I-house

The I-house was a vernacular house type, popular in the United States from the colonial period into the mid-1800s. The I-house was so named in the 1930s by Fred Kniffen, a specialist in folk architecture who identified and analyzed the type in his 1936 study of Louisiana house types.cite web|url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/I/IH001.html|title=I-House|work=Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture|publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society |accessdate=2008-10-03] He chose the name "I-house" because of its common occurrence in the rural farm areas of Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, all states beginning in the letter "I".cite web|url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/I/IH001.html|title=Designing Place: Architecture as Community Art in Martinsville, Indiana|work=Morgan County Historic Preservation Society |accessdate=2008-10-04] He did not use the term to imply that this house type originated in, or was restricted to, those three states.

History and defining characteristics

The I-house developed from traditional 17th century British folk house types and became a popular house form in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern United States at an early dateGamble, Robert "Historic architecture in Alabama: a guide to styles and types, 1810-1930", pages 29-32. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 1990. ISBN 0817311343.] , but can be found throughout most of the country in areas that were settled by the mid-19th century. All I-houses feature gables to the side and are at least two rooms in length, one room deep, and twofull stories in height. They also often have a rear wing or "ell" for additional space. The facade of an I-house tends to be symmetrical, and they were constructed in a variety of materials, including logs, wood frame, brick or stone. 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 typecite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1671|title=Plantation Architecture in Alabama|work=Encyclopedia of Alabama|publisher=Alabama Humanities Foundation |accessdate=2008-10-03] cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1671|title=Colonial Architecture: Overview|work=New Georgia Encyclopedia|publisher=Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press |accessdate=2008-10-03] , though it is more correctly termed as an I-house with sheds.

Because of the popularity and simple form of the I-house, decorative elements of popular architectural styles were often utilized. 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 I-house was also adapted to Gothic Revival and Italianate styles during the mid-1800s.cite web|url=http://www.westcentralneighborhood.org/hgt2001.htm|title=2001 Home and Garden Tour|work=West Central Neighborhood Association |accessdate=2008-10-04]

ee also

*List of house types
*List of house styles

References