Efficient and adaptable Welcome back to Period Dramas, a weekly column that alternates between rounding up historic homes on the market and answering questions we?ve always had about older structures.
Chances are you?ve seen more American Foursquare homes than you may realize. Popular from the 1890s through the 1930s, these houses were constructed across the United States, joined together by a few reigning principles.
The American Foursquare is a two-story house with a rectangular footprint and a front porch that runs along the full width of the house. The American Foursquare generally has little adornment inside or out?a direct response to the heavy woodwork of the Victorian era.

Via Creative Commons.
An advertisement for an American Foursquare home.
Because there was little in the way of ornamentation, these homes could be cheaply built. And the square or rectangular footprint of the house allowed builders to maximize potential square footage. What people wound up with was the most house for the least amount of money.
The Foursquare was also endlessly adaptable. Some of the houses were clad in wood, while others were built out of brick and even cinder blocks. It really just depended on what sort of materials were around and what fit the budget.
The interior could also be customized. While these types of houses weren?t elaborately kitted out, the little woodwork they did have was usually inspired by the Prairie Style (Frank Lloyd Wright...