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The American Foursquare House

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Our American Foursquare House

I will never forget the day I told my wife we were going to buy this house and neither will she.
It was a mess, my wife deserves a medal.
The American Foursquare or "Prairie Box" was a post-Victorian style, which shared many features with the Prairie architecture pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright. Many Foursquares are trimmed with tiled roofs, cornice-line brackets, or other details drawn from Craftsman, Italian Renaissance, or Mission architecture. Later Foursquares often had the same type of interiors as Bungalows with open floor plans, lots of built-ins, and fireplaces.

"Prairie Box" 

Floor Plan 

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Bungalow Style built-ins: shelves and fireplace

Large boxy rooms

Our American Foursquare Before 

Our American Foursquare After 

The 1920's Kitchen

Simple and easy

This is the kind of kitchen I grew up in. It was the 60's. However; My Mom insisted on keeping her kitchen in the style of the 1920 house. Our floors and walls were off white, butter yellow ceramic tile, outlined in black. In the center of our kitchen was a big cooks table with butcher block and marble. Not much counter space, walk in pantry and a breakfast nook wrapped in windows. I was ashamed of our kitchen, I wish I had it now.
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1920's Kitchen 

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Guestbook

  • Athelyna Feb 14, 2012 @ 5:15 pm | delete
    I hadn't thought of playing my foursquare period music. Perhaps that will keep it in a good mood so nothing else will break!

    The plan your post may answer one of my ongoing questions - why is the kitchen so darn small? Surely cooks of the 1920s needed the same basic equipment - stove/sink/refrigerator/counters/worktable - that we do? But if the icebox was supposed to go someplace else (and there's a sealed-up hatch by the side door, that I suspect was for ice delivery), then it wouldn't need to fit in the kitchen. (Our kitchen was horribly redone in the 70s/early 80s, so there's no trace of the original footprint.) Anyway - this is a lovely lens!
  • KimGiancaterino May 8, 2011 @ 8:10 am | delete
    I see houses like this in our area of Los Angeles. Ours was built in 1926 and still has the butter yellow tile in the kitchen and built-ins throughout. I'd love to see more before and after photos of your house. What a transformation!
  • FrankChapman May 9, 2011 @ 6:38 pm | delete
    Thank you, I'll look for them. I love this house. I even play it 1920's music. I figure it's good for the old spirits.
  • FrankChapman May 11, 2011 @ 11:50 pm | delete
    Thank You for blessing my lens. I truly feel blessed. It means a lot when your starting to get into Squidoo.
  • Joan4 Apr 28, 2011 @ 10:07 am | delete
    Thank you for sharing your beautiful home with all of us!
  • FrankChapman Apr 28, 2011 @ 10:09 pm | delete
    Thank you Joan. I'm starting to enjoy Squidoo even more these days. So many people with a lot of knowledge to share. I saw your lens "Songs about Dogs" can't wait to read it.
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American Foursquare Hardware

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Music for Your American Foursquare house

Every now and then, your house need the music of its day.

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Flickr Photos

Pierre Hill Residential Historic District by Jeffrey Beall
img104b by Daily Bungalow
Wall with sharp stones at villa lewaro, home of mme. CJ Walker- America's first African American millionairess. by varese
foursquare on the AmericanExpress homepage! by dpstyles™
American home by tracyshaun
Waiting to get home by cote
automatically generated by Flickr

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FrankChapman

I have been painting since I can remember. I graduated from The Collage of Mount Saint Vincent in NYC. It was fun perhaps not necessary. I remember M... more »

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