Preservation Guides
Triple Deckers
In its purest form, a triple decker is a narrow, freestanding, 3-story, rectangular wooden box containing a stack of three, virtually identical apartments accessed by common front and rear stairwells. Triple deckers display a broad range of variations on this basic theme. Some have gable roofs, others have gambrel roofs; some have projecting window bays, others do not; some have 3-story porches, others have 1- or 2-story porches; some are built of brick, others of concrete block; some are paired versions, essentially two triple deckers built side by side and sharing a common bearing wall. These are commonly known as “perfect sixes.”
While found in other parts of the country, the triple decker is predominantly a New England building type. It is also an urban housing form; its narrow and deep proportions cater to the narrow and deep lots found in most inner-city neighborhoods.
Historical Background
From the late 1800s through the end of World War I, triple deckers were constructed in extensive numbers, often in groups of five or more, in many of the state’s urban centers. New Haven, Waterbury, Bridgeport, and Hartford share the majority of these structures. In New Haven, triple deckers are found on scattered sites throughout the Hill, Newhallville, Dixwell, Dwight, and Fair Haven neighborhoods. Triple deckers were immensely popular between the 1800s and the 1920s for several reasons. Contractors and developers found them relatively quick and inexpensive to build. Called “hurry-up housing,” the roomy, well-lit interiors and affordable prices were especially attractive to the working families that were swelling Connecticut’s industrial centers.
Triple deckers proved particularly popular among the southern and eastern European immigrant families who settled in Connecticut around the turn of the century. They not only featured apartments big enough to accommodate immediate family members in reasonable comfort; they also allowed in their multiple apartments for the consolidation of extended families and the maintenance of “old world” social relationships under one roof. Perhaps most importantly, triple deckers provided many immigrant families with the opportunity to purchase their own property for the first time by pooling their financial resources.
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 triple deckers as a group share the same basic form, their architectural “style” is conveyed primarily through exterior ornamentation, most of which is usually found on the front of the building. Exterior ornamentation associated with triple deckers usually reflects the influence of one or two popular turn-of-the-century architectural styles: Queen Anne and Colonial Revival.
When dating a triple decker on the basis of architectural style, the following guidelines can generally be applied:
Predominantly Queen Anne-style ornamentation: late 1880s - 1900
Predominantly Colonial Revival-style ornamentation: 1900 - 1920s
Significant combination of elements form both styles: 1895 - 1910
Queen Anne Style: 1880s to 1900
The Queen Anne style was very popular across the country from the early 1800s through the first few years of the twentieth century. Typical Queen Anne-style features found on triple deckers include different types of siding materials which create interesting patterns and textures (usually horizontal clapboards and decorative wood shingles); prominent scroll-sawn brackets under the roof eaves; elaborately detailed proches with turned posts and balusters; and large arched openings with turned or carved decorative elements.
Colonial Revival Style: 1900 to 1920s
The Colonial Revival-style ornamentation which began to appear on triple decker fronts in the late 1890s was less exuberant and fanciful than that of the Queen Anne style. Different siding materials gave way to uniform clapboarding on all exterior wall surfaces; elaborate turned porch and railing posts were replaced by plain columns, piers, and solid or picket railings; and scroll-sawn eave brackets were eliminated entirely or supplanted by more refined and “formal” box-like modillion brackets.
Text and drawings by Paul Loether and Preston Maynard