Gable-Fronted Single-Family Houses

In its purest form, the gable-fronted single-family house is a relatively small, 2 ½ story rectangular wooden box topped by a simple gable roof. The gable ends of the house face the front and rear of its site. Typically, the house features a front with one or more attic windows in the gable, three symmetrically placed second-story window bays above two first-story window bays, and an offset doorway bay leading to an interior side hall. 

Overall, the building type exhibits a broad range of variations on this basic theme. Some are 1 ½ stories tall, others are 3 ½ stories tall; some have four-bay-wide fronts, others have two-bay-wide fronts; some are only two rooms deep, others are three rooms deep; some are built of brick, others of cut-stone; some have narrow one-story front porches, others have front porches spanning the entire first story; some have cross-gable roofs, others have gable roofs topped by dormers; some have narrow projecting side wings, other have small rear wings. 

Historical Background

Built in widespread numbers in both urban and rural areas, the gable-fronted single-family house was the most popular form of residential architecture in 19th-century Connecticut. Despite its eventual popularity in rural areas, it initially emerged as a major house-style in developing urban areas such as New Haven, Hartford, Middletown, and New London in the early years of the 1800s.

Prior to the 1800s, most of the states’ modern cities had relatively small populations. In fact, physically and visually most of the cities usually retained many of the characteristics which today are associated with small towns. Houses located in or near the center of the city were broad, one- or two-room deep “Colonial” timber-frame structures topped by gable roofs with large chimneys and gable ends facing the sides of wide lots with large street frontages. 

As urban populations began to increase substantially during the early 19th century, so did the demand for more building sites within the core areas of these cities. Because land was in high demand and very valuable, many large lots associated with pre-1800 houses were subdivided. Most of the open lots resulting from these subdivisions were deep, but too narrow to build a “Colonial” type house on. The solution to building on these narrow and deep lots was both simple and highly practical: with a modified interior plan, the typical gable-roofed pre-1800s house could still be built by rotating its ends ninety degrees so that its gables faced the front and rear of the lot.

The gable-fronted house’s popularity in rural areas as well as urban areas of the state throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century resulted from its practicality and adaptability. They were relatively quick and easy to build, especially with the advent of balloon-framing techniques in the later 19th century. The form was easily modified by the addition of wings, and it could be built in virtually any size. Perhaps most importantly, the gable-fronted house was easily adaptable to changing stylistic tastes by simply altering proportions slightly and/or altering the type of ornamentation applied to its exterior walls.

When Was it Built?

Determining the approximate or actual age of a building can be important. If you know your building’s date, a little further research will enable you to determine the physical properties of construction materials commonly used when it was built. This knowledge can prevent you from making costly repairs with inappropriate modern materials. 

The first step to determine your building’s construction date should be to call your local library, planning office, or the State Historic Preservation Office. The building’s date may have already been included as a part of the state’s ongoing architectural survey program. If the building has not yet been “surveyed,” the following may help you make your own assessment. 

There are three dating methods commonly used by professional researchers. The first involves tracing the history of the property using city directories, land records, tax records, building department records, and similar material kept on file by the city. Another approach is to look through old maps of your city which were compiled in different years and which have buildings drawn on them. For example, assume you have maps for your city from 1895 and 1911. If your building is not on the 1895 map, but is on the 1911 map, it is fair to assume it was built between these two dates. A third method is to date your building on the basis of its architectural style. The three methods may be combined to arrive at the most accurate date. 

What Style Is It?

Stylistic terms are used to categorize the basic massing forms and ornamental features which visually distinguish a building as a product of its time. Since most 19th-century gable-fronted single-family houses as a group share the same basic forms, their architectural “style” is conveyed principally through exterior ornamentation. Ornamentation found on most of these houses usually reflects the influence of one of the following architectural styles which dominated the periods below. 

Greek Revival Style: 1830 to 1860

Typical exterior features include: clapboard or flush-board sidings; shallow gable roof; rectangular or diamond-shaped gable window; partial or full cornice returns on the gable ends; narrow rectangular sidelight and/or transom window around front door; front porches with no railings featuring broad, smooth or fluted columns and flat roofs; 6-over-6 windows. 

Italianate Style: 1855 to 1885

Typical exterior features include: clapboard siding; prominent cornice returns on the gable ends; shallow gable roof with widely projecting, bracketed eaves; round-arch gable and stairwell windows; porches with flat or gable roofs, square posts with chamfered edges, heavy cornice moldings; projecting window heads and sills; 2-over-2 pane or 6-over-6 pane windows.

Queen Anne Style: 1880 to 1910

Typical features include: clapboard and/or patterned wood-shingle sidings; steeply pitched gable roof; exposed rafter ends; bracketed bargeboards along gable rakes; porches with turned posts and balusters and spindlework frieze panels; spindle work gable screens; 2-over-2, 1-over-1, or decorative windows with small multiple panes.

Text and drawings by Paul Loether and Preston Maynard

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