Prow house is an American term for a house with a projecting front portion that resembles the prow of a ship. [1] The T-shaped layout contrasts more traditional designs where the front of the structure is more parallel with the street. The style and name originated in Arkansas in the nineteenth century, and contemporary versions are used particularly to accentuate views from within the house in scenic areas.
The design began as an adaption of traditional residential architecture, with the front projection added to the standard square or rectangular layout. Due to a more complicated design, they were never constructed from logs and did not appear until around 1880. At the end of the 19th century, the design was a status symbol representing the wealth of prosperous farmers. [2] The house most resembles a ship's prow when the projection is chamfered having an acute angle at the front. It was given the name by Cyrus Sutherland, [3] professor at the University of Arkansas's School of Architecture for over thirty years [4] and an expert on Arkansas vernacular architecture. The name originated as a local name in the Ozark Mountain region. [1]
Early examples of the prow house have characteristics of the Queen Anne style which was popular at the time and tend to be heavily decorated. These houses usually had two front doors, one on either side of the prow, rather than a single front door near the front of the projecting room which would be more likely for a school or church. [3] The "prow" room, being exposed to the exterior on three sides, had excellent cross-ventilation. Prow houses, dating from 1880 to 1920 can be found in Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa. [3] The houses tended to be clustered in certain communities, such as Prairie Grove and Elkins, Arkansas which may be the result of their construction being a specialty of certain builders. In more rural areas, the houses tended to be smaller with less ornamentation. [3]
Prow houses are often built today in areas with a significant view, such as mountains, lakes, or other natural scenery and are more common in the western US. Modern prow houses often feature extensive glazing to maximize light and view. Such prows are often multi-story with clearstory interiors and can be designed with masonry, log home, timber frame, and traditional framing construction. [5]
A small projection of a building, similar to a bay window but constructed with two planes meeting at a center angle forming a triangular bay, can also be called a prow. Examples of such projections can be found on the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Robie House and Arthur Heurtley House. [6]
An extension of a gable roof wherein the ridgeline is extended at the peak of the gable creating an angled eave elongated at the ridge is known as a prow or "winged" gable. This roof detail could occur on a forward facing prow but is most commonly found on the end gables of ranch houses and other mid-20th century designs. It added additional shading and rain screening at the gable, but was used mostly for the "modern" styling it evoked. [7]
Non-residential buildings with an angled front include:
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements of the twentieth century, influencing architects worldwide through his works and hundreds of apprentices in his Taliesin Fellowship. Wright believed in designing in harmony with humanity and the environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture. This philosophy was exemplified in Fallingwater (1935), which has been called "the best all-time work of American architecture".
The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a triangular 22-story, 285-foot-tall (86.9 m) steel-framed landmarked building located at 175 Fifth Avenue in the eponymous Flatiron District neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan, New York City. Designed by Daniel Burnham and Frederick Dinkelberg, it was one of the tallest buildings in the city upon its 1902 completion, at 20 floors high, and one of only two "skyscrapers" north of 14th Street—the other being the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, one block east. The building sits on a triangular block formed by Fifth Avenue, Broadway, and East 22nd Street—where the building's 87-foot (27 m) back end is located—with East 23rd Street grazing the triangle's northern (uptown) peak. As with numerous other wedge-shaped buildings, the name "Flatiron" derives from its resemblance to a cast-iron clothes iron.
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The Ward W. Willits House is a building designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Designed in 1901, the Willits house is considered one of the first of the great Prairie School houses. Built in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, the house presents a symmetrical facade to the street. One of the more interesting points about the house is Wright's ability to seamlessly combine architecture with nature. The plan is a cruciate with four wings extending out from a central fireplace. In addition to stained-glass windows and wooden screens that divide rooms, Wright also designed the furniture for the house.
Unity Temple is a Unitarian Universalist church in Oak Park, Illinois, and the home of the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation. It was designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and built between 1905 and 1908. Unity Temple is considered to be one of Wright's most important structures dating from the first decade of the twentieth century. Because of its consolidation of aesthetic intent and structure through use of a single material, reinforced concrete, Unity Temple is considered by many architects to be the first modern building in the world. This idea became of central importance to the modern architects who followed Wright, such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and even the post-modernists, such as Frank Gehry. In 2019, along with seven other buildings designed by Wright in the 20th century, Unity Temple was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Stick style was a late-19th-century American architectural style, transitional between the Carpenter Gothic style of the mid-19th century, and the Queen Anne style that it had evolved into by the 1890s. It is named after its use of linear "stickwork" on the outside walls to mimic an exposed half-timbered frame.
The First Unitarian Society of Madison (FUS) is a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Shorewood Hills, Wisconsin. Its meeting house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built by Marshall Erdman in 1949–1951, and has been designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark for its architecture. With over 1,000 members, it is one of the ten largest Unitarian Universalist congregations in the United States.
The First Parish Church is a historic church at 50 Church Street in Waltham, Massachusetts, whose Unitarian Universalist congregation has a history dating to c. 1696. The current meeting house was built in 1933 after a fire destroyed the previous building on the same site. It is a Classical Revival structure designed by the nationally known Boston firm of Allen & Collens. The church building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
In architecture, an overhang is a protruding structure that may provide protection for lower levels. Overhangs on two sides of Pennsylvania Dutch barns protect doors, windows, and other lower-level structures. Overhangs on all four sides of barns and larger, older farmhouses are common in Swiss architecture. An overhanging eave is the edge of a roof, protruding outwards from the side of the building, generally to provide weather protection.
The Farrell Houses are a group of four houses on South Louisiana Street in Little Rock, Arkansas. All four houses are architecturally significant Bungalow/Craftsman buildings designed by the noted Arkansas architect Charles L. Thompson as rental properties for A.E. Farrell, a local businessman, and built in 1914. All were individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places for their association with Thompson. All four are also contributing properties to the Governor's Mansion Historic District, to which they were added in a 1988 enlargement of the district boundaries.
The Robert M. Lamp House (1903) is a residence at 22 N. Butler Street in Madison, Wisconsin, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for "Robie" Lamp (1866–1916), a realtor, insurance agent, and Madison City Treasurer.
Lego Architecture is a sub-brand and product range of Lego, which aims to “celebrate the past, present and future of architecture through the Lego Brick”. The brand includes a series of Lego sets designed by ‘Architectural Artist’ Adam Reed Tucker, and each contain the pieces and instructions to build a model of a famous architectural building in micro-scale.
The Mercure Liverpool Atlantic Tower Hotel is large 4-star hotel located in Liverpool, England. Opened in 1972, it is situated on Chapel Street next to Saint Nicholas' Church and near the Royal Liver Building on the city's famous Pier Head. The building was designed to resemble the prow of a ship to reflect Liverpool's maritime history.
Earle House is a house in Canehill, Arkansas on Highway 45 built in 1859 to house Dr. Fountain R. Earle, the president of Cane Hill College. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places along with many other Canehill properties in November 1982. The house, set well back from the highway, is a single-story wood-frame structure, with a side gable roof and a projecting gable-roof section on the front (western) facade. This projection has box columns supporting a delicate frieze and box cornice, with a raking cornice joining it to form a pediment. Chimneys are located at the gable ends.
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