home buyers, who embrace their simple charm.
Shotgun House Exterior
Once a house under threat of demolition, the house now serves as the Conservancy’s Preservation Resource Center. The project not only preserved this precious resource, it also received LEED Gold Certification. The Shotgun House is a Santa Monica Landmark and has won numerous preservation awards.
Unconventional Homes Inspired by Nature
Modern iterations will either have a bathroom added to the back of the house or the interior rejiggered to include this modern convenience. Above all, shotgun homes are a master class in spatial efficiency, with a focus on function and reverence for historical details that have stood the test of time. Developers built them with the goal of fitting as many houses as possible on smaller plots of land.
Preservation of Shotgun Houses
Though initially as popular with the middle class as with the poor, the shotgun house became a symbol of poverty in the mid-20th century. Urban renewal has led to the destruction of many shotgun houses; however, in areas affected by gentrification, historic preservation efforts have led to the renovation of such houses. For many years it was widely assumed that the long narrow design had been developed in New Orleans in the 19th century so that houses could be built on narrow plots of land. O'Connor says these houses take advantage of narrow lots and were usually placed close to the street. Shotgun facades after the 1800s typically have a gabled roof, and many shotgun-style houses have gabled front porches as well. While exact style and layout may may vary from house to house, most shotgun-style homes have distinctive properties that set them apart from other homes.
Double Door Shotgun in New Orleans, LA
Located along New Orleans’ parade route, this shotgun house is within shouting range of raucous festivities on any given holiday. Even on quiet days, the front porch is the perfect place to watch the comings and goings of the colorful neighborhood. A second story at the rear of the residence creates an unusual shape, and designates the home as a camelback shotgun house. Whatever its formal classification, the space-smart interior and immaculate front yard are enough to make it the envy of New Orleans.
Loaded With Potential: The Background, Benefits, and Drawbacks of Shotgun Houses
The Santa Monica shotgun house/Preservation Resource Center at 2520 Second Street, Santa Monica, is open from 11 a.m. Its preservation is an example of the way a community can pull together to save important structures before they vanish from Southern California completely, erasing our connection to the past. Melissa enjoys using her experience as a house flipper, investment buyer, and waterfront home owner to help buyers and sellers thrive in the housing market. With the right location and proper research, these charming houses could be a great place to call home. In general, older homes tend to require more maintenance as components wear out over time.
Historic L.A.
They represent a unique African American contribution to architecture in the United States. Having encountered the design in the Caribbean, the free people of color who came to New Orleans from Saint-Domingue built many shotguns for themselves and others in the early nineteenth century. By the 1830s, the dwellings were also being utilized for factory, farm, and railroad workers. For some working poor, the house type afforded the chance at a decent home, even ownership, close to where the house builder made his or her living. Despite their size, the rooms in shotgun houses are surprisingly large, usually around 14 square feet (1.3 square meters).
Kirksey Architecture pulls from Houston's historic shotgun-style architecture for an expansion to Yellowstone Schools - The Architect's Newspaper
Kirksey Architecture pulls from Houston's historic shotgun-style architecture for an expansion to Yellowstone Schools.
Posted: Thu, 09 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Building codes required wooden houses to be narrow so that there was room between the houses built on small lots. They are known for being just one room (or about 12 feet) wide and two to three rooms deep without any hallways, so you walk through each room to get to the next. Usually, it starts with the living room, then one to two bedrooms, and a kitchen and bathroom at the back. The narrow design with windows and doors at either end—combined with high ceilings—allows for efficient ventilation and airflow throughout the home, vital for NOLA’s hot and humid climate. The shotgun house is the signature house style of New Orleans, and this cozy cottage is as classic as any you’ll find in the city. Although the home measures a mere 400 square feet, it houses a large amount of style.
Building a shotgun house from scratch involves calculating and budgeting all the necessary materials. Knowing which materials are ideal for your area, along with their costs, will significantly influence your choices. Estimates for new construction on a shotgun house go from about $100 to $110 per square foot. The exterior features a single window and door, and each room has a single-window installed on its side. Decorative wooden shutters flank the windows, and often the front door as well.
Sears and Roebuck and the railroads had their own, non-folk versions of the shotgun. Partial wall options can include strategically placed furniture, semi-permanent room partitions, and fully framed and attached walls. These options range in practicality, expense, and level of privacy, which will ultimately influence your design choice. The main consideration will be maintaining cross-ventilation and ease of movement. Typically, shotguns have a wood frame structure and siding, but some are made of brick or stone. Smaller homes with simpler construction can be easier to maintain, making them a practical choice for first-time homebuyers, retirees, or frequent travelers.
The traditional building material for a shotgun house is wood, from the framing to the siding. Newer materials like vinyl, fiber cement board, and brick are sturdier and less susceptible to weather and termite damage. Steel is an expensive option for framing but could prove useful in storm-prone areas.
In the bright and airy interior, easy-to-clean hardwood floors, ample seating, and small but efficient appliances make entertaining a simple affair. Pure and simple is the motto of this shotgun house with a pristine white facade, adorned with a splash of yellow paint. That same simplicity can be found throughout the 1,957-square-foot dwelling, from the blemish-free white walls, to the exposed brick fireplaces with cypress mantels. Prepare to be pampered when you step into this customized white camelback shotgun house in New Orleans. Heart pine floors, gray shaker cabinetry, marble countertops and plush white furnishings give the first floor a luxe look, while three comfortable bedrooms can be found on the second floor of the abode.
The John Mellencamp song "Pink Houses" was inspired when he was driving along an overpass on the way home to Bloomington, Indiana from the Indianapolis airport. There was an old black man sitting outside his little pink shotgun house with his cat in his arms, completely unperturbed by the traffic speeding along the highway in his front yard. “He waved, and I waved back,” Mellencamp said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “That's how 'Pink Houses' started.”.[33][34] In Bruce Springsteen's song "We Take Care of Our Own", from the album Wrecking Ball, he refers to shotgun houses, singing "We take care of our own, from the shotgun shack to the Super Dome". Springsteen also references "shotgun shack" in "Reason to Believe" from his 1982 album Nebraska, with the line, "In a whitewashed shotgun shack, an old man passes away / they take his body to the graveyard, and over him, they pray."
No comments:
Post a Comment