The Central-Passage houses are also known as center-hall house, hall-passage-parlor house, Williamsburg cottage, and Tidewater-type cottage. These houses are characterized by their symmetrical layout and classic Georgian style. The original central-passage house was constructed between 1720 and 1840 in colonial Virginia and the Carolinas. The most common features in these houses include a unique symmetrical plan, a three-bay facade, two rooms flanking a central entry hall, and a large attic. The most distinctive feature is the long central hall that runs the length of the house. This hall provided the primary circulation in the house and allowed access to all of the rooms. The front door usually was located on the central axis-line of the house or slightly off center. The traditional design of this type of house has been preserved in the popular Williamsburg cottage and the Tidewater-type cottage that are commonly used in coastal villages.
The Central-Passage houses was a vernacular, or folk form, house type from the colonial period onward into the 19th century in the United States. The Central-Passage house typically had a center entry way combined with two rooms on each side of the entry hall. A chimney at the center of the house offered heat to the rooms on either side. The style of Central-Passage house frequently sported a pitched gable roof, one, two, or three stories, and occasionally a detached rear ell. Most often found in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, these houses were characterized by simplicity and thrift.
The Central-Passage house evolved mainly in colonial Maryland and Virginia from the hall and parlor house, beginning to appear in greater numbers by about 1700. This house form has a central entrance that divides the interior into two distinct areas: a hall and a parlor. This arrangement created a larger interior space that gave building owners more area to use than the traditional hall and parlor type plan. The passage house had symmetrical façades with four-room, two-story dwellings with each room being the same size.
The central-passage house form allowed a lot of privacy and individual living space while still being an efficient form. This plan also incorporated a larger open area that was used as a general gathering space for activities. The central-passage house evolved into a style of home that utilized various modern materials and techniques to make the most of the interior space available. This included utilizing materials such as wood, stone, brick, and plaster. This form of house combined the elements of the traditional hall and parlor house, while adding more interior space.
The interior of the central-passage house often featured four rooms that included the kitchen, dining room, bedroom, and a parlor. The kitchen and dining room typically shared a common fireplace, while the parlor often featured a hearth as a focal point in the room. These hearths provided a great source of heat during the colder months.
The central-passage house was popular in colonial Maryland and Virginia due to its efficient utilization of space, cost-effectiveness, and its ability to provide living privacy for its inhabitants. This type of house was widely used until the Federal and Greek Revival Periods began to overtake the traditional forms of architecture in the mid-1800s.
It partially developed as greater economic security and developing social conventions transformed the reality of the American landscape and it was also heavily influenced by its formal architectural relatives, the Palladian and Georgian styles with their emphasis on symmetry and grandeur. Central-Passage houses featured basic symmetrical layout, usually with a central hallway connecting two large rooms on either side. Called a four-over-four layout, the main entrance opened up into a central hall, which in turn led into two rooms of equal size on either side. The central hall then acted as a thoroughfare to the other main areas of the house, such as the kitchen, stairs, bedrooms, et cetera. This design allowed the house to have a more open plan and provide a great deal of flexibility for the family that inhabited it.
Commanding symmetrical windows flanked the central entrance, often with a pediment above the door surround. The boxed eaves were gabled and cornices often extended to the roof line. Interior walls were frequently plastered and rarely papered, complimenting the minimalistic yet streamlined appearance the house exuded. Historical features include wide eaves, paneled doors, and carved mantels to add sophistication to the style. Bedroom walls were not papered until the mid-18th century but rather erected with a heavily pigmented lime wash sprayed over the boards which gave the house a consistent look.
The Central-Passage house was built to a high standard and included plenty of features aimed to make life more comfortable for all occupants. Floorboards commonly ran the full length of hallways and rooms, giving a consistent look. Wainscot and paneling decorated in ovals, rectangles and rectangular boxes was used to decorate the entrance hall. Chair rails were also common additions which provided not just a clean finish, but a functional handrail when travelling upstairs.
The Central-Passage style has been revered for its aesthetic appeal and functionality. Families of the past and present have continued to prize the qualities of efficient space utilization, economy, quality of construction, and the symmetrical design of communal spaces. These features have made the Central-Passage style an enduring favorite for many generations of householders.
