Shocked European Reacts to Different Types of American Homes!

[@lisal6121]

There is NO TYPICAL American house. It depends on the geography, weather and age. From the east coast to the west coast it differs dramatically.

[@european-reacts]

Thats true!

[@hiddendesire3076]

@@european-reacts Indeed. In my neighborhood we have everything from log cabins, french cottages, various orange and white brick houses, to tudor, victorian, and even three houses that were once part of a plantation that operated as part of the underground railroad. There is even one of Al Capone’s old speakeasies that was hidden in one of the manor houses. A clever tile layout in the foyer allowed them to make a reinforced false panel that would be slid into place to cover the stairs, where upon which an upright piano and several potted plants in vases would be decoratively set.

[@peppermoon7485]

I’m Missouri it’s a mix of everything…

[@Stitch-smart]

Exactly - no typical American house. The sure size of the country - and the massively diverse seasons that exist from one extreme to another drive the need for different types of homes.

[@liliankuhn4671]

Thank you! I was just going to post the same comment. Also, it's not common for a house in TX or FL to have basements.

[@scottkirkhomes1260]

I'm a real estate agent in New Jersey. This country has way more than 7 house styles and many of them are more prominent in certain parts of the country than others. What often happens is, builders will purchase large tracks of land and build an entire neighborhood or community. They will often pick out a handful of different models which buyers can chose from depending on how many bedrooms and baths or different floorplans. And there were certain types of houses that were built during different eras. For instance the Cape Cod was built mostly from 1940-1970. Split level / Bi Levels were more popular in the 1960-1980s. But we also have plenty of Victorians, Tudors, Craftsman, Saltbox, Colonials, etc. We also have many custom designed homes, mansions and mini-mansions (McMansions). As people's needs have changed, so have our house designs.

[@erikgardner9896]

Great explanation, I would like to add that the cookie cutter developments May seem similar but they are generally tweaked in some way and everybody makes them their own on the outside so no two are alike in my opinion as a builder.

[@DennisRabidue]

As a builder I couldn't agree more !

[@mytiggertat]

And the New England row house.

[@Trifler500]

As an American, I really hate cookie-cutter developments

[@Sandy-j9b4x]

​@@Trifler500I hate the giant farms being sold off I the suburbs to build ticky tacky cookie cutter houses

[@bobbyquinting3918]

A ranch house only has one floor (and perhaps a basement.) They are wide houses for ease of access to all rooms without the hassle of stair cases.

[@annepryor9169]

It amazes me how, no matter the style, these videos only choose the largest houses they can find. I’ve lived in two ranch houses. Neither was wide. There were two decent sized bedrooms, and one the size of a closet. By decent sized, I mean much smaller than they are building bedrooms today. They had one very small bathroom and no dining room. The kitchen had very little work space, but it did have space for a table. I’ve also lived in a bungalow which was smaller than the ranch houses. It had two bedrooms. One was large enough for only a full sized bed, nothing else. It had no closets. The other was slightly larger and had a closet that was maybe 2 1/2 feet wide. There were no coat closet, and no where else to store things except the attic. The basement was either too damp all year long to add a clothes rack near the washer and dryer.

[@storminight]

You might like to look at houses for sale in the US.

[@loganshaw4527]

Or the need for a elevator.

[@garygray2287]

My great grandparents separately immigrated from Ireland in the 1880's and lived in Philidelphia. My great grandmother was an indentured servant for the Wanamaker family. They met, married and moved to Kansas in 1890's settling on land near Abilene, KS. In 1899/1900 they ordered a house from Sears Roebuck catelog. It arrived by train. The shipment contained everything needed to construct the house...lumber, nails, doors, windows, shingles, fittings. etc.etc.etc. Including directions on how to construct it. The house still stands on the farm it was buiit. Look up the topic if interested in the subject. It is really quite cozy.

[@gayleroberts-stewart3016]

Tract housing really took hold after WWII when the demand for housing skyrocketed. But the idea of using the basic house plan with slight modifications for home building was much older than that. Sears, Roebuck,&Co. sold kits for basic houses and you recieved everything from nails to clothes hooks. Subdivision or tract houses will usually have a menu of sample houses near the entrance, and the buyer selects the plan he wants and it is built to order. Some housing developments come pre-assorted and are already built when put up for sale.

[@user-calm_salty]

Didn't Sears actually sell kits for the Craftsman homes? Their tools were called Sears Craftsman tools.

[@gayleroberts-stewart3016]

@user-calm_salty yes, indeed. I live in one of them.

[@dmpvip]

@@user-calm_salty Sears and Montgomery Wards both sold houses through their catalogs. My uncle bought one at an estate auction one and it was incredibly well built.

[@TexasPeridot]

@@gayleroberts-stewart3016 Yes! Andre, look up Levittown, Pennsylvania. It is one of the earliest tract house developments in the US, built in the years just after WWII. It had 5 or 6 floor plans in the entire development. Neighborhoods all over the US have copied the concept. People refer to them as cookie cutter neighborhoods.

[@gayleroberts-stewart3016]

The American continent had such rich resources in lumber, among other wood products (pitch, turpentine, fuel) that carpentry and woodworking was a good conversion of the secondary consequence of land clearance. Wood lends itself to artistry, and different architectural styles are as telling as rings on a tree.

