I think they had it right the first time...

I find it surprising how hard it is to find information about a house style that’s considered to be the most common American home style of all time - the Foursquare.

If you’re anything like me when I started this, you might be wondering what that means. Let’s take a mini-trip back to the origins of The House on the Isthmus.

Contracting and construction began on Isthmus House in 1908 and continued through 1910. It was one of the first in the Schenk-Atwood neighborhood – which I’ve learned in large part because I talk to my neighbors and their houses were all built a decade or two later. Somehow, magically, the original deed has been passed down all the way to me.

In the early 1900s, American Foursquares were becoming rather prevalent in large part because of the popularity of architect Frank Lloyd Wright (he has lots of projects in Wisconsin - one of the most well known locally, albeit newest, is the Monona Terrace only a few miles away).

Also known as Prairie style and available in a kit from Sears Roebuck (yep, you could totally order your house out of a catalog, complete with options for things like different flooring), they came with all of the pieces you needed already cut. Seems to me that the definition of some assembly required has changed rather a lot in the last hundred-ish years!

Can't say I'd mind spending $2243 on a house!

The Foursquare home is just that – four squares or quadrants on the top floor and four on the bottom in many cases. There are some variations on a theme, but it’s a pretty good general rule.

This one is pretty similar to Isthmus House’s layout – check out more layouts like this one here.

 

 

These homes were meant to be cozy family homes – they were never intended to have open layouts and expansive spaces. If you’re not sure what to do with some of the rooms these houses offer, check out The Not So Big House by Sarah Susanka. It features lots of Wright-esque homes like Isthmus House.

On the outside, many Foursquares also have dormers (windows that stick up vertically from a roof line) and open, full front porches like in the kit house add above. Isthmus House isn’t one of those though.

 

Despite having lots of renovations completed between the 1920s and 1960s, the House on the Isthmus remains an excellent 1910 example of a simple Foursquare with a hip roof and a small front porch. Sometimes it’s nice to remember that simple can be a good thing – and can maybe even make us think back to simpler times and ways of life when things were done well the first time. Maybe, just maybe, they had it right.