ARCHITECTURE:
The central-passage house was built much like the hall and parlor house, except that its hall and parlor were partitioned by a central passageway located roughly in the middle of the house, providing separation between two rooms. This provided more flexibility when it came to the design of the rooms, as the two sections could be used as different rooms. This style of home, also sometimes referred to as a cross passage house, was popular in rural areas of the American colonies, being found throughout much of the South, Midwest, and New England areas of the United States between the 17th and 20th centuries.
The central-passage house was typically constructed using frame construction, with a wooden frame covered with clapboard, whitewashed logs, or wood shingles. Typically, the front of the house featured a central door, flanked by two windows, while the sides were often left with no windows. Inside the house was divided by a wide paneled, partitioned passage, with a staircase at the rear. Each room typically contained a separate fireplace, as this type of building predates the central heating systems that we know today.
This style of home has seen a resurgence in recent years, with some modern central-passage houses being built in the style of the classic colonial designs. These homes often feature a raised front porch and may include additional features like dormers for extra headroom. In addition, some of these modern homes have been updated to include modern amenities, such as indoor plumbing and appliances.
In fact, in many of the earliest examples a hall-parlor arrangement had a second partition added inside the existing structure or an additional room was added to one side to form a central-passage house type.
In large houses, interior partitions or walls often divided the interior into two or three distinct spaces. The antebellum-era hall-parlor house arrangement provided a comfortable family living area divided into two distinct parts. An open hallway, called the hall, ran the length of the house from the entryway to the rear of the house. The front part of the house was divided from the hall by the parlor door which opened into the parlor, a warm and inviting space for entertaining guests. Each of these rooms might be further divided into smaller areas with the aid of additional rooms that could provide even more living space.
Additional rooms were often added on the side or rear of the house, such as bedrooms or a kitchen. The combination of these spaces developed into the central-passage house type, in which the interior of the house is arranged around a central hallway.
While the birth of the hall-parlor house style can be traced back to the earliest examples in American history, the hall-parlor arrangement is still a common home layout today, especially in older homes. The traditional layout provides a comfortable family living space while still allowing for plenty of privacy. With a few improvements and modern updates, hall-parlor homes can provide just as much style and comfort as any other type of home. In form it was one-and-a-half storied, on a raised foundation, and had gable-end chimneys in central passage house and east end. At the south end of the west side was porch with two rounded side windows and no ceiling. It had beaded clapboarding.
Stylistic elements that were typical of the type were massive bookend chimneys with rectangular caps, flat or segmented arches over door and window openings, and a raised, often molded brick water table marking the bottom of the first story. Often the shape of the house was an elongated rectangle with the central part slightly projected. The roof was a central gable form with a shallow, central pediment. Centered windows provided light for the central hall where four main rooms (two on each side) share partitions with the hall. On either side were typically two rooms, one above the other. In some cases, the central hall was elaborated into a double parlor or other shaped plan. The exterior walls of the house were made of wood, brick, stone, or a combination of all three. Windows and doors were often set in sunken paneled frames and beveled and/or glazed. While detailing was often plain and restrained, some examples included more complex forms such as pilaster or arcaded bays on the facade.
When built with brick masonry load-bearing walls, decorative detailing often included Flemish bond and English bond, among other techniques. The principal features of the central passage were two stories in height, with orderly rows of windows on either side of a central door. Sections of wall between the windows were usually dressed with a combination of brick, stone, and masonry work featuring mock Tudor, gothic arch, and classical motifs. The central passage typically had a hipped roof with smaller dormers projecting out, often with a brick chimney stack rising from the central section of the roof. These homes were usually built with small garages and separate utility buildings.
Diapering was also common on gable ends. This was a practice whereby plain tiles were interspersed between vertical tiles on the gable ends. This was usually done to provide extra insulation and protection as well as to make it easier to fit the gable end. Diapering allowed for better protection as the tiles were aligned and overlapped to make a stronger weatherproof barrier. The tiles could also be painted in a variety of colors to make the gable end more attractive. Diapering was commonly used in the construction of 16th and 17th century homes in Europe so it is likely that some form of diapering was used in central passage house architecture as well. |
