Colonial American Architecture: A Design Resource for Contemporary Traditional Architecture: Part I - Review Questions

As you watch the video, you can browse by subject using the course outline and timestamps below. As you progress through the units, you can use the below optional (ungraded) questions to help assess your understanding of the material. Please note that these are not the summative assessment questions to be answered at the end of the course. You will also need to complete the summative assessment in order to earn course credit.

0:00: Introduction

2:00: Origins of Colonial Architecture; Framing

Review: Which of the following is NOT a reason for the simplicity of early colonial architecture?

1. Lack of experienced craftsmen.

Incorrect 鈥� this was one reason for the simplicity of early colonial architecture. The earliest colonists did not include many trained craftsmen who were able to replicate Tudor architecture or devise new forms of ornamentation.

2. Lack of materials.

Correct! Colonists had significant access to wood and other natural resources. In fact, they had significantly greater access to raw materials than builders in England. However, other factors, such as a lack of experienced craftsmen and the need to quickly erect new structures, inhibited early colonial architecture from focusing on ornamentation.

3. Lack of time.

Incorrect 鈥� this was one reason for the simplicity of early colonial architecture. Consider the circumstances of the earliest colonists; their focus was on quickly creating shelters, and in fact the earliest structures included 鈥榩it houses鈥�, which simply consisted of a hole in the ground with a roof.


9:34: Siding

Review: Which of the following regions commonly used wood shingle siding?

1. Long Island and Cape Cod.

Correct! Wood shingle siding is traditional in these storm-prone areas. Plain shingles, rather than those with decorative shapes, are used.

2. Virginia.

Incorrect 鈥� Virginian architecture typically uses another specific kind of siding. You may be thinking of the wood shingles often seen in Virginian roofs, not siding.

3. South Carolina.

Incorrect 鈥� South Carolinian architecture typically uses another specific kind of siding. Which is it?


17:54: Roofs and Roofing Materials

Review: Which of the following describes a gambrel roof?

1. A gable roof with the ends of its ridge clipped.

Incorrect 鈥� this describes a clipped gable.

2. A gable roof with the addition of a rear section, called a lean-to, elongating the gable鈥檚 rear slope.

Incorrect 鈥� this describes a gable roof in the 鈥榮alt box鈥� form.

3. A gable roof with two slopes on each side.

Correct! This type of roof is also commonly called a 鈥淒utch roof鈥�, though gambrel roofs are also found in houses built by English colonists.


32:44: Windows

Review: Which of the following is frequently true of window frame meeting rails in colonial architecture?

1. They are typically thinner than the rest of the frame.

Correct! This was done as a sophisticated detail to make the meeting rail appear consistent in thickness with the muntins of the window. This detail is often not carried over into Colonial Revival architecture.

2. They are typically thicker than the rest of the frame.

Incorrect. This would not be seen on either colonial or Colonial Revival architecture, as it would cause the window to appear highly unbalanced.

3. They are typically the same size as the rest of the frame.

Incorrect. While historically inaccurate restorations as well as Colonial Revival architecture tend to employ meeting rails the same size as the window frame, this is not true of colonial architecture.