THE
20th CENTURY
When people consider
the early twentieth century, they usually think of jazz music,
flappers, bobbed hair, short skirts, Model Ts, prohibition,
and gangsters. But the era was much more than these elements
suggest. The period began with great optimism, then saw the
devastation of the first World War. Its economy bestowed prosperity
in the 1920s followed in the 1930s by the hard times and poverty
of the Great Depression. These years also saw continuing technological
change resulting in an ever faster pace of life. Even more
than before, people needed a refuge from the stresses besetting
them. As it had in the previous century, the home provided
that refuge.
An age filled with
contradictory events spawned an architecture of contradiction.
Potential homeowners wanted up-to-date homes with as many
of the new modern conveniences as they could afford, but they
wanted the improvements wrapped in comfortable and reassuring
packages. Architects met this need by designing houses based
on historical precedents.
The idea of copying
stylistic motifs from distant places and previous centuries
was not new. Indeed, the Victorians had also grounded the
architectural styles of their era in the "long ago and
far away." However, early twentieth century architects
approached the design process differently. Instead of combining
motifs from multiple past styles on one building, they produced
individual buildings reflecting specific past styles. The
result was new suburbs filled with picturesque Colonial Revival,
Tudor Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival style homes. As
usual, the wealthy obtained their new house designs from architects,
whom they expected to work competently in all styles. The
common man continued to obtain his home designs from magazines,
pattern books and speculative builders.
The bungalow was the
one exception to the mania for the "long ago and far
away," and even it could be called picturesque. Based
on American as well as foreign precedents, the bungalow was
a small house whose exterior emphasized gables and interior
included built-ins. The idea of the bungalow became so popular
nationwide that people began calling any small, picturesque
cottage a bungalow. However, the true bungalow was a separate
style with specific features. Like other Americans, Louisianians
loved the bungalow and freely adapted it to their needs.
As time passed the
housing styles of the early twentieth century came under criticism
from avant-garde designers who viewed buildings as utilitarian
machines for living and scorned the picturesque styles as
unoriginal. The historical styles fell out of favor but today
have made a comeback. These pleasing homes provide early twentieth
century suburbs with a variety and character often lacking
in modern subdivisions filled with cloned slab-on-grade ranch
style houses.
