What Style is Your House: Shingle Style

Courtesy of Worcester Heritage Preservation Society

The Shingle style house came into being in New Negland and followed the Queen Anne as the most fashionable house in the late 19^th Century.  In contrast with the Queen Anne, Shingle style houses are simpler and quieter and lack the Queen Anne’s flashy colors and details. 

Shingle style homes were originally meant to be quiet summer houses, not formal mansions that proclaim the owners’ wealth.  You will find that the emphasis is more on the horizontal lines and trim is minimal and simple.  The upper stories and sometimes the ground floor have a uniform covering of shingles.  They are generally large houses, with spacious porches, huge doors, lots of windows and frequently, gambrel or saltbox roofs.  Look for eaves close to walls, long, spreading roofs with long slopes, eyebrow dormers and windows grouped in twos or threes.

The shingle style was not based on revivals of European styles and so is regarded as the first tryly American style.  It borrowed many traits of Pilgrim and Puritan houses such as salt box outlines, barn like gambrel  roofs, and rows of adjacent windows.  American architects also liked the many back additions to these old houses.  They had the informal appearance that they felt was most appropriate for a house.  The Shingle style’s openness and freedom of floor plans led to the beginning of twentieth century architecture.