Friday, March 6, 2020

A Dutch Colonial Farmhouse of 1750


The Marbury House - A Dutch Colonial Farmhouse of 1750


Hi friends. This is the fourth in my series of blog posts on gambrel or Dutch roof houses. The first two and this one are early American examples, and one was a Colonial Revival plan from the 1920s. I decided to add this one because it differs in one important way. It is proportioned so that it allows 2 rows of rooms, one row facing front and the other facing back. The previous examples had attics that were effectively just one room deep.
Historic Home Plans Gambrel roof house
The Marbury House, Clinton, Maryland - 1750

The Dutch roof is ideally suited to fit over a rectangle and doesn't adapt well to L-shaped plans. Typically wings get their own separate roofs, usually not a gambrel. The proportions of the typical rectangle can vary from long and shallow to almost square. When a plan is approaching a square and the depth starts to exceed 24 feet, it becomes practical for a gambrel roof to allow rooms facing front, as well as rooms facing back. This can be really useful especially in houses were more bedrooms might be desired.

Historic Home Plans Gambrel roof house
The Marbury House - Floor Plans
This example, the Marbury home in Clinton, Maryland, dates 1750 and provides a fine example of this deeper type of plan. At a little over 28' deep it comfortably allows for 4 full bedrooms on the upper level. It is effectively a complete 2 story house, but maintains the lower proportions of a single story.

Historic Home Plans Gambrel roof house
The Marbury House - Elevations
The Marbury House also provides an excellent example of a porch that is well integrated into the design.

Historic Home Plans Gambrel roof house
The Marbury House - Details

Historic Home Plans Gambrel roof house
The Marbury House - Details
The drawings posted here, prepared by the excellent drafts people at the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) include many fine details of interior woodwork as well. Printed copies of the drawings of this beautiful example of a Colonial gambrel roof home, are available at my eBay store.
Historic Home Plans Gambrel roof house
The Marbury House - Entry Hall

This and other gambrel roof homes can be found in the Historic Home Plans eBay store.
Historic Home Plans Gambrel roof house
The Marbury House - Dining Room

All the images in this blog post are public domain and come from the HABS website.

A Colonial Revival Gambrel Roof Home of the 1920s

A Colonial Revival Gambrel Roof Home of the 1920s

The celebrations around the 1876 Centennial jump started an interest in all things Early American, architecture chief among them. This Colonial Revival reached its peak in the first decades of the 20th century, gracing our country with homes built along practical, simple lines, in a unified but infinitely varied style based on Palladian and Classical precedents.

In the last 3 blog posts we looked at 2 original Colonial and Early American examples of the gambrel or Dutch roof home, ranging from a cottage just one room deep, to a rambling farmhouse with plenty of space in its wide attic.
Colonial Revival gambrel roof home
Dover Publications reprint of some of the plans made by ASHSB

In this post we'll see the gambrel roof used in a Colonial Revival home of the 1920s, from a pattern book of the time.

The Architects' Small House Service Bureau (ASHSB) started in 1919 as a joint effort among a group of architects to design and publish practical small home designs. Their work helped to spread good quality home design across the country at a time when there was major growth in home construction. The results of their efforts are visible in the pleasure people today have for the homes of the early 20th century.
Colonial Revival gambrel roof home
Design 5-B-10 of the ASHSB

The plan comfortably accommodates a spacious living room, separate dining room, and a built-in kitchen containing all the conveniences that were to become the norm in the 20th century. It also had a dining porch to one side.

The upper level, in the expanded attic space enabled by the gambrel, contained a full bath and 2 bedrooms that were comfortably large for the period.

Colonial Revival gambrel roof home
Floor Plans
The use of shed dormers to expand the attic space results in a design that is effectively almost a full 2 stories, while maintaining the lower lines and proportion of a single story home. The lovely ink rendering of the exterior shows it sensitively integrated into its surroundings with landscaping that softens edges and provides a seamless transition from street to home.
Colonial Revival gambrel roof home
Exterior Perspective

Very little would need to be done to adapt a design such as this to modern day requirements. The design shows a stair descending to a basement. If this house were built without a basement the space under the stairs could serve as a powder room off the back entry. Enclosing the porch in glass might be desirable in many parts of the country where weather does not permit for outdoor living during much of the year.