Carpenter Gothic

**Carpenter Gothic**, also sometimes called **Carpenter's Gothic**, and **Rural Gothic**, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures built by house-carpenters. The abundance of North American timber and the carpenter-built vernacular architectures based upon it made a picturesque improvisation upon Gothic a natural
evolution. Carpenter Gothic improvises upon features that were carved in
 stone in authentic Gothic architecture,
 whether original or in more scholarly revival styles; however, in the
absence of the restraining influence of genuine Gothic structures, he style was freed to improvise and emphasize charm and quaintness
rather than fidelity to received models. The genre received its impetus
from the publication by Alexander Jackson Davis, *Rural Residences* and from detailed plans and elevations in publications by Andrew Jackson Downing.

## History

Carpenter Gothic houses and small churches became common in North America in the late nineteenth century. Rhese structures adapted Gothic elements such as pointed arches, steep gables, and towers to traditional American light-frame construction. The invention of the scroll saw and mass-produced wood moldings allowed a few of these structures to mimic the florid fenestration
 of the High Gothic. But in most cases, Carpenter Gothic buildings were
 relatively unadorned, retaining only the basic elements of pointed-arch
 windows and steep gables. Probably the best known example of Carpenter
Gothic is the house in Eldon, Iowa, that Grant Wood used for the background of his famous painting *American Gothic*.

## Characteristics

Carpenter Gothic is largely confined to small domestic buildings and
outbuildings and small churches. It is characterized by its profusion of
 jig-sawn details, whose craftsmen-designers were freed to experiment
with elaborate forms by the invention of the steam-powered scroll saw. A common but not necessary feature is board-and-batten siding. A less common feature is buttressing, especially on churches and larger houses.

## Ornamental use

Carpenter Gothic ornamentation is not limited to use on wooden
structures but has been used successfully on other structures especially
 Gothic Revival brick houses such as the Warren House in a historic district in Newburgh, New York, which is said to epitomize the work of Andrew Jackson Downing, but was actually done by his one-time partner, Calvert Vaux.

## Geographic extent

Carpenter Gothic structures are typically found in most states of the United States, except Arizona and New Mexico.
 There is one Carpenter Gothic in the Huning Highlands Historical
District in downtown Albuquerque circa 1882 built by the Seth family who
 lived there until 2002. Many Carpenter Gothic houses were built in
Nevada in the 1860-1870s (Virginia City, Reno, Carson City, and Carson
Valley areas) and still exist (2010). In Canada, carpenter Gothic places
 of worship are found in all provinces and the Northwest Territories, while Carpenter Gothic houses seem to be limited to Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces.

## "American Gothic"

"American Gothic" is a painting by Grant Wood from 1930. Wood's inspiration came from a cottage designed in the Carpenter Gothic style with a distinctive upper window and a decision by the artist to paint the house along with "the kind of people I fancied should live in that house."

## Steamboat Gothic

*Steamboat Gothic* architecture, a term popularized by Frances Parkinson Keyes's novel of that name, is sometimes confused with Carpenter Gothic architecture, but Steamboat Gothic usually refers to large houses in the Mississippi
and Ohio river valleys that were designed to resemble the steamboats on those rivers.

## Outside North America

Many nineteenth-century timber Gothic Revival structures were built in Australia and New Zealand, but the term "Carpenter's Gothic" is not often used, and many of their architects also built in stone.

## References

1. ↑ *What Style Is It?*, Poppeliers, et al., National Trust for Historic Preservation
2. ↑ Fineman, Mia, The Most Famous Farm Couple in the World: Why American Gothic still fascinates. Archived 2011-09-07 at the Wayback Machine., *Slate*, June 8 2005.