AMERICAN FOURSQUARE ARCHITECTURE

AMERICAN FOURSQUARE ARCHITECTURE. The American Foursquare, or the Prairie Box, shared many features with PRAIRIE ARCHITECTURE pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright. The foursquare shape provided roomy interiors for homes on small city lots. The simple, square shape also made the Foursquare style especially practical for mail order house kits from Sears and other catalog companies.

The Foursquare had such common features as:

   * Simple box shape
   * Two-and-a-half stories high
   * Four-room floor plan
   * Low-hipped roof with deep overhang
   * Large central dormer
   * Full-width porch with wide stairs
   * Brick, stone, stucco, concrete block, or wood siding 

Creative builders often added to the basic foursquare form with features borrowed from any QUEEN ANNE ARCHITECTURE or GREEK REVIVAL ARCHITECTURE.