Colonial architecture in the United States embraces several styles of building design associated with the American colonial period, including late Medieval English, Georgian Colonial, French Colonial, Dutch Colonial, Spanish Colonial and German Colonial, and represent a period of architectural history ranging from 1600 to about 1850. Colonial homeplans building styles were influenced principally by English architecture, but also by traditions which were brought by settlers from other areas of Europe. In New England, seventeenth century homes were usually constructed of wood, following the style found in England's southeastern counties. In New York and northern New Jersey Dutch colonial styles reflected construction techniques from Holland, and used more stone and brick than New England's buildings. Swedish settlers in Pennsylvania introduced log cabin building to America; later (after the English arrived in the 1680's) Pennsylvanian architecture reflected Georgian influences; and outside of Philadelphia German settlers created a Pennsylvania Dutch style. The Southern Colonial style of Maryland, Virginia, and North and South Carolina was characterized by 1 ½ story brick homes with large chimneys at the ends of the houses. Louisiana and French Canadian Colonial architecture reflected Medieval French influences; and in the Southwest and Florida Spanish Colonial architecture evoked the Renaissance and Baroque styles of Spain.
The earliest English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts are known as First Period (early 1600's), and this style was followed in other English Colonies along the Atlantic seaboard. These 2 story colonial house plans usually included such Medieval details as steep roofs, massive central chimneys, small windows (due to the scarcity of glass in the colonies), and rich ornamentation in the wealthier homes. In the areas of North America settled by the French (Quebec in the early 1600's and New Orleans in the early 1700's), as well as along the Mississippi River valley, poteaux-en-terre homes were constructed of massive cedar logs set upright into the ground, and featured galleries (porches) and hipped, double-pitched roofs to fend off the hot summer weather. In areas which were prone to flooding, a raised cottage style was developed in which homes were built on top of raised brick walls up to eight feet tall in order to protect them from flood waters. In drier times the basements were used for storage and cooking. By the late eighteenth century a briquette entre poteaux style of small bricks between posts with double-louvred doors and flared hip roofs with dormers and shutters appeared in New Orleans (and are still visible there).
Where Northern Colonial architecture featured low ceilings to hold in warmth, Southern architecture, particularly Southern plantation style house plans, reflected Greek Revival influences, featuring high ceilings to keep cool. President Thomas Jefferson's appointment of Benjamin Latrobe as surveyor of public buildings led to the design of a number of important public buildings in Greek Revival style, such as the Bank of Pennsylvania and the United States Capitol. The Southern style of home building featured symmetrical rows of windows in the lower and upper stories and a wide front porches flanked by massive white columns whose entrances opened upon a central hallways and large staircases to the second floor.
American Colonial homeplans embraced a number of different architectural styles reflecting the traditions of the settlers who came from different areas of Europe. From Medieval French architecture of Quebec and Louisiana to the 2 story colonial house plans typical of the Greek Revival style found in Southern plantation style house plans the different architectural traditions adapted themselves to the particular environments found in the New World.