[@KevinWynsma]

Most shutters on homes are purely decorative and dont close. Ours are permanently attached to the siding. Shutters that close would be useful in hurricane country though. Remeber all our windows have screen windows also, so you would have to go outside to close shutters, not possible on 2nd floor.

[@jeremybutler2578]

My shudders are attached to the siding as well... 100% cosmetic with zero function aside from making a new secret place for hornets to nest... its really annoying... you dont know until they get angry and you get attacked...

[@dianethomas9384]

My windows open out so the screens are on the inside, however still could not close them because the window would prevent it😀😁😀

[@amyhood6562]

We live on the coast and have storm rated shutters on our home. They close but are very heavy and cumbersome but that is probably a good thing. I won’t be shutting them unless we’re expecting a hurricane because it isn’t practical.

[@DeepBlueHush]

Not that I read all comments, but I haven’t seen anyone talking about storm windows, which are common in the Great Plains, at least. I don’t really know about the rest of the country.

[@MissMaryann327]

Mine are attached to the siding too, but would be useful in the freezing ohio winters or horrible summers

[@Crusty_Comrad]

As an american construction worker, its very common for entire subburban city blocks to be built like a single structure, with all the utilities (electric, plumbing, etc) laid underground all at once, then a single or small number of "model homes" will be built. then when time to develope the whole city block comes the model homes are simply copied one for one to the rest of the area since the construction crew is already familiar with how to make those exact models so it saves both time and money.

[@georgem9554]

Ranch style is nice cause of no stairs to have to climb up and down when you get older.

[@angb6561]

I messed my knee up when I was in my 20's. I'm in my 60's now and know ONE DAY it will give me problems! I like a lot of different styles of houses but I know multi-story with staircases....I have to pass on. Ranch style is much more practical for me in the long run.

[@mikecarew8329]

The best intro to the variety of US home styles is “Most Popular Home Styles!” By Rhetty for History. He covers many of the home styles in the US with actual pictures of each type - not AI stuff like Laurence did. Highly recommend you react to it. There is no typical American home. The video I reference above shows 17 varieties (ranch/rambler; craftsman; colonial; Cape Cod; Tudor; log cabin; Greek revival; French country; Victorian; Mediterranean; modern; mid century; contemporary; cottage; farmhouse; townhomes/row houses; antebellum/Southern). Typical for one person in America would be atypical for another. I grew up in an upscale NYC suburb with lots of Tudors, Dutch colonials, English colonials, and French Country homes. That was typical for me. But someone from Arizona used to single level adobe homes or from the Pacific NW with lots of craftsman homes would find what I grew up with atypical. In my less than 50-year life I have lived in a converted barn, a colonial, a postwar apartment building, a Tudor, colonial college dorms, a Cape Cod during law school, a Mediterranean, a pre-war brick apartment building, a New Orleans / Southern style 1917 condo building with central courtyard and covered balconies, and a mid century modern rambler. So nothing has been typical even in my own life’s experience of my own different residences.

[@TexasPeridot]

There is no typical American house. Our houses are regionally built depending on our climatic and topographic needs. On the Gulf Coast we can have no basements because of our very low elevation relative to sea level. In mountainous regions, roofs are steeper to encourage heavy snow to fall more off of the house and onto the ground. In addition to that, we paint our houses to reflect our surroundings-Florida and South Texas or Southern California and Hawaii might have pastel colors reflecting the abundance of flowers whereas New England might have gray or steely blue houses to reflect the colors seen in their much longer winter. American homes are usually appropriate for their region, but not across the board representative of all of the USA.

[@DeviceMX]

You're going to find that there is no "typical American house." Every part of the country has styles that are specific to that region. I live in a small 800 square foot ranch on a quarter acre. And I love it! Also, don't get a McMansion. The construction is crap and they're bigger than any average family needs.

[@jadeh2699]

Exactly. Every region has its own styles of homes that evolved to deal with the environment and materials available.

[@duckducknight]

Not to mention it takes to long to clean & walking up & downstairs several times a day when you get older is for the birds.

[@danielgriffith8911]

yeah, but a style you will find in all regions is the single-story 'ranch' home.

[@kathleenshaw838]

And usually with a disproportionately small yard.

[@duckducknight]

@@kathleenshaw838 My ranch style home has a 2-acre yard so assume it depends on the area.

[@stanleyday7293]

There are numerous other styles. Most areas have architecture that is unique to their culture. For example, Saltbox homes in New England, Low Country Homes in South Carolina and Georgia, Row Houses in Baltimore, Victorian homes in San Francisco and the Northeast, Georgian homes in the South, Large Mansion versions of Log Cabins in Mountain Areas, Plantation homes in the South, Industrial condos in Chicago, Key West style homes in Florida, etc.

[@Irie-Gee]

Shotgun typical to Louisiana and Gulf states...SO many types lol

[@chrisfechter7901]

No one ever said otherwise.

[@Irie-Gee]

@@chrisfechter7901 ?

[@miladirey4336]

True! I lived in New Mexico for 5yrs. Adobe houses are very common down there. Even modern developments have maintained some of the features of Adobe architecture because it helps with heat. Of course not every house in NM is Adobe, but they're quite common.

