The History of the American House


The History of the American House by John Milnes Baker, AIA

Program prepared for the Connecticut Chapter of the American Institute of Architects
New Haven, CT. (See it on Vimeo below).

PART I The Colonial Era 1607-1783 & 1715-1783

  • From the founding of the British Colonies in North America through the early
    colonial period to the end of the Stuart monarchy (1603-1714).
  • From the beginning of the Georgian era, with the coronation of the first King George
  • To the Treaty of Paris which officially ended the Revolutionary War.

PART II 1783-1835

  • From the early Federal Period to the Age of Andrew Jackson.
  • Jackson was our 7th President and served from 1829-1837.
  • He was the first president who was not born in one of the
    original thirteen colonies.


PART III 1835-1929

  • Sunnyside-Washington Irving's house.
  • The Picturesque Era- sometimes called "The Victorian Era"
  • To the Centennial Celebration in Philadelphia which sparked
    a chauvinistic pride in our colonial heritage.

      1876-1929

  • From the Centennial Celebration to the Stock Market Crash in 1929.
  • The Reminiscent period and the era of Palatial Palaces.
  • The contemporaneous beginning of the early modern movement.

PART IV 1929-Post World War II

  • The Beginning of the modern architectural movement.
  • The reaction to the excesses of the late 19th Century 
  • The beginnings of modern architecture 
  • 1929 Stock Market Crash
  • The Great Depression
  • The Post-World War II era