Colonial Style Homes Characteristics and Regional Differences

Colonial style homes draw from French, Dutch and English architecture.  Colonial houses are flexible in design and can vary from region to region. Colonial house floor plans typically consist of a large entryway in the center of the home. On one side of the entryway is the dining room. On the other side is the living room. The back of the house consists of the kitchen and bedrooms. There are many multi-plane windows looking out of this house style. The exterior of the home is sided with brick or clapboard and can include columns or pillars. These houses are symmetrical in design.

Regional Colonial House Styles
One of the colonial house styles is the Georgian. The Georgian has multi-planed windows, a central entryway, and a symmetrical design. A Georgian house can be larger than many other types of colonials. The roofs of Georgian homes have a moderate pitch and may include two chimneys. A Georgian consists of two stories.

The saltbox has a roof that is steeply pitched and usually has a single chimney located in the center. Saltbox facades are often plain, without shingles or clapboard. In fact, the overall design of the saltbox is simple. A saltbox is designed so that the house can be expanded by adding to the first story in the back of the house.

Like the typical colonial, the Dutch colonial has a central front door and a symmetrical design. The Dutch colonial usually consists of one or one and one half stories. Dutch colonials use more materials on their exteriors than many other types of colonials. You will see stone and brick as well as clapboard on the façade of a Dutch colonial. If the house is more than one story, the home will have dormers extending from a gambrel roof--a  roof that has two slopes on each side. The lower slopes of the roof are pitched steeper than the upper slopes.