[@williamdegnan4718]

6:04 Craftsman houses are everywhere because originally they were bought and delivered as a kits from the Sears and Roebuck catalog. My grandfather built one. It was rich in architectural details -- factory built.

[@jillmlyon2552]

Mcmansion is a derogatory term for huge but style-free houses, usually built by developers in high-cost subdivisions. They're often built cheaply, all flash but little good substance. When they have a brick facade, but siding on all the other sides, we call them "dipped in brick."

[@thomasmacdiarmid8251]

I always heard the term used for those extra-large homes placed among established neighborhoods after bulldozing the prior home there, the point being that they were not just large but did not fit the character of the adjacent houses.

[@Ltlmscrl]

Where I live it typically means a big house on a small piece of land, and most of the ones in my neighborhood are “dipped in brick”.

[@OkiePeg411]

"Subdivisions" (tract houses) got started after WWII because there was a housing shortage for the soldiers returning from the war. They wanted to start families, and small, nearly identical homes could be built faster, on tiny lots and much less expensively. The trend continued but houses and neighborhoods have gotten much larger. The first home I bought was new, tract style house in a suburb. There were probably 4-5 house plans to choose from. But, I could choose the brick color, exterior paint color, linoleum, carpeting, cabinetry, and countertops. Shutters on US homes tend to be decorative. When i bought my home it had very little decorative things on it. I bought 2 sets of wooden shutters at a habitat for humanity restore, pained them and put them up just to add a bit of decoration to break up the boring plain look of my house.

[@williamlucas4656]

Most of those houses were ranch style or Cape Cod.

[@OkiePeg411]

​@@williamlucas4656 I'm in Oklahoma and back when my house was built there weren't any cape cod houses here. There were bungalow houses (which mine might qualify as a bungalow) or just the plain, white, square, minimalist house!!! 😆 🤣 😂

[@garycamara9955]

Brick is not that common in California. Brick houses don't like earthquakes .

[@wilelowman]

Family of ours live west of Chicago, Someone built a Spanish revival house so big and out of place we called it McTaco bell mansion.

[@user-calm_salty]

😂😂😂, we had a single story Spanish style huge apartment complex built down the street, we called it Casa de Ugly

[@janfitzgerald3615]

😂😂😂

[@TangentOmega]

Architect here. To explain it roughly, it's actually the developer (company that subdivided the plots and puts in the infrastructure) that determines the variety of house designs in a subdivision or development. Usually they will produce 2 or 3 different elevations per floor plan. They may have 6 or so different floor plans, at different price points. You may end up with 20 different exterior elevations and by the time you add a variation of stone, brick and siding it could be dozens. No, they don't look identical any moŕe.

[@marcseclecticstuff9497]

No, they don't look identical anymore, but they still basically look the same. You would never drive into one of these cookie cutter developments and mistake them for custom homes, more like cars with different options.

[@lindawick455]

Buy in a meets and bounds and build your own style. Screw developers as they will screw you.

[@adamcampbell8794]

McMansions are definitely a thing here in the US. Entire neighborhoods of these big houses. He is right if you can't decide on what style house that you want you just build them all in one.

[@bonnielucas1941]

All homes are expensive in the US now. The median price where I live is over $300 K. Unaffordable for many, due to extreme inflation.

[@kathleenmorabito4477]

Craftsman are older homes but the work on them was done by hand. They are beautiful if maintained.

[@aunc3281]

We live in a mid-century ranch-style house. It seems to stretch a mile when I'm in bed & I realize my phone charger is in the office on the other end of the house. Not fancy, but home. Two living areas/dining room divided by a kitchen, guest room/bathroom and office on one side, laundry room, master bed/bath on the other, garage on one level. Lol. It's whatever, whenever, est 1961.

[@sandyangel4243]

I like craftmans or logcabins. The draw back to logcabins is maintenance. Every couple of years you must reseal logs to protect them from weather.

[@PYC000]

My house was built in 1869-70, just after the Civil War by Maj. John Waite. In those times, there was a fireplace in every room as that is how they heated the house. High ceilings, very large windows, heartpine floors, doors and trim are some features not found in recent built homes. While older homes come with challenges, they also come with individual charm.

[@cspat1]

I wonder if I’m related same spelling of last name. I just don’t see it often unless I’m at a family reunion lol

[@Brenda-f9y]

I grew up in a Ranch style house. My parents had it built to suit me because I have been wheelchair bound my entire life and ranch houses only have a couple of steps going to the front porch making it easier for me to get in and out of the house. They're only one basically only one level plus ours had a basement which was pretty easy for me to get to since all I had to do was go outside and push my chair to the backyard unless my parents or one of my brothers helped me down the stairs from inside the house. Most of the time I would just get out of my chair and scoot down the stairs while someone carried my chair downstairs, especially during tornado warnings.

[@marcseclecticstuff9497]

Back in the 80's a good friend of mine was paralyzed from the waist down after a motorcycle accident he had in the mid 70's. His parents simply had an elevator built onto the back of their 2-story house that went down to the basement. It wasn't very expensive back then because there weren't that many lawyers around.

