Explore home styles and housing types through history. In this house style guide, you'll find links to facts, photos, diagrams, and building plans for the most popular home styles in North America and other parts of the world.
French House Styles
This grand stone mansion combines a variety of French styles. Photo: ClipArt.com
1700s - present
Spanish, African, Native American, and other heritages combined to create a unique blend of housing styles in America's French colonies. Two hundred years later, soldiers returning from World War I brought a keen interest in French housing styles.
French Colonial House Style Tidewater House Style French Creole Cottages French Normandy House Style French Provincial House Style French Eclectic House Style
Spanish, African, Native American, and other heritages combined to create a unique blend of housing styles in America's French colonies. Two hundred years later, soldiers returning from World War I brought a keen interest in French housing styles.
Earth Houses
Colorful homes in Loreto Bay, Mexico are made with compressed earth blocks. Photo © Jackie Craven
Prehistoric - present
Architects and engineers are taking an new look at man's earliest building material: practical, affordable, energy-efficient earth.
Adobe Houses Rammed Earth Houses Cob Houses Compressed Earth Block Houses Straw Bale Houses Earth Sheltered Houses
Architects and engineers are taking an new look at man's earliest building material: practical, affordable, energy-efficient earth.
Prefab Houses
Original Prototype of a Lustron Home. Publicity image courtesy KDN Films, Inc
1906 - Present
Factory-made modular and prefabricated houses have been popular since the early 1900s when Sears, Aladdin, and other mail order companies shipped house kits to far corners of the United States. Today, "prefabs" are gaining new respect as architects experiment with bold new forms.
Sears Catalog Houses Lustron Homes Log Homes Katrina Cottages Manufactured Houses Modular Houses
Factory-made modular and prefabricated houses have been popular since the early 1900s when Sears, Aladdin, and other mail order companies shipped house kits to far corners of the United States. Today, "prefabs" are gaining new respect as architects experiment with bold new forms.
Dome Homes
Geodesic Domes are economical and energy-efficient. Photo © VisionsofAmerica, Joe Sohm/Getty Images
1954 - Present
The idea of constructing dome-shaped structures dates back to prehistoric times, but the 20th century brought exciting new approaches to dome design.Geodesic Domes Monolithic Domes
The idea of constructing dome-shaped structures dates back to prehistoric times, but the 20th century brought exciting new approaches to dome design.
