Foursquare House With Attic

Most foursquares have pyramidal hip roofs which come to a peak in the center.

Foursquare house with attic.

This part of the house is currently used for storage but it s conditioned and comfortable and we can t wait for it to one day be an amazing bedroom. Built in 1915 the symmetrical house had the classic configuration of four rooms downstairs and four up plus a dormered attic under a hipped roof and an ample front porch. The american foursquare house is a type of residential architecture or style that generally has the following features. Generally foursquare houses have a front porch spanning the full width of the front of the house.

The layout of tis space is very simple but spacious. However some were built with partial porches and some have porches that wrap around to the side. The stairs are often wide with massive banisters. A hallmark feature of the american foursquare is plain design.

But it was in pretty shabby shape. If you are reading this and have ideas why this isn t common let me know. There are so many uses for an attic space including turning it into an extra bedroom closet home office entertainment room library home theater craft room art studio. Often foursquare houses have a 1 2 landing staircase.

The staircase alone is often a showpiece in these homes. Attic rooms are a highly functional space that many people use for storage when they can be more cleverly used as an additional room in your home. Best of all the high pitched roof of the house offers some great ceiling height in this room. Hallmarks of foursquares boxy shape it s nearly a cube practicality usually dictated a slightly greater depth than width with two full storeys and an attic that was often made livable by large dormers.

Cube shape it s called a foursquare so the fact that the shape is a cube aka four walls that make a square makes sense right. Duh the exterior of a foursquare is cube shaped with two full floors plus an attic i e. There was green shag carpet everywhere says terry. There is a large attic that when finished the home could be considered a 2 story.

With the american foursquare s style of a large but low attic i thought that i would find a more examples of third floor or dormer type renovations. Another spectacular room in foursquare homes is the foyer. This familiar house got recognition and a name in 1982 in an article by old house journal publishers clem labine and patricia poore. The foursquare is typically a two and a half story house on a full basement with a monitor dormer a dormer with a roof line that mirrors the primary roof in the attic.

From my amateur perspective it makes sense to raise the roof a bit and renovate the attic into usable space. Finished walk up attic. The basic form of the structure of the house classifies it as an american foursquare. The style used on the other details can vary greatly.