The American Foursquare or American Four Square is an American house style popular from the mid-1890s to the late 1930s. A reaction to the ornate and mass-produced elements of the Victorian and other Revival styles popular throughout the last half of the 19th century, the American Foursquare was plain, often incorporating handcrafted "honest" woodwork. This style incorporates elements of the Prairie School and the Craftsman styles. It is also sometimes called Transitional Period.
The Thomas H. Gale House, or simply Thomas Gale House, is a house located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The house was designed by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1892 and is an example of his early work. The house was designed by Wright independently while he was still employed in the architecture firm of Adler & Sullivan, run by engineer Dankmar Adler and architect, Louis Sullivan; taking outside commissions was something that Sullivan forbade. The house is significant because of what it shows about Wright's early development period. The Parker House is listed as contributing property to a U.S. federally Registered Historic District. The house was designated an Oak Park Landmark in 2002.
The George W. Furbeck House is a house located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The house was designed by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1897 and constructed for Chicago electrical contractor George W. Furbeck and his new bride Sue Allin Harrington. The home's interior is much as it appeared when the house was completed but the exterior has seen some alteration. The house is an important example of Frank Lloyd Wright's transitional period of the late 1890s which culminated with the birth of the first fully mature early modern Prairie style house. The Furbeck House was listed as a contributing property to a U.S. federal Registered Historic District in 1973 and declared a local Oak Park Landmark in 2002.
The Louis P. and Clara K. Best Residence and Auto House, also known as Grandview Apartments and The Alamo, is a historic building located in the central part of Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was included as a contributing property in the Hamburg Historic District in 1983, and it was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.
The Oakland–Dousman Historic District in Green Bay, Wisconsin is a 8 acres (3.2 ha) residential historic district which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
The Middlesex Plat Historic District is located in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. It was an upper-middle-class neighborhood of two-story square houses and bungalows that were built from 1910 to 1923. The district has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2000. It is part of The Bungalow and Square House--Des Moines Residential Growth and Development MPS.
The William Park House is a historic house at 330 Main St. in Sprague, Connecticut. Built in 1913, it is a prominent local example of an American Foursquare house with Craftsman/Bungalow features. It was built for William Park, owner of the Angus Park Woolen Company, a major local employer. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
The Hyrum T. Covey House is a historic house in northeastern Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, that is located within the University Neighborhood Historic District, but is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
Rollin Furbeck House is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed house in Oak Park, Illinois that was built in 1897. It is part of the Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District.
The O.L. Dunaway House is a historic house at 920 Center Street in Conway, Arkansas. It is a two-story brick American Foursquare, with a hip roof and brick foundation. A single-story porch extends across the front and around the side, supported by brick columns. It is relatively broad for the style, its shape influenced by the Prairie School of design. It was built in 1923 for Oscar Lee Dunaway, a Christadelphian Bible school teacher.
"A Fireproof House for $5000" is an article and house design by Frank Lloyd Wright published in the Ladies' Home Journal in April 1907. It is Wright's third and final publication in the journal following "A Home in a Prairie Town" and "A Small House with 'Lots of Room in It'" from February and July 1901, respectively. The drawings for the house were also included in Wright's 1910 Wasmuth Portfolio (Plate XIV).
The Hargis House is a historic house built in 1920 which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. It is located at 300 E. Cedar St. in Franklin, Kentucky.
The Jefferson Avenue Historic District in Janesville, Wisconsin is a historic neighborhood east of the downtown of mostly middle-class homes built from 1891 to the 1930s. It was added to the State and the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
The Theodore Rozek House is a historic house at 6337 N. Hermitage Avenue in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The house was built in 1908 for Theodore Rozek, a printer and German immigrant, and his family. Architect Clarence Hatzfeld designed the original house in the American Foursquare style, a popular vernacular style of the early twentieth century. Like many other Foursquare homes, the house had a square shape and was topped by a hip roof with a dormer. In the mid-1920s, architect Andrew E. Norman designed an addition for the front of the house; this addition was inspired by the Better Homes movement, which sought to bring high-level architecture to working-class homes. The addition replaced the original front porch with a semi-circular porch supported by its original columns, distinguishing the house from its neighbors.
The William and Caroline Gibbs House is a historic house at 515 N. 3rd Avenue in Maywood, Illinois. The American Foursquare house was built in 1907. The house has a standard Foursquare layout with a square shape, a pyramidal roof with dormers, and a front porch. In keeping with its style, its interior has a functional layout with a central staircase, an easily accessible kitchen, and built-in furniture. As was common in Foursquare homes, the house has simple geometric detailing inspired by the Craftsman movement, such as wood trim, leadlight windows, and square columns.
The Joseph P. O. Sullivan House is a historic house at 142 S. 17th Avenue in Maywood, Illinois. The house was built circa 1895 by the Proviso Land Association for Joseph P. O. Sullivan. The Proviso Land Association was the second land developer to invest in Maywood, after the Maywood Company; most homes built by the Association have been demolished, making the Sullivan House a rare example of their work. Like many of the Association's homes, the Sullivan House has an American Foursquare design. The house has a rectangular two-story layout with a front porch, a projecting bay on one side, a hip roof, and a dormer with a classical Palladian window.
The William Frangenheim House is a historic house at 410 N. 3rd Avenue in Maywood, Illinois. The house was built in 1906 on a plot previously owned by the Maywood Company, the development company that planned Maywood. It is designed in the American Foursquare style, a vernacular style which was used in many Maywood houses of the period. Like most Foursquare homes, the house has a square two-story layout with a front porch and a hip roof with a dormer. In keeping with its utilitarian style, the house has little external decoration; its interior features Craftsman-inspired wood trim, though it is still relatively plain.
The Caroline Grow House is a historic house at 603 N. 6th Avenue in Maywood, Illinois. The house was built circa 1902 by Caroline Grow, whose late husband David bought the house's plot in 1875. It has an American Foursquare design, a utilitarian style which was popular in the early twentieth century. The 2+1⁄2-story house has a rectangular form with a front porch supported by four columns and a hip roof with a central dormer, a typical layout for a Foursquare home. The design also includes Neoclassical details such as the Doric capitals on the porch's columns; these were common in Chicago-area architecture after the 1893 Columbian Exposition popularized the style.
The Albert Soffel House is a historic house at 508 N. 5th Avenue in Maywood, Illinois. The two flat house was built in 1905 for original owner Albert Soffel. It has an American Foursquare design, a utilitarian style popular in the early twentieth century, with Arts and Crafts and Neoclassical ornamentation. The house has a typical Foursquare plan with a rectangular layout, a front porch supported by three columns, and a hip roof with a dormer. Its decorative features include Ionic styling on the porch columns, dentillation and brackets on the porch roof, additional bracketing along its eaves, and multiple stained glass windows.
The John Robertson, Jr., House is a historic house at 145 W. Main Street in Barrington, Illinois. The house was built in 1898 for John Robertson, Jr., a local banker and a member of Barrington's village board. Carpenter Fred Lines built the house, which has an American Foursquare plan with Neoclassical details. The 2+1⁄2-story house has a roughly rectangular layout with a service addition, front and side porches, and a dormer projecting from the front of its hip roof, a typical Foursquare layout. Its Neoclassical elements include Corinthian columns supporting the porches, swags and garlands adorning several windows, and multiple Palladian windows.
