I-House The I-house is a vernacular house type, popular in the United States from the colonial period in the 17th century, up until the mid-19th century. I-houses were a form of prefabricated house, with many of the elements being custom made off-site, and then assembled on the final site. They could be built quickly and affordably, and were popular among farmers and settlers who wanted to build a simple and efficient house. The I-house is characterized by its simple rectangular shape, with two stories, two entrances, and two end chimneys, giving it the shape of an "I". Inside, they typically had two large rooms on each floor, connected by a central hallway. The walls were typically made from logs or a frame of wood, and the roof was usually gabled with wood shingles or clapboard. I-houses could be found in rural areas, on farms, and in small towns, and were often decorated with various carved woodwork to make them more fashionable and attractive.It features a one-room-deep rectangular plan, with a symmetrical facade facing the street and a gable roof. The basic structure consists of two chimneys at either end, framing a central door, three evenly-spaced windows on either side of the door, and a side-gabled roof. Other common elements of the style include exposed rafters, shutters, porches, and small dormer windows. The I-house is often used as a source of inspiration for contemporary architects and builders seeking to evoke a certain sense of traditional charm in a modern-day structure.
Fred Kniffen a specialist in folk architecture named this type of house as I House in 1930. This type of housing is referred to as a I House due to its one room deep design, which was popular in the Midwest during the 19th century. The majority of I Houses were made of wood with a gable roof, central chimney, and front porch. Some of the key characteristics of I Houses include a two-story structure, symmetrical window placement, a central front entrance, and a gable roof.
He chose the name "I-house" because of its common occurrence in the countryside farm areas of Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, all states beginning in the letter "I". He identified it as a distinct vernacular folk building type that was spread from the Upper Midwest of the U.S., so the name was meant to characterize these distinctive attributes on a regional level. The I-house is popularly referred to as a "centerman" or "center-passage" house typically having two rooms either side of a central central hall, log or frame construction, and sometimes a full-width front porch with a gable roof.
He did not use the term to imply that this house type instigated in, or was restricted to, those three states. He used the term in its original sense, to refer to the post and beam building form, with the steeply pitched gable roof, that had been present in log cabin dwellings since the 17th century. He has also used the term to refer to the various antebellum building forms that could be seen throughout the South in that period.
The I-house was developed from traditional 17th century British folk house types, such as the hall and parlor house and central-passage house. Built between 1840 and 1860, these two- to four-room cottages featured a large central chimney and an “I” shaped footprint. The steeply gabled roof of the house was designed to protect its inhabitants from the harsh New England weather. They were often found clustered together to form small towns or villages and were often designed in the Greek Revival or Gothic Revival styles. Initially popular with farmers and laborers in the northeast, the I-house gradually lost favor in the early twentieth century, after the introduction of the bungalow and other more modern house styles.
Today, the I-house is seen as an iconic and nostalgic symbol of America’s past. It has been featured prominently in literature, notably Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and has gained popularity with homeowners seeking to preserve the classic American architecture of the 19th century. Many I-houses have been lovingly restored and are now located in many urban and rural areas, offering potential buyers a home with charming period features and plenty of character.
The I-house is typically a simple two-story frame house with a center entrance, the two frames meeting at the eaves. These dwellings often feature a central hall on the ground floor with two rooms on either side. The upper story usually contains two rooms and a hall as well. This type of house is very common in rural areas, particularly in the South, and can sometimes be distinguished from other house types by its small front porch. It was often used by middling planters, and those of larger economic means often added more formal features, such as columned porches, bay windows, or wrap-around porches.
The I-house became a popular house form in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern United States at an early date, but can be found throughout most of the country in areas that were settled by the mid-19th century. The I-house was the most common rural house form from about 1820 to the end of the 19th century. It is characterized by its two room deep main block, usually two stories high, with a gabled roof and a single central door flanked by windows or shutters, usually at the front of the house. This main block was flanked by one-story wings, often containing a half-story room on top.
The I-house is an example of an architectural form with roots in Virginia and the Tidewater region of Maryland, but variations can be found in other areas of the United States. Variations on the I-house could vary in size, shape, window configuration, and material used. Some examples feature a large central hall with two full stories of rooms on either side. Others feature two-story side wings, or an attic story that is accessed via an exterior staircase.
The I-house was a popular choice for settlers in the rural parts of the country, due to its simple design and efficient use of space. It was an affordable option, and it was also relatively simple to build. This house style helped to shape communities and culture, and is still a recognizable feature of American architecture today.
All I-houses feature gables to the side and are at least two rooms in length, one room deep, and two full stories in height. I-houses come in many shapes, sizes, and styles, though usually they are rectangular in form and characterized by the simple shape of plank walls, a gable roof, and a single front door with a single window on either side. The eaves of the roof usually extend below the walls of the house, and often the porch is placed beneath the roof as well. The front door usually faces the road, though there are occasions where it does not. I-houses may have a variety of siding materials, including wood clapboard, stones, brick, and stucco.