[@wahswolf88]

I live in an older neighborhood and all the houses are very different. There are other parts of town with newer construction where the builds are very similar. Usually these are all built by the same contractors/builders. If there is going to be a new neighborhood going up you can count on the houses being similar though you still see a lot of custom construction on single lots. My home is a simple Cape Cod style, built in 1900.

[@ritaconley9544]

Houses that look similar are common in America. Much of this is because a construction company buys a huge plot of land and builds four or five different sizes of identical homes using the same plans. The colors are different and the insides are different.

[@hiddendesire3076]

0:35 It is common among more recent housing developments. The idea being if you know how much materials are needed and don’t really need to swap the schematics, you have a rough estimate of the costs and work needed for each. Honestly I loathe them as they feel like they lack inspiration. Like a bad combover.

[@jennifer1329]

My husband likes to call them boxes on the field.

[@Rose-From-the-Dead]

4:08 No, actually most of them here are completely functionless and dont even close. They are purely decorative

[@minkademko2335]

I always wanted a log cabin. They can be any size, still custom made today.

[@lmbrtshrry]

Me too!

[@DawnP63]

Some neighborhoods are designed by the same architect so, yes you see the exact same house styles in the neighborhood. It has happened for s long time, i grew up in the 1960's and every fourth house or so were exactly the same but different color

[@Trifler500]

We call these "cookie-cutter" houses

[@hayneshvac2]

Shudders on the sides of the windows are decorative these days. Once upon a time though they were known as storm shudders and were closed before or during storms to prevent damage to the glass, and to protect against debris from entering the home. They weren't much use against tornadoes, which is why they have resulted to decoration. I once lived in an old house with working shudders. You would raise the window, and the screen raised as well like the widow did, then you would reach out and pull the shudders closed. They latched with a hook and hasp. I thought they were pretty cool, and they were pretty useful. Great video reaction Andre, thank you for sharing.

[@Flowers4YourMind]

lol....People aren't usually closing their shutters on their windows. They are mostly decorative.

[@lf4061]

Originally folks did because they did not have glass in the windows, so they closed the shutters at night to keep the critters out.

[@jimstark1810]

House styles are interesting but most are impractical and high maintenance. It all depends on your preference and what you can afford to maintain or spend time on.

[@DartJedi]

All the houses that look the same like that are called Tract homes, this started in Europe and hit the US in the 40's after WWII. What he showed as Ranch style is not Ranch style. Ranch is very specific. Not those late 1800's early 1900's small homes.

[@DavidBanner-z2i]

The reason you have large areas where all the houses look the same is because the land was bought by a developer amd then likely had a contracting company build all the houses at once. So the houses were likely all designed and built by a single large team of people.

[@deborahdanhauer8525]

There are lots of American home styles left out here. The most American of all would be a log home. Nearly all the first settlers lived in log homes. There are also A frames in mountainous areas.🤗❤️🐝

[@lauriesue2244]

Craftsman homes were built in early 20th century and also have beautiful woodwork inside -floors, angled posts with chest high room dividers (usually bookcases), built-in china hutch in dining room with beveled glass doors, lovely staircase-all beautiful wood. Ranch home=post WWII tract homes and often iconic Midcentury Modern homes.

[@annepryor9169]

Craftsman homes have always been my favorites. My grandparents owned one, and it was small, but beautiful. It had a very large front porch with a swing, a gorgeous brick fireplace in the living room, and as you said, all of the beautiful built in storage areas. Unfortunately most people today are renovating them to the point that they no longer resemble what the were originally were.

[@3kjewel]

Tract homes where all the homes look similar are basically a single company building a few hundred homes in the same tract of land. Usually there are a few models to choose from and they try to not have them all the same next to each other but it still happens if a person picks a model and wants it on a certain plot within the tract. Like my next door neighbor's house is exactly the same as mine. When the cars are not out front its hard to tell them apart LOL. With that being said there are thousands of developers that build houses and each tract of homes is usually offering different style houses than any other tracts. Ive seen some tracts with about 7 different models to choose from... so there can be 2 story homes in the same tract as single story homes but they're all by the same manufacturer/developer/builder/company (whatever they want to call themselves). Nope, shutters are decorative ... I dont think many actually work ...

[@rpvitiello]

Can you picture a “typical European house?” Cuz that’s the same as trying to picture a typical American house. Each region or state of the country has more its “typical” architecture.

[@jmrverrier]

When a builder builds a new neighborhood they usually have a selection to between 2 and 10 different blueprints they use (some just mirrored versions). So the neighborhood will start off very much the same, over the decades they will get add-ons, modifications, some houses torn down and replaced entirely. In the end the neighborhood will look much like one with out a set of standard blueprints. In recent times a lot of builders have cut corners though and cut down on the number of variations to start with, that combined with the lack of time having past to change the homes they do tend to look like clones. Also there is a tendency for people not to branch out from the norm in the exterior of the home because neutral colors and such sell better, so everyone continues to look the same longer.

[@mickibly47]

Spanish architecture is very common in the southwest and California, and we have pockets of it here in Colorado where I live. it's stylistic but also functional for fluctuating high temperatures the desert and arid regions have here.

[@Trifler500]

5:09 - Not really. The typical American house is two stories (floors), not counting an optional basement.

[@IrishTwinMaker]

Im from SoCal so I live in a spanish style ranch house. They are based on the hacienda, but these have a lot less style. My husband and I have been slowly fixing it up to look more spanish colonial. It's come a long way from the sad little crack house that we moved into. Lol

[@KarenCatMom2]

There is no such thing as a typical American house or anything else for that matter. That's the main thing Europeans miss when they start discovering the USA. Houses very in type. Each region usually prefers certain types of houses because of the climate or available building materials.for example. Some regions were settled hundreds of years before the rest of the country by Europeans so those houses look a lot different than the houses that were built later. Some areas were settled by the Spanish, or French, or German, Dutch, English etc. Again different styles of homes. Then you have the influences of various designers and home builders who have created modern styles that are very American. A good example of this is the mid-century modern and art deco style houses. I'm pretty sure that was an American creation. ItI was born in the mid-1950s like me! It's still my favorite style and even though my house is not mid-century modern it's more of a ranch style I have it decorated in mid-century modern furniture. In big cities you will find more of what we call condos. They are often built side by side in rows where the houses side walls touch One another. So the lesson is, never say "" that is the typical American home" because there's just no such thing. what are houses made of brick or wood siding or paneling depends on where it's located and the natural environment around it

[@jeremybutler2578]

Cookie cutter houses are typical and common. They've been using this for decades as usually one to three builders will be hired to build these communities. The builders will be able to put up these commhnities very quickly after the first couple because they are all the same except sometimes trim features will be changed.. like marble or granite counter tops and different sink faucets or chandeliers, etc. The floor plans will all be the same. It makes it fast and easy ... framers frame the house then roofers come and install the roof and siding while the framers are framing the next house then interior contractors move in to do the plumbing electeical abd drywall and insulation as the roofers move over and framers start working on the next house... these communities are built in a few months... not years... its an assembly line style of house construction.

[@johnlabus7359]

There is no typical American house. House styles vary greatly depending on the climate and available materials. As for tract homes where houses all look the same, I grew up in such a neighborhood in California that was built 60 years ago. Among all of the houses, they were essentially all the same plan with only a variation between a 3 bedroom and 4 bedroom model. All of the basic rooms and layouts were all basically the same. When my family moved east, we ended up in a completely different type of neighborhood where the houses were unique and individually built by a variety of homebuilders.

[@TexasEngineer]

I am a fan of Frank Lloyd Write. There are KZbin videos on his style.

[@darcyjorgensen5808]

There are many, many types of housing in the States. This is just scratching the surface.

[@davidburney8463]

2:16 in the 1990s they were called track homes that have been around for years. They are usually in a gated community and HOA ( home owners associations )with 3-5 different floor plans. We would go in on Monday,each crew would get a floor plan, and that's the house we would frame in the neighborhood. By the third house, we could build frame a house in 3 days. Oh how I miss it.

[@AquintisFP]

It's a trend that comes and goes. Row houses from early in the 20th century then there was the prefabs. And now developers buy up land and have one to a few approved house styles to build in that area, and almost always comes with an HOA.

[@LiveFreeOrDieDH]

The defining feature of a ranch house is it has 1 floor (may or may not have a basement). They can get very large, but still only have 1 floor.

[@sdv73168]

It's a shame that Lawrence had to post a video showcasing most American home styles with cartoonish drawings from a calendar when he could've posted real images of American homes by doing a simple Google search.

[@mickibly47]

"cookie-cutter" houses is what we call them, typically 4-8 layouts that are used in single family home neighborhoods. its an eye sore but it's really efficient and cost effective for the builder and buyer. more recently if you want to buy before the neighborhood is built, you can pick your layout and customize it to an extent, like if you want a covered porch or an extended garage, what stone or color you'd like, etc. but yeah the house across the street from my parents house is the exact same layout just without a porch door in the basement like we have. two friends within a couple houses I had growing up had the same layout as eachother. luckily my neighborhood is a bit older, so plenty of large trees and vegetation, is allowed to be pretty colorful and all have very unique front yards so it doesn't feel dull. new neighborhoods have like no trees yet and no one has invested anything into the landscape yet so they are very bland looking.

[@nolame100]

Shutters are used in Florida, and Louisianna. They were made functional because of hurricanes/storms, hense the name "storm shutters"

[@Op_Gator]

Also, consider the fact that we don't have the basement because the area we live in is wetlands and is prone to flooding.

[@johnalbright]

Right, in the north here they are mostly decorative. I forgot about tropical storm states.

[@williamlucas4656]

@@johnalbright Shutters are mostly decorative now but they do have a purpose that has been subsumed by venetian blinds inside the house. Typically they were used in older homes without air conditioning to keep the sun out as well as protect from storms, especially nor’easter’s in the Northeast.

[@imdmusic2012]

The old Charleston style homes are the most appealing to me.

[@scotkiser9352]

I live in a neighborhood built in 1959. Mostly small ranch style homes. There are only 6 floor plans. Two for the end of the blocs so two identical houses are not side by side And then every house repeats itself on the 4s. But some have stone fronts some have red brick some yellow brick. So with landscaping it is varied enough to not be cookie cutter identical.

[@janrey4629]

Shotgun houses are getting to be fewer and fewer. Def not built anymore. No, not in this area. The shutters are purely decorative. I love an open window. With the houses built today, they are so very tightly built, with an great deal of insulation. Then you have every chemical imaginable coming into the home. Carpets, and furniture alone but then you add more chemicals like, scotch guarding etc. Open those windows!! We keep ours open as long as possible in the spring and open them as soon as possible in the fall. Light bills under $100 are very nice.

[@maruka1716]

Ranch houses are meant to be long and low, with everything on one level and good cross-ventilation. The roofs are usually flat, but they have overhangs for shade. It should be no surprise that they became popular in hot parts of the country. Meanwhile, compact 2-story designs like the Cape Cod help keep the heat in and have steep roofs so the snow falls off easily. They're historically associated with colder parts of the country. Of course, with modern heating and cooling systems, people build everything everywhere. But that's the general idea.

[@jimmyb.6272]

There is no such thing as a typical American house style. There are many more styles that Laurence didn’t even mention.

[@sharpuverse7465]

Yes I can understand why that video is confusing because as an American we have many different types and shapes of houses

[@g.nypaver734]

Spanish style does not refer to Spain but to Mexico

[@creativec3419]

nope! those shutters on the outside of dutch colonial homes are not closed because they are simply decorative.

[@Skymonkey1268]

Haven't seen a single person EVER close them

[@Trifler500]

If you live somewhere that gets winds that can crash debris into the window, it makes sense to close them to protect the glass. Kind of like putting up plywood over the window.

[@flyingmonkeydeathsquadronc968]

shutters use to have purpose before air con and double pane windows, now days you'll likely only find functioning shutters on well maintained old houses

[@creativec3419]

@@flyingmonkeydeathsquadronc968 “used to” is the key phrase though. Nowadays people slap a shutter on because they look nice.

[@creativec3419]

@@Trifler500 and perhaps people do in high wind areas, but in a lot of suburban places with this style of home (I’m speaking in my neck of the woods) the shutters are for decoration and not actual functionality anymore

[@twilacarson2308]

Your accent can make english sound like another word and one is where you say, my friends. To me it comes out like you're saying muffins. LOL. So cute.

[@robertcuminale1212]

Americans mostly want to own their home. The independence of paying off the mortgage is unexplainable. My home has allowed me to buy other homes for rental income to retire on. I was able to use the equity to secure the loans. As each one was paid off it too became equity to use. I don't think the Europeans truly understand the concept of Capitalism. If you have money you can make money.

[@Blondie42]

4:17 Those shutters used to have a purpose that was basically negated by modern windows. In the old days windows were thin/brittle and single paned so during a storm the shutters would be closed to help protect them. Like storm windows 🪟 in later times. Now windows are double paned and with thicker glass. 4:58 Ranches are farms for raising only animals: 🐄 🐎 or 🐑 critters that need pastures to roam in to graze.

[@TheRagratus]

The reason you don't know what a typical American house is because there ISN'T a typical American house. There are all kinds because the US is so big. Different house for different climates, farm?, suburb?, city?, innercity?, desert?, forest?, coastal?, plains?, hot?, cold?, dry?, snowy?, rainy?

[@pablopicaro7649]

The USA is essentially the size of most of Europe, there is enormous variety of Architecture. However, it was MUCH better before WW2 era. Post War architecture is quite Hideous, with exceptions made by classically trained designers.

[@harrymaciolek9629]

There is no typical American house. Some are built by owners, these are more varied. Others are built by developers, these tend to look very similar. After WW2 many large suburbs were built, sometimes with hundreds of identical houses. Also over time our houses have tended to get bigger even as our family sizes have declined.

[@pablopicaro7649]

Latest trend is Soviet Gulag BRUTALIST architecture, "house" is a cube of pored concrete with polished concrete floors. Little to no woodwork. Huge open areas and many large (useless) rooms with high ceilings. Lots of gaudy poor quality cheap furnishings. That is latest trend.

[@lazylady8591]

There are housing developments that have houses built exactly the same or very similar. This trend started after WWII when there was a housing shortage for young families. The country was experiencing a "baby boom" in population. This resulted in mass-produced homes with the period's modern amenities. They were built using the same plans for controlling costs and maximum efficiency. Usually, these were "starter" homes. People could trade up to more affluent neighborhoods and more luxurious homes as their finances improved.

[@sheryljoel5052]

There is no single style of home that is 'typical'. There are just so many styles.

[@user-bd1ur4wy7g]

The same house over and over again was a boom after WWII. Over the years some developments added modification options, but I think the trend of similarity continued into the 1970s. As someone that grew up in a very rural setting, the question toward tract housing was, “Which cupboard do you put your peanut butter in?” Today, they still look very much like square box housing options, but the box can be rearranged, based on the floor plan, and you get to pick the gift wrapping and bow. There are many options of housing. I think the most beautiful also happens to be the most expensive to build and maintain, and that is the log home. McMansions are understood to have no symmetry in their design. This is not required, but,typically, you can point to a vertical line, and each side is either a match or complementary to the other. McMansions do not have this. They get their name from the old Irish neighborhoods that had homes built room by room, and very much looked as such.

[@catherinesearles1194]

House styles differ by region. You're not going to have a hacienda in Montana and you won't find a Victorian in Florida.

[@rodney-m7g]

One of my uncles bought a house in a large development of several hundred houses back in the mid 1950's . There were 3 different models to choose from , basically very similar with some fairly minor differences . On Long Island you have Levittown , built in the early 50's to take advantage of the GI bill for WW2 veterans , with the same type of sameness .So this has been going on for about 70 years . I don't believe I have ever seen an American house with the shutters closed , except maybe in Florida when they were preparing for a hurricane .

[@resonantdave]

I grew up in a ranch style house with shutters on the inside, which we did close. The outside ones are often decorative, and you will see curtains or something on the inside.

[@donaldbotsai5799]

Levittowm was started in the late 1940s, americas first planned subdivision, hundreds of virtually identical homes aimed at GIs retuning from WWII. before that largely identical houses were built on a smaller scale one or more block at a time such as seen in the opening of all in the family TV show, these often date from the 1920's, before the depression.

[@starparodier91]

I don’t know what kind of house I grew up in and the one I own now are. Both are in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. I would never call them “McMansions” but that’s the closest style. They were built by Shea Homes in the early 90’s. My family has a second vacation home in Breckenridge, Colorado and it’s somewhat based on the Slovak architecture of where my dad grew up since he designed it.

[@cspat1]

That’s very cool!

[@Eniral441]

That ranch style home looked more like a bungalo with an attached garage. The ranch style homes I grew up with just looked like a rectangular box. It was pretty much like a slightly stretched rambler (rectangular instead of square) with an attached garage. A rambler is like the cube with the bottom half under ground for the basement. We didn't have the gables (the triangular parts)

[@ApocalypseSoldiers]

colorado mountains are much bigger then those they showed. that neighborhood wasnt colorado

[@thefuzzywombatroar]

The houses mentioned in the beginning of the video are referred to as cookie cutter homes. Many were built in the 60s and 70s to accommodate the the housing boom when the boomers started getting to adult hood. One one side of the street would be the sample homes, which would have slightly different features while the other side of the street would have custom homes, built off of the sample house blue prints with changes based of the the original owners prefrences.

[@thomasmacdiarmid8251]

Building large developments of essentially-identical homes goes back to (at least) right after WWII. The idea was most famously applied in building several Levittowns, built by Levitt and Co. near major northeastern US cities. They were immmediately criticized for being so identical and 'soulless', but they were very popular because newly formed families when the soldiers returned needed houses. The actual experience was that the owners very promptly customized them, whether through landscaping, painting, building additions, outbuildings, etc. After five years, while you could still see the common basis, they all were very distinguishable. There were actually earlier versions of tract housing, though, which had been known as 'mill houses', called that because the owners of mills (factories were known as mills because they were originally built around the water mills which provided the power for machines) would build large numbers of cheap houses near the factories so that workers could live there and walk to work.

[@CBB672]

Sometimes there are neighborhoods where houses are the same, not often

[@SithLordmatthew]

Track housing is extremely common 1950s forward. What happens is a developer will buy a piece of land and then plan a development. He will build a road or in some cases dozens of roads and then build a group of similar homes. back in the 50s and 60s they would often be identical. And they were smaller then. So on the other side of my town there is a couple hundred cape cods like 24x30 feet and small lots too like 6-8000 sqft. Now in the 70s we have a ton of ranch house streets half acre lots. then you come forward 80s they made raised ranches. Then came the colonials. Around the 2000s we got places like Lexington green near me that had like 500 homes they all look close to each other 12-15000 sqft lots with 2500-3000 sqft homes. Then you have the McMansion neighborhoods 20000-40000 sqft lots with 4500-6000 sqft homes usually they have 10-20 of them on one street. My home is a one off 4 acres. my whole street has one of kinds and several farms but newer stuff is often mass produced. I got 4 developments being built near by as we speak 6-12 homes each. Newer developments like 80s on ward they don't do them identical anymore they will have 3-5 deigns and alternate them. One street I use to mow lawns on farm hill was all McMasions about a dozen of them 1 acre lots and all but 2 of them have a brick faced front wall. So the developer wanted them to all look fancy only the other 3 walls are vinyl siding. 2 of the buyers demanded they skip that 15k option and one of them had the entire house done in brick.

[@andycofin6983]

Between 1890 and 1930 the Craftsman house was a cookie cutter designed house in many Midwest towns. I currently live in Evansville, Indiana, and Craftsman houses are everywhere, and I live in one, as well. Many have been remodeled or had extensions added on, but they still have that Craftsman look, even if the wood details inside the house have been covered over in paint.

[@luxleather2616]

each suburban neighborhood looks completely different than others in each town & city in each state & each house is different than others people end up modifying them even though they tend to get built from the same blueprint....there is no typical American house but there are some types that tend to be associated with a specific region

[@PinkPoodleCrafts]

He wasnt kidding... NO ONE EVER CLOSES SHUTTERS lol At least not in the last 75+ years. They are purely decorative, and in fact, 9 times out of 10, they dont even move, they have no hinges and are just screwed onto the house.

[@jamescostabile862]

These house designs, you will not find in the South, nor in Texas

[@mandlerparr1]

The houses in my neighborhood were built late 50's to early 60's and they have differences due to topography (my garage is basement level, but end of block their garage is ground level) with little differences here and there with windows and colors. But, they are almost all the same basic 3 bed, 1 bath with a basement ranch. Some have been expanded, some have decks. But, all the same basic house. When I bought I kept pulling into the neighbors driveway at first

[@sybilstomps6872]

I took a class in college called Indianapolis Architecture History and one of the books we had to get was 'A Field Guide to American Houses Book' by Virginia McAlester...it had illustrations and descriptions of Americas housing trends...you might like it...I think I bought it digitally for my Nook reader or maybe for the Kindle app I had on my phone.

[@3D_foos]

these are all typical American houses. remember how big the US is? we have room for many many kinds of typical.

[@Kyeian]

the cookie cutter houses are usually a selection if 2-5 house layouts that can be quickly built. companies buy huge lots of land and divvy them up, and sell them with a home. it's less expensive than some building types, so it blew up like 30 years ago

[@ivanboston8582]

Craftsman bungalows also refer to homes you could purchase as a kit from the Sears Roebuck catalog... shipped to you in boxes that you put together on site

[@valeriebigley8759]

The typical American house is like the typical American. All are different ❤.

[@darcyjorgensen5808]

There is no typical American house.

[@patmanchester8045]

monolithic subdivisions are most popular in the post WW2 years. The return of GIs and the boom in their families caused a need for LOTS of house builders bought up large tracts of land and built houses off their own sets of plans. lt was most economical to copy one or two plans over and over, possibly flipping them side to side or front to back. Levittown is a perfect and commonly referred to example.

[@marycasanova8905]

On the "Cookie cutter" home being normal. It is. Starting around the late 1930's, early 1940's there were blocks and blocks of these homes basically built for returning soldiers. A standardized home with a smallish yard that was inexpensive. They were all the same, but not in a bad way. It was a home to start out in. I grew up in one. They are nice, tidy, and utilize space very well. Every state has them.

[@HDCalame]

The neighborhoods of identical houses began after WW2 when there was a huge housing boom for returning soldiers and their families. Another reason for them is for housing for workers for a large factory or grouping of factories, ie. Industrial area. These identical housing areas are usually of smaller quickly built homes made with lower quality materials. Some slight variations might be present in them but they are street after street of mostly identical houses. And usually most of the people that lived there when the houses were first built all worked for the same employers. Although today that may no longer be the case as ownership of the homes have changed over the years.And as new owners have moved in, the new owners may or may not make changes to the houses so not all the houses in those neighborhoods are all as identical as they were when they were first built.

[@triciad4100]

I'm from the South Shore of Massachusetts, just north of Cape Cod, so that house style is probably the most common. The funny thing is even though we have Cape Anne up north, Cape Cod is THE Cape, and the house is A cape. I literally only told my mom a few days ago that the house is called a Cape Cod everywhere else (which I'd just learned myself), and she'd never even heard of it before! 🤯😂

[@aliciafoster4771]

That actually makes sense. It’s like going to China and asking to get Chinese food. In China, it’s just food. I’m from CT and until I moved to VA, I had only ever heard of the house style as a Cape and The Cape was a location. I grew up in small town America with every house on the street being completely different in size, structure, amount of floors etc. I didn’t know the term cookie cutter used for houses. I’ve since moved to Ohio and back to small town America where the variety of home designs are endless. There are many housing developments/communities here as well but the choices are limitless.

[@deathrowtodisneyworld5030]

I grew up in Duxbury ❤

[@triciad4100]

@@deathrowtodisneyworld5030 *Deluxebury (I'm sorry (kinda)) 😂💜

[@TinaTinkSwafford]

Houses can look and the Floorplan can be similar in CITY and URBAN neighborhood planned housing. Otherwise, every house is not alike. The house in my childhood was 2-story concrete bock with siding. We had 9 people in our family. We had lots of fruit trees and berry patches. Across the street, a classy elderly lady lived alone and in a 1-story plus a basement she took her granddaughter down to during most storms. There lawn was perfectly manicured by hired lawnkeepers, and no food producing plants. A good friend lived with her three siblings and parents in a 1-story ranch house. They had polished wood floors and expensive, spotless everything. I was jealous of my friends bedroom and playroom. They had a terrifying German Shepherd. No fruit-bearing plants there, and a tall chain-link fence for that scary dog -- which it could and did jump occasionally to bite people or kill cats. I could go on but I think you understand the differences. I think suburbs began in places in the 50s, and gained momentum in the 70s.. I never lived in the suburbs or cities, thankfully. I like the Ranch-style house for pure efficiency and organization - and openness, but never lived in one. Alternatively, also like the bedrooms upstairs, but getting older now, that's not as appealing. 😊

[@valeriecharboneau308]

That first Dutch style house… i literally thought to myself “oh the Amityville Horror house style” before he even said it 😂

[@greenatx]

As has been said, region, geography, price range and numerous other factors determine home design. National builders may have basic floor plans but these will vary due to environment, state/local codes. In Texas larger lots are common vs the New England area. I built homes in Texas. Often even middle/upper middle class subdivision a national builder would have four to six basic floor plans for a subdivision. This is very common today. A subdivision may have 3-5 Builders depending on the size of the subdivision but each builder has their own area of the subdivision. It’s not uncommon for a builder to buy land in a subdivision only to sell the land to another builder.