During the Colonial period, the English dominated settlement in New England, the Dutch in New York and New Jersey, the Germans in Pennsylvania, the Scandinavians in Delaware, and the French along the lake and river system of what was then the Western frontier. The patterns of westward migration of these groups established paths of architectural influence throughout the region.

“The English established the prevailing cultural patterns, including a preference for wood architecture, especially for timber framing and clapboard, shingle, or vertical board siding. Steeply pitched roofs are another common and prominent design feature. Early building types included the salt box (a house made by attaching a shed roof to a gable roof); the timber-framed “English barn”; and, later, the “connected farmstead” of New England in the latter part of the 19th century. In the Middle Atlantic, the Dutch, German, and Scandinavian builders made their own contributions. These included the double-pitched Dutch gambrel roof (originally common only to barns in New York’s Genesee Valley but now everywhere) and German masonry construction. The French influence worked its way up the Mississippi and is visible in the enduring traditions of sweeping roof forms and generous porches.”  [READ MORE]