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Folk Victorian Homes

Just plain folk could afford these charming North American homes, built between 1870 and 1910. Life was a lot simpler before the age of railroads. In the vast, remote stretches of North America, families built no-fuss, square or L-shaped houses in the ‘National’ or ‘Folk’ style.

Industrialization and the growth of railroads meant that decorative architectural trim could be mass produced and sent to remote corners of the continent. Also, smaller towns could now obtain sophisticated woodworking machinery. So when farmers and their wives got fancy ideas they built fancier homes.

Folk Victorian houses usually have a combination of these features:

• Square, symmetrical shape
• Brackets under the eaves
• Porches with spindle work or flat, jigsaw cut trim
• Carpenter gothic details
• Low-pitched, pyramid shaped roof and side wings