A GUIDE TO GLEN AFTON ARCHITECTURE

     Glen Afton enjoys an interesting position in the American architectural landscape as a planned residential community showcasing the popular trends in home building from the pre through post war years. Here you can see the evolution of the uniquely American concept of the “Dream House,” from the tidy Craftsman bungalow that proved to be the ideal “starter house” for the prosperous middle class of the 20’s, to the versatile Colonial Revival in all its many variations, eventually streamlined by mid-century into the open concept single story ranch house that would come to dominate the American suburbs. Begun during the building boom of the 1920’s when the solid stately Tudor was the reigning symbol of status and success, the neighborhood wouldn’t be fleshed out until the subsequent post war building boom of the 1950’s and 60’s when the popular new contemporary ranchers and streamlined split-levels sprawled themselves out among the remaining lots. The list below is a basic guide outlining the most prevalent architectural styles found in Glen Afton including all the sites on today’s tour.

Tudor Variations

Elizabethan Tudor Revival is easily identifiable by its stucco and half-timbered details designed to replicate authentic 16th century English building types. Masonry exteriors are rendered in every combination of brick, stucco, or stone and are notable for their prominent front facing gables. 

Cottage Tudors are less strict than their Elizabethan counterparts and are often influenced by the rural architecture of the Cotswold region of England. The style forgoes half-timbered details while retaining the masonry exteriors and prominent facing gables, which are often exaggerated to picturesque effect.

Composite Tudors are the furthest from the Elizabethan model by utilizing elements of the Colonial Revival in finishes and detailing. Rendered in shingle and clapboard the prominent front facing gabled form is emphasized and often features a large centrally located chimney.

The rarely seen French Norman Revival like its more well-known English counterpart the Elizabethan Tudor employees half-timbering and masonry exteriors to evoke medieval construction methods. Front-end gables are eschewed in favor of hipped roofs and rounded turrets alluding to the rural architecture of the Normandy region of France. 

Colonial Revival Variations

Georgian Revivals are two story often-symmetrical dwellings that replicate 18th century British colonial architecture. As Georgians were originally built throughout all thirteen colonials, the details and exterior finishes can differentiate between regions. While a two-story square columned veranda is indicative of Southern building traditions, a wood clapboard exterior and lack of a porch would suggest a New England locale, while the same form in stone would recall the colonial farmhouses seen across the river throughout the Pennsylvania countryside. 

Dutch Colonial Revivals are easily identifiable by their gambrel gable rooflines punctuated with shed roofed dormers and wooden clapboard or shingle exteriors that are indicative of the dwellings built by Dutch colonists throughout New York and Northern New Jersey in the 17th century.

Garrison Revivals are the most prevalent building type in the neighborhood and are characterized by an overhanging second story with the first floor commonly finished in masonry with shingle or clapboard above. The form takes its name from early semi-fortified dwellings common to Maine and New Hampshire. Streamlined by the post war homebuilder in search of the modern American “Dream House”, the multi-plane exterior and open concept interiors would continue to be adapted for modern tastes by architects throughout the 1960’s resulting in the uniquely American split-level design. 

American Vintage Styles

Split-levels were a natural modern extension of the streamlined and expanded Modern Colonial Revival, specifically the Garrison style with its multi-planed exterior and echoed the contemporary desire for more open horizontal living.

Ranch houses were another distinctly American innovation that fused the latest ideas in modern living with the simple lines of the long low single-story Spanish Colonial architecture of California and the American Southwest.  This versatile style could be adapted to individual needs and tastes in the post war years as the last of Glen Afton’s lots filled with new homes following the lull in construction during the war.

The American Craftsman Bungalow was the most popular “starter home” style in America when Glen Afton was founded in the 1920’s, and while out of favor after the war the neighborhood does boasts a few fine examples identified by their low-slung rooflines with overhanging eaves often decorated with brackets or exposed rafters. Most are 1½ stories with a single large front dormer and feature wide square columned front porches.