Florida cracker architecture

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Florida cracker style house Bensen House (Grant, Florida) 006 crop.jpg
Florida cracker style house

Florida cracker architecture or Southern plantation style is a style of vernacular architecture typified by a low slung, wood-frame house, with a large porch. It was widespread in the 19th and early 20th century. Some elements of the style are still popular as a source of design themes. The name refers to colonial-era English and French pioneer settlers and their descendants. Theses homes were often desinged with outdoor porches and big windows (with shutters) to help try to cool homes during the long hot season in these low latitude subtropical climates.

Contents

Southern plantation style borrowed some of their design and cocept from the French colonial style homes built in the Caribbean and other tropical areas around the globe. The cocept of raised homes on stilts and large wrap around porches not only provided ventilation and shade in the hot subtropical climate, but allowed flood waters from tropical cyclones to pass below. Another typical feature of high celings and large windows was also adapted to the hot southern climate. The high celings and large windows allowed the heat to rise and escape. Large shutters allowd a breeze when present, but kept out the hot, overhead summer sun.

Houses of this style are characterized by raised floors, a straight central hallways from the front to the back of the home (sometimes called "dog trot" design) and a detached kitchen. Later, iterations of this style incorporated metal roofs. [1] The homes were typically built with wide porches, or verandas wrapping around the entire home, to provide shade as well as additional living space. In many parts of the far southern United States, the basic concepts of this style are still incorporated in many new homes today.

Examples

Cracker style house at the Forest Capital Museum State Park Forest Capital Museum SP cracker01d.jpg
Cracker style house at the Forest Capital Museum State Park

See also

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References

  1. Clarke, Bob (April 25, 2014). "Cracker House". A History of Central Florida Podcast. Retrieved January 23, 2016.