Shingle Style Houses: Past and Present

Shingle Style homes began in New England in the late 1800s. They were the vacation “cottages” for the wealthy who summered in resorts along the Atlantic coastline. The style lasted only a short time during the late 1800s, but its impact on the future course of architectural history was significant. In the mid-20th century, interest in these comfortable homes was renewed and continues today as many people are recognizing their casual elegance. Their rough wooden shingles, irregular roof lines, and wide, shady porches encourage lazy afternoons in rocking chairs. Within the house, one room flows freely into another. Over 50 homes in the continental United States are presented in over 500 color photographs, including multi-million-dollar residences, smaller mansions, cottages, and renovated shingle houses. Their sites are as varied as their designs. Some are on the coastline, surveying the crashing waves; others peer through trees on city streets; still others occupy an island or rest in the middle of a vineyard. The Shingle Style homes of today are compared to some of the famous “shingles” from the past, including Naumkeag, the Folly , and Stonehurst all in Massachusetts. One chapter looks at Shingle Style renovations. The foreword, by John C. McConnell AIA, an architect and professor of American architectural history at Boston College, looks role the style played in American architecture―from the early 1870s to the late 1880s―and its influence on future architecture. A chapter by architect Turner Brooks, an Associate Professor at Yale University School of Architecture, investigates at Shingle Style descendants.