TRADITIONAL STYLES IN HOUSES 67

Cape Cod houses are simplified, reduced, and varied versions of
New England's Georgian Colonial houses, which nevertheless have
retained dignity and beauty. The original Cape Cod cottage was
either one story or a story and a half, with a plain gable roof and
no dormers. The outside walls were usually of white clapboard
or gray shingles. See page 74. Double-hung windows with small
panes and wooden shutters were typical; one or two windows were
located on either side of the central door. Cape Cod cottages
have been freely copied and adapted to contemporary use in many
parts of this country.

Middle Colonial is the usual classification for the dignified Colo-
nial houses of brick and stone that were built in the middle
colonies, especially in the eastern part of Pennsylvania. This was
a more robust style than that of New England, with heavier
cornices and plainer details.

The Dutch Colonial houses which developed in New York, New
Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania have doors and windows like the
other colonial houses, But the roofs are decidedly different. Gam-
brel roofs, of two slants, extend outward to cover porches on the
fronts and backs of the houses. See page 74. Originally the houses
had no dormer windows, but the contemporary interpretations
usually have single dormers or the less desirable shed dormers. The
original one-and-a-half-story cottages were made of stone or brick,
or both; modern interpretations are frame houses with white siding,
accented by green shutters. This style is comfortable, and it is
attractive if the general shape of the house is long and low and
the dormers are not too large.

The Southern Colonial houses which were built in Maryland and
Virginia, and in near-by sections, were much different from those
in New England, as they were made of brick and were more truly
Georgian. Many of the large houses had a central unit flanked on
either side by a smaller building with which it was connected.

Colonial Revival. The twentieth century has seen a revival of
the Colonial house, which is now the most popular traditional style
in the United States, This style is recommended because of its
adaptability to modern construction methods and materials, and
also because of its honesty, dignity, and beauty. Colonial houses
make pleasing settings for one of America's favorite types of furni-
ture, the eighteenth-century English, Colonial, and Federal.