Sources

http://www.americancenturies.mass.edu/activities/architecture/index.html

http://architecture.about.com/od/housestyles/ig/Colonial-and-Federal/

Pictures:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:De_Turck_House.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hartford_Residence,_Bridgton,_ME.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Parlange_Plantation%2C_State_Highway_93%2C_New_Roads_vicinity_%28Pointe_Coupee_Parish%2C_Louisiana%29.jpg

Architecture: New England Colonial

This style of architecture was popular from the founding of the first colonies up until the mid-18th century, mostly in New England. They were influenced strongly by the design of English cottages, which many of the colonists were familiar with. Most of these houses were strictly functional; they were built for security from both enemies and the weather. They had a central chimney which warmed the entire building, which was usually only one room deep and two across, the hall and the parlour. Rooms upsatirs typically weren't heated, so they were used mainly in the summer and for storage. There was nothing fancy about the steep, gabled roofs, clapboard fronts, and heavy doors, mainly because the colonists were concerned more with usefulness than embelishment and symmetry during this period.

Architecture: Colonial Cape Cod

This style of architecture was also popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, meaning that, although it was not the predominant architectural style being used at the time of the Revolution, it was common among houses built in the centuries leading up to it, for the most part in New England. They were based off of the New England Colonial style, but adapted to better suit America. These houses were usually 1.5 stories, with the common hall/parlour layout. They typically had clapboards on the exterior, hardwood floors, and shutters on the paned windows. These houses were more symmetrical than the New England Colonial houses, though they typically had the same gabled roof.

Architecture: German Colonial

This style was popular from the 17th to 19th centuries in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and surrounding areas, places with many northern European immigrants. These houses typically had thick, sandstone walls with wood framing insted of completely wood walls. There were arches over the windows and doors on the first floor, unlike both the New England Colonial and the Cape Cod styles. This style of architecture also included massive chimneys.

Architecture: Dutch Colonial

New York was the main region for this type of architecture, which was popular from the 17th to 19th centuries. Brick was the typical material used for Dutch Colonial buildings. The roofs of these buildings were usually gambrel and/or had wide, flared eaves, often said to look like a barn because of this. Like Goergian buildings, there were usually chimneys on either side of the building.

Architecture: French Colonial

French Colonial Architecture, for the most part, was not found in the thirteen colonies.* It was more typically found in Quebec, down the Mississippi River valley, and in Louisiana. It was popular during the 18th and 19th centuries. The further south the building was, the more is typically exemplified this style. The house would usually be raised above ground level, due to the rivers and marshes in the area. It would have a wood frame with brick or mud mixed with animan hair composing the walls. There were usually wide porched which doubled as hallways connecting rooms and often included French doors. Roofs could be either gabled or hipped.

*Spanish Colonial Architecture was not found in the original thirteen colonies either, but in the Southwest. However, French Colonial Architecture was much closer which is why it is included in this series of posts by me while Spanish Colonial is not.

Architecture: Georgian Colonial

This architectural style was named for King Georges and was popular throughout the thirteen colonies, mostly in the 18th and 19th centuries. Most Georgian style houses were symmetrical one or two story buildings that were two rooms deep. Traditionally, they have symmetrical paned windows as well, five across and two vertically, with the door in the center of the bottom row. The door would usually be panalled with mock-pillars on either side of it supporting a “simplified entablature” above the door, whitch would often be very detailed. Most of the houses were covered in clapboard, which would be painted if the colonist who owned the house in question was of the wealthier variety. There would either be two chimmenys located on both sides of the roof, symmetrically of course, or a single chimmeny in the center of the roof, like earlier styles. The inspiration for this style of home was obtained from the British, who had in turn obtained it from the Greeks and Romans (hence the fake columns).

Architecture: Federal

Federal Architecture began to develop just after the Revolution. It was the first architectural style that actually originated in the colonies which were by this time the United States. Thomas Jefferson contributed greatly to its development, being an accomplished architect. Much inspiration, such as the columns as well as many of the details, was drawn from the ancient Greeks and Romans, whose republics had been the inspiration for many of the principles on which the new country was founded. Americans liked to identify themselves with these ancient peoples, and one method of doing so was imitating their architecture. However, some inspration came from England as well, where the Adams brothers were already using many of the features used on Federal homes on new Georgian homes. Some distinguishing charictaristics include the Palladian window (large window flanked by two smaller ones, usually above the door), circular and elliptical windows, , oval rooms (like the oval office), arches, narrow windows on either side of the door, a half-circle fanight above the front door, shutters, symmetrical windows, a shallow roof, and carved swags. This style's main difference from Georgian Colonial is it's use of circles and arches.

This particular house has many Federal characteristics, but it is also missing some such as the Palladian window and windows by the door. This is because it was one of the earliest Federal structures and still strongly resembled a Georgian structure.