Old American style houses – pragmatism at its best

by Paul Ciocoiu · May 11, 2015

We know the Americans as being above all pragmatic and this trait is reflected, among others, in the style and design of their homes. We have all seen them the movies, so we have an overall idea of what old American style houses look like. Below we present you a few such examples, along with other important details, projects that can inspire you with the right choice. We chose models of both small and larger houses.

First of all, the houses on wood structure emerged from people’s desire to build quickly and efficiently. Consequently, the concept of old American style houses spread worldwide thanks to its numerous advantages, as they were identified by the Caseamericane.ro website where you can see such housing projects.

Old American style houses which are practical

Old American style houses – small house

First, wooden houses can be built in any season, the time required for the complete construction of a such house being a maximum 100 days, then wood is an excellent thermal insulator with a resistance to the heat flux 300 times bigger than steel and 10 times bigger than concrete and timber frame homes with “sandwich” walls ensure low energy consumption for heating in winter and cooling in summer.

Moreover, wood is an elastic material that provides resistance to earthquakes with the magnitude beyond 8 on the Richter scale, sustainability is high given that the wood is treated to ensure protection against fire and rotting, the “sandwich” walls provide a very good thermal and acoustic insulation, durability in time of the construction, despite prejudices.

Old American style houses – durable and efficient

Last but not least, in an era in which we are increasingly paying attention to how we consume and what impact our behavior has on the surrounding environment, wood is a material 100% natural, fully recyclable, does not pollute the environment in any stage of the construction, as is the case with concrete or steel and the guarantee for the resistance structure is 50 years, while the lifespan of a timber frame houses can easily overcome 100 years.

According to the website Proiecte-case-americane.ro, the old American style houses can be divided into large style: American Craftsman and American Foursquare, both covering the period ranging from late 19th century and late 30’s.