The I-house became popular in the American South in the 19th century, hence its alternate name of 'Southern colonial', and was the preferred style of the planter class; in addition to its symmetrical design and gable roof, it had the practical benefits of easily fitting into wide plots, its efficiency of use, and its ability to circulate air. The I-house was imported from Europe, and bears resemblance to the traditional French style of 'briquette-entre-poteau' or 'brick-between-post.' The term 'I-house' originates from the archaic phonetic spelling of the letter I, which during the 19th century was commonly written as 'eye.' Some Cape Cod I-houses have a rear wing or ell for a kitchen or additional space. This is because many Cape Cod I-houses were originally simple one-room dwellings with low ceilings and small windows, and the ell provided additional living space. Cape Cod I-houses are typically quite small, so the ell also provided extra space for a kitchen and other necessities.
The facade of an I-house tends to be symmetrical, and they were constructed in a variety of materials such as logs, wood frame, brick or stone. The I-house typically features a tall, two-story frame (or three stories in the case of Georgia I-Houses), a central door flanked by two windows, a central gable roof with end chimneys, and a full- or half-width porch across the front. The porch is often supported by six or eight square columns, and is sometimes detailed with decorative elements such as spindles, balusters, or decorative fretwork. In some cases, the porch and gables feature some modest ornamentation, such as trusses in the gables or painted or carved details. Many I-houses also feature full facade chimneys that provide heat to the two stories.
The interior of an I-house typically features symmetrical layouts on each floor. The rooms on either side of the central hallway typically feature some type of fireplace and a single window on either side of the fireplace. In some cases, the side rooms will access a side porch. The most common floor plan includes four rooms on the main floor, typically a parlor, dining room, kitchen and bedroom, and three rooms on the upper floor, typically two bedrooms and a storage room.
Although the I-house was designed to provide efficient and economical space, it still offers homeowner or tenants a feeling of dignity and tradition. As a result, this traditional style of home is much beloved by residents of the Midwest and Southeast regions of the United States.
In the South a variation of the I-house, with one-story rear shed rooms and usually a full-width front porch, is often referred to as the Plantation Plain house type, though it is more correctly termed as an I-house with sheds. These houses were common on the larger, wealthier plantations of the south from the mid-19th century through the 1930s. Features of the Plantation Plain typically include central halls, one or two large rooms on each side of the main entrance hall, and one-story shed rooms at the rear of the house connected to the hall through a passage or dog-trot. These shed rooms were typically servants’ quarters, utilitarian kitchens, storage, or other functional rooms.
The Plantation Plain house type was widely used by the elite and wealthy planters of the antebellum South and is associated with the romanticized “Gone With the Wind” image of Southern plantation life. In spite of this, the house type could be and was used by those of more modest means. The house type can be found in a wide range of sizes and materials from small frame bungalows in small towns to grander brick mansions on plantation lands.
Because of the popularity and simple form of the I-house, ornamental elements of popular architectural styles were often used to embellish the structure and distinguish them from the plainer buildings of the era. Historic I-houses can have Greek Revival details, such as a tall Doric column entry porch, or simple Victorian era fretwork patterns.
Front porches and any decoration would be in the restrained Federal manner through the 1840s, or in the Greek revival style during the 1840s and 1850s. The style of decoration of a Federal style front porch during the 1840s would typically include columns with capitals that had either simple grooves or flutes, classical elements such as balustrades, and perhaps a pediment that would be supported by pilasters and topped with a frieze. Decorative elements used in the Greek Revival style of the 1840s and 1850s would similarly include classical elements such as pilasters, balustrades, and friezes, but complexity and elaboration would be added in the form of carved motifs, such as egg-and-dart patterns. Additionally, the entablature above the columns would include triglyphs, dentils, and a molded cornice.
The I-house was also adapted to Gothic Revival and Italianate styles during the mid-19th century. One example is the Joseph Emery house in Athens, Ohio (circa 1859). This I-house has a two-story front portico with a balcony above and paired Italianate columns. The brackets, spindle patterns, and cornice returns are also characteristic of this style. Additionally, the side wings and flat roof are features common to the Italianate style. The interior of the Joseph Emery House exhibits raised-panel wainscoting, original marble mantels, and tall, flat ceiling heights, indicative of the Greek Revival style.
The I-house style was widely used by planters and farmers in the mid-19th century, often featuring a two-story veranda looking over an expansive lawn. This style has become popular in the Southern, among other regions of the United States, and is seen in many grand plantations and manor houses. Examples include the William Garner Tyler house in Riceboro, Georgia (circa 1856) and the Walter B. Jones house near Nashville, Tennessee (circa 1868).
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