VERNACULAR MOUNTAIN HOME, MADISON COUNTY, KENTUCKY Kentucky Folk Architecture is one of my favorite books that I rely on when attempting to document the area's folk architecture. I moved to Kentucky two years ago -- but became familiar with the publication in 1989 when I was in graduate school in Oregon (I was in the late bloomer category). It focuses just on what the title says. Wrote in 1976 by William Lynwood Montell and Michael Morse it as relevant today as when it was first published.
The above home is an example of folk architecture. It could be considered a single pen form. It has two rooms across the front with a fairly square footprint. Presently, there is a metal roof. Perhaps it started out with a wood shingle roof when it was built? The main construction material was more than likely white oak.
Many of the folk houses of this date (circa 1900) that I have run across in this area are box constructed. This home has been tar papered on the exterior and painted green. Perhaps the tar paper was employed to keep drafts at bay as box construction had perpendicular boards with (sometimes) strips over the spacing where the perpendicular boards met. If the home did not have the strips it could become very cold in the winter. Many of the box constructed homes have applied exteriors such as vinyl or asbestos or in this case tar paper. Locally, box construction is also called "boxed."
It is a tidy and well kept home. An elderly man presently lives in the place. This form represents a culture going back about one hundred years or more. It has stories to tell as all folk architecture can.
FOR ANOTHER VERNACULAR POST OF FOLK HOUSING CLICK BELOW:
FOLK HOUSING -- TENANT OR SADDLEBAG?
HISTORIC BOX CONSTRUCTION
The above home is an example of folk architecture. It could be considered a single pen form. It has two rooms across the front with a fairly square footprint. Presently, there is a metal roof. Perhaps it started out with a wood shingle roof when it was built? The main construction material was more than likely white oak.
Many of the folk houses of this date (circa 1900) that I have run across in this area are box constructed. This home has been tar papered on the exterior and painted green. Perhaps the tar paper was employed to keep drafts at bay as box construction had perpendicular boards with (sometimes) strips over the spacing where the perpendicular boards met. If the home did not have the strips it could become very cold in the winter. Many of the box constructed homes have applied exteriors such as vinyl or asbestos or in this case tar paper. Locally, box construction is also called "boxed."
It is a tidy and well kept home. An elderly man presently lives in the place. This form represents a culture going back about one hundred years or more. It has stories to tell as all folk architecture can.
FOR ANOTHER VERNACULAR POST OF FOLK HOUSING CLICK BELOW:
FOLK HOUSING -- TENANT OR SADDLEBAG?
HISTORIC BOX CONSTRUCTION
The old man living there must have felt quiet til now because of the ambiance of the rooms.
ReplyDelete-manny