Architectural Styles - Bungalow (1910 - 1940)

The name "bungalow" was derived from the Hindustani bangla, low houses surrounded by porches supposedly built in India by the English government as rest houses for foreign travelers.

In most cases Bungalows were one-story or 1½-story structures with low, simple lines and large projecting roofs with exposed roof rafters in the eaves. Construction was wood frame on brick piers with weatherboard siding, wood shingles, or stucco. It is quite common to find weatherboard siding on the main body of a house with stucco, or a combination of wood siding and stucco, on the porch. In the side-gable version, a large single roof dormer with either a shed or gable roof was commonly placed in the front façade. Porches and galleries were essential designs features. Many Bungalows were originally built with screened porches, utilizing the newly developed insect screen. As more effective mosquito control reduced the threat posed by this annual summer menace, the screens gradually deteriorated and were not replaced.

Porch roofs were most often supported by large, tapered, square pedestals - usually of brick, stucco, or natural rock - extending approximately three feet above the porch level, with straight or tapered wooden posts on top. Frequently these wooden posts were paired, and tripled at the corners. Windows were double hung or casement, often paired, with small panes divided into various patterns, some highly ordered and some random but generally arranged differently from those of any previous style. The Bungalow eliminated the window shutter from New Orleans residential construction, replacing it with the insect screen.

The above description was taken from "New Orleans Houses, a House-Watcher's Guide" by Lloyd Vogt.


Some Examples of Bungalows at the Bay
(Past and Present)

354 Main Street
National Register # 483

Ca. 1930 with modernizations. 1-story 3x5-bay frame house with additions.

407 Hancock
National Register # 295

Ca. 1910. Bungalow style. 1½-story 5x3-bay gable-roofed house with undercut gallery and shed dormer. Bracketed eaves. Paired pyramidal columns on brick piers.

121 Carroll Avenue
National Register # 622

Ca. 1910. Bungalow style. 1½-story gable-roofed house with gable roof. Shed-roofed dormer and undercut gallery supported by pairs of box columns on brick piers. Exposed rafter-tails.

301 Railroad Avenue
National Register # 400

Ca. 1900 with Bungalow-style alterations. 1-story hip-roofed house with 4-bay façade and projecting gable. Undercut gallery. 2 entrances in middle bays. Bungalow-style pyramidal columns on brick piers.

346 Main Street
National Register # 485

Ca. 1925. Bungalow style. 1-story front-gabled house with projecting offset front-gabled entrance porch, which is supported by stuccoed piers. Bracketed eaves.

312 St. John Street
National Register # 473

Ca. 1925. Bungalow style. 1-story front-gabled house with offset projecting front-gabled entrance porch. Bracketed eaves. Triple pyramidal posts on brick piers.

918 South Beach Boulevard
National Register # 81

Ca. 1915 with rear wing which could be earlier. Bungalow style. 1½-story 3x3-bay frame dwelling with gable roof, exposed rafter-tails and paired posts on brick piers. Moved from #912 in 1970. Was under renovation when it was destroyed by Katrina in 2005.

920 South Beach Boulevard
National Register # 82

Bungalow with Prairie School influence. 5x3-bay stucco dwelling with truncated hip roof of terra cotta tile. Casement windows and overhanging eaves. This house burned on March 24, 1994.

137 St. Charles Street
National Register # 97

Circa 1925. 1-story 3-bay frame dwelling with front gable orientation and projecting front-gabled porch supported on tapered columns on brick piers.
(Destroyed by Katrina in 2005)

348 Main Street
National Register # 484

Ca. 1925. Bungalow style. 1-story front-gabled house with offset projecting front-gabled entrance porch. Bracketed eaves. Triple pyramidal posts on brick piers.

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