Wondering about a book on house layouts--

[Samai139]

While thinking about the house I grew up in and the way it was changed throughout my life, I was wondering if there is a book or if there are books about the way American homes' floor plans have changed since colonial days---from a large room centered around a fireplace with little space given to sleeping quarters and outdoor privies, to the place we are today, with many homes looking like appendages to garages with layouts as varied as the cars we drive and the lifestyles we live. No longer a frequent visitor to Barnes and Noble, I am not as cognizant of coffee table books as I once was and if any of you are aware of books which would illustrate what I'm thinking about, I would be very grateful.

[wayout]

Interesting topic. I haven't come across such a book myself but as a starting point you can check out the following links, which both have at the end references to a number of books that may be relevant to your search: http://www.moyak.com/papers/history-housing.html and http://www.moyak.com/papers/house-sizes.html

[+ azdr0710]

yes, very interested in this, too....when bored, I sometimes draw up floor plans that might be the most efficient

 

quick comments: kitchens, formerly set well away from living quarters because of heat and smell, are now the centerpiece of many new homes....bathrooms, formerly an extravagance with an entire family sharing one small room, often now outnumber bedroom count....dining rooms are almost extinct now in most new-builds...."great rooms" are now often the extent of public space in a house.....

[+ Charlie]

I asked my partner, a retired architect who loves to spend time in bookstores and libraries, looking at books with house plans, if he were aware of a book that does this sort of survey, but he didn't remember ever encountering that particular kind of book, although someone may certainly have done such a study.

[Samai139]

Wayout--thanks for the links you provided. The first has a list of references which I checked out after reading the scholarly article. I learnt a lot from the article and after reading some of the previews of the other books cited, I'm still looking for what I have in my mind---an illustrated large book which would show the changes that Moyak cited. Some bits that I picked up were that floor plans evolved not only through economic changes, but improvements in transport---the building of the railway system in the US made materials more available and thus changed the way homes were built, architectural styles of homes, usually imported from Europe also influenced floor plans. I was taken aback in one preview when I read that the homes being built today cater to the American need for privacy in the home--privacy from children maybe? The large master suite with bathroom, etc., etc. multiple bathrooms and bedrooms so children don't share, multiple television sets and computers. Although families share a house, it doesn't appear that they share much time with each other.

I am learning a lot more about the American family than I had planned when I posed the question---I guess I hadn't thought about the reasons behind floor plan evolution very deeply.

[wayout]

I hope you are able to find what you are looking for Samai139. It is fascinating to think about how housing layouts have been influenced by various factors one normally would not connect. I've noticed and am lamenting how homes seem to have relatively recently gotten so much larger and designed to segregate people so as to reduce interaction between family members. Certainly not a good thing on many aspects of having a strong family unit.

[Samai139]

wayout---I hope I find such a book, but my hope is diminishing---maybe such a book hasn't been tackled? I wonder who might be tempted to undertake such a task? No knowledge in the writing or publishing world (

An addition to your comments: it may be slightly un-American of me, but I suspect many of us are not very interested in WHY we do some things and why our culture relects our attitudes. Nearly 50 years ago Daniel Patrick Moynihan who became a US Senator from New York wrote about his fears and predictions for the American family and paraticularly the African-American family. He observed the growing trend fpr unmarried women to have children and said it was a threat to the American family. He was soundly criticized and termed a closet racist. Turns out he was so much more correct than even he thought---not only were African-American families weakened by the trend, but so were other races. . Today? I don't know the exact rate of children born to unmarried people but I suspect it is nearing or over 50%