Muscatine Avenue Moffitt Cottage Historic District - The Moffitt House Style

The Moffitt House Style

No two Moffitt houses are identical. Moffitt’s building style was so eclectic that there are many homes in Iowa City in which there is no sure way to determine if Moffitt built them; his building records do not survive. "These mystical dwellings look as if Germanic elves constructed houses for Irish pixies", is how one writer described them. In general Moffitt houses borrow heavily from the English Cottage and American Craftsman styles of architecture, although there are examples of Moffitt building in styles reminiscent of southwestern stucco adobe and Prairie School styles. Several of his houses have concave or hipped roof. While there is no single architectural aspect that includes all Moffitt houses, there are some common design and decoration schemes that are commonly seen in Moffitt houses. These include:

• Large tapering chimney
• Steeply-peaked roofs and dormers
• Built-in small garages (uncommon in such small houses)
• Spindle porch columns
• Copious use of recycled material (trolley track rails used as main supports; chair backs used as decoration; reused brick, stone, timber, barnboard, and nails).
• Multiple levels inside the structure
• Exterior mix of shingle, stone, brick, stucco, and wood siding, often on the same structure; brick and stone often laid in irregular or whimsical patterns; cladding is often patchwork.
• Structural problems such as bowed floors and plumbing and electrical work encased in plaster
• Use of a cellulosic insulation treated to be fireproof
• Concrete aggregates that include found stone, broken glass