Shingle Style Architecture - Characteristics

Characteristics

Architects of the Shingle style emulated colonial houses' plain, shingled surfaces as well as their massing, whether in the simple gable of McKim Mead and White's Low House or in the complex massing of Kragsyde. This impression of the passage of time is enhanced by the use of shingles. Some architects, in order to attain a weathered look on a new building, had the cedar shakes dipped in buttermilk, dried and then installed, to leave a grayish tinge to the façade.

In contrast to the equally sized cross-gables often found in Victorian-style buildings, Shingle-style houses often use a single, large roof, such as a gambrel or hip roof. The houses thus emanate a more pronounced mass and a greater emphasis on horizontality.