Shingle-style homes were popular in the last couple of decades of the 1800s, but they did not acquire a name until about 1950. American architect Vincent Scully gave this type of home a formal name in his book, The Shingle Style: Architectural Theory and Design from Richardson to the Origins of Wright. He nicknamed the style, “the architecture of the American summer.”
These houses, covered in shingles, have a weathered and naturalistic surface. Sometimes, architects dipped the cedar shakes in buttermilk to give them an aged, weathered appearance. One of the key features that distinguish shingle-style homes from other styles that have shingles, is the corners. Shingle-style homes do not have vertical corner boards. Instead, the shingles wrap around the corners. Other characteristics of these homes are:
- Spreading, dense horizontal shape