One can tell a lot about the economic history of a community by looking at the houses. If one style predominates, that reveals when the fortunes of the town were at their peak. Architecture styles change over time, showing the preferences of the people based on convenience, availability of materials, and outside influences. Bennington is no different, as eight distinct styles were employed from late 1700s to the 1950s: the Cape; the Colonial; the Federal; the Gable-Front; Gothic Revival; Italianate; attached barn; Second Empire; Queen Anne; and the Ranch.

In the old days, people built houses with one of two orientations: front door/long axis facing the road, or front door facing South, to maximize sunlight and winter warmth. From around 1830, a major change in orientation occurred, resulting in the Gable-Front House.

Two factors went into this shift: lot size and the Greek Revival. As town populations grew, previously large lots were divided. Some of the resulting lots were too narrow to build a Cape or Federal, so the house was rotated 90 degrees, causing its gable end to face the front. The style quickly became popular in urban areas. Furthermore, early in the 1800s, with the discovery of Pompeii, interest about Classical architecture grew. Houses with the gable facing the road became the next new thing — very fashionable.

Typically, the house had 2.5 stories and was one or two rooms deep. The front door was on the left or the right, along with two windows downstairs and three windows upstairs. The gable roof line is strongly reminiscent of the pediment on a Greek temple.

The style was popular throughout the 1800s and into the early 1900s, since it could be constructed as a large, stately house or as a smaller, humble dwelling. It was often the base style for subsequent add-ons in the later part of the century, as we shall see in a future post.

The next installment of the Bennington NH Historical Society Blog will be posted on September 16, 2024. If you click the Subscribe button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month – for free.