American Foursquare — popular 1890-1930
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Photo: The John and Elvira Doud House (Denver Square), ca. 1905, located at 750 Lafayette Street in Denver, Colorado. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Photograph by user: Jeffrey Beall, own work, 2009, [cc 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons, accessed April, 2013.
More Architectural House Styles
The American Foursquare was a popular mail order style built in large numbers across the United States. The design is space-efficient and most often built on narrow lots making it economical for the middle-class budget. These houses are nearly always square. Four Square (or Box Prairie) houses are considered a subtype or close relative of the Prairie style.
Identifying features include:
- Square box shape
- 2 1/2 stories on a full basement
- Three square rooms and an entrance hall on the first floor and four square rooms on the second floor
- Low hipped or pyramidal roof
- Wide roof overhangs with exposed rafter tails or decorative beams or braces under the gables
- Centered dormer in an unfinished attic with a roof line that mirrors main roof
- Full width porch with wide stairs and low hipped roof; sometimes the porch wraps around the house
- Style features and flourishes from a range of other architectural styles may be applied
- Built on narrow lots
- Some with centered doors with equal groupings of windows on either side
- Those with off-centered doors have upper story symmetrical windows
- Front entrance is a focal point of the exterior
- Entrances with transoms and sidelights
- Most often wood exteriors, but sometimes built of brick, brick or concrete block, or stucco
- Double-hung sash windows may or may not have a patterned upper sash
- Belt course just below second story windows separating the different building materials used for the first and second floors; for instance, concrete blocks below and stucco above
Some locations with references to American Foursquare style homes:
- Academy Hill Historic District, c. , (Historic), Greensburg City, Westmoreland County PA
- Academy Hill Historic District, c. , (Historic), Stroudsburg Boro, Monroe County PA
- Arthur-Leonard Historic District, c. , (Historic), Liberty City, Clay County MO
- Athens Historic District, c. 1786, (Historic), Athens Boro, Bradford County PA
- Ballentine Place Historic District, c. 1909, (Historic), Norfolk City, Independent Cities VA
- Barton Heights, c. , (Historic), Richmond City, Independent Cities VA
- Beaver Historic District, c. , (Historic), Beaver Boro, Beaver County PA
- Boylan Heights, c. , (Historic), Raleigh City, Wake County NC
- Bridgewater Historic District, c. 1818, (Historic), Bridgewater Boro, Beaver County PA
- Broad Avenue Historic District, c. 1910, (Historic), Altoona City, Blair County PA
- Brownsville Northside Historic District, c. , (Historic), Brownsville Boro, Fayette County PA
- Chestnut Hill-Plateau Historic District, c. 1910, (Historic), Richmond City, Independent Cities VA
- Clinton Avenue Historic District, c. , (Historic), Albany City, Albany County NY
- Colonial Place, c. 1903, (Historic), Norfolk City, Independent Cities VA
- Columbia Historic District, c. , (Historic), Columbia Boro, Lancaster County PA
- Dougherty-Prospect Heights Historic District, c. , (Historic), Liberty City, Clay County MO
- East Park Historic District, c. 1908, (Historic), Greenville City, Greenville County SC
- Elmwood Park Historic District, c. 1910, (Historic), Columbia City, Richland County SC
- Ginter Park Terrace, c. 1913, (Historic), Richmond City, Independent Cities VA
- Hanover Historic District, c. , (Historic), Hanover Boro, York County PA
- Highland Park Historic District, c. 1900, (Historic), Lafayette City, Tippecanoe County IN
- Highland Park Plaza, c. , (Historic), Richmond City, Independent Cities VA
- Hilltop Historic District, c. , (Historic), Lafayette City, Tippecanoe County IN
- Hudson Historic District, c. , (Historic), Hudson City, Columbia County NY
- Jewell-Lightburne Historic District, c. , (Historic), Liberty City, Clay County MO
- Lansdowne Park, c. 1890, (Historic), Lansdowne Boro, Delaware County PA
- Lewisburg Historic District, c. , (Historic), Lewisburg Boro, Union County PA
- Llyswen, c. 1894, (Historic), Altoona City, Blair County PA
- Manheim Borough Historic District, c. , (Historic), Manheim Boro, Lancaster County PA
- McConnellsburg Historic District, c. , (Historic), McConnellsburg Boro, Fulton County PA
- Milton Historic District, c. , (Historic), Milton Boro, Northumberland County PA
- Monument Avenue Historic District, c. , (Historic), Richmond City, Independent Cities VA
- Mount Union Historic District, c. , (Historic), Mount Union Boro, Huntingdon County PA
- Newport Historic District, c. , (Historic), Newport Boro, Perry County PA
- North Side Historic District, c. , (Historic), Oil City, Venango County PA
- Northwest York Historic District, c. , (Historic), York City, York County PA
- Oak Park, c. 1952, (Singles), Hatfield Twp, Montgomery County PA
- Patton Historic District, c. , (Historic), Patton Boro, Cambria County PA
- Pettigru Street Historic District, c. 1910, (Historic), Greenville City, Greenville County SC
- Philippi Historic District, c. , (Historic), Philippi City, Barbour County WV
- Pleasureville Historic District, c. , (Historic), Springettsbury Twp, York County PA
- Portage Historic District, c. , (Historic), Portage Boro, Cambria County PA
- Queen Anne Historic District, c. , (Historic), Reading City, Berks County PA
- Ridgway Historic District, c. , (Historic), Ridgway Boro, Elk County PA
- Ripley Historic District, c. , (Historic), Ripley City, Jackson County WV
- Rivermont Historic District, c. , (Historic), Lynchburg City, Independent Cities VA
- Riverview, c. , (Historic), Norfolk City, Independent Cities VA
- Roaring Spring Historic District, c. , (Historic), Roaring Spring Boro, Blair County PA
- Rossman-Prospect Avenue Historic District, c. , (Historic), Hudson City, Columbia County NY
- Rucker Hill Historic District, c. , (Historic), Everett_City, Snohomish County WA
- South Side Historic District, c. , (Historic), Oil City, Venango County PA
- Stoystown Historic District, c. , (Historic), Stoystown Boro, Somerset County PA
- Sugartown Historic District, c. , (Historic), Willistown Twp, Chester County PA
- Tamaqua Historic District, c. 1831, (Historic), Tamaqua Boro, Schuylkill County PA
- Tunkhannock Historic District, c. , (Historic), Tunkhannock Boro, Wyoming County PA
- Warren Historic District, c. , (Historic), Warren City, Warren County PA
- Waverly Historic District, c. 1825, (Historic), Abington Twp, Lackawanna County PA
- Wellsboro Historic District, c. , (Historic), Wellsboro Boro, Tioga County PA
- Winona Historic District, c. , (Historic), Norfolk City, Independent Cities VA
- Wycombe, c. 1895, (Historic), Buckingham Twp, Bucks